Mullan Pass is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. It sits on the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

on the border between Powell and

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

counties at above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. Located in the

Helena National Forest Helena National Forest is located in west-central Montana, in the United States. Covering , the forest is broken into several separate sections. The eastern regions are dominated by the Big Belt Mountains, and are the location of the Gates of ...

, the pass is west of the city of

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer * Saint Helena (disambiguation), this includes places Places Greece * Helena ...

. The

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

(NP) used the pass for its line from

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gove ...

Garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

via Helena, built in 1883. This line was the NP's primary freight route and was also used by their secondary passenger train, the '' Mainstreeter''. The NP also built an alternate line over

Homestake Pass Homestake Pass is a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of Montana in the United States. It sits on the Continental Divide on the border between Jefferson County and Silver Bow County, six miles south-southeast of Butte in Beaverhead-Deerlod ...

, which was used by their primary passenger train, the ''

North Coast Limited The ''North Coast Limited'' was a named passenger train operated by the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago and Seattle via Bismarck, North Dakota. It started on April 29, 1900, and continued as a Burlington Northern Railroad train aft ...

''. The rail line at Mullan Pass is currently operated by

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

; it crosses under the pass and the continental divide at via the Mullan Tunnel. The pass was named after Lieutenant John Mullan, the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

engineer who first crossed the pass on March 22, 1854, and later supervised construction of the

Mullan Road Mullan Road was the first covered wagon, wagon road to cross the Rocky Mountains to the Inland Empire (Pacific Northwest), Inland of the Pacific Northwest. It was built by United States Army, U.S. Army troops under the command of Lt. John Mullan ( ...

, the first road over the pass, in 1860.

Notable events

On September 23, 1862, three Master Masons led by Nathaniel P. Langford convened at Mullan Pass, marking the beginning of Masonry in the region. Today, an annual meeting is held at the outdoor lodge at Mullan Pass to commemorate this event. On September 30, 1911, Mullan Pass was the site of the first aeronautical crossing of the North American Continental Divide. Aviation pioneer Cromwell Dixon flew from Helena to Blossburg, some 15 miles to the west, over the Mullan Pass then successfully flew back the same day. His achievement earned him $10,000, presented to him by Governor

Edwin L. Norris Edwin Lee Norris (August 15, 1865 – April 25, 1924) was a Democratic politician from Montana. He served as the fifth Governor of Montana. Biography Norris was born in Cumberland County, Kentucky, in 1865, and graduated from the Southern Nor ...

. On February 2, 1989, the Helena train wreck occurred when, during a significant cold snap, a train crew uncoupled the locomotives from a 48-car train due to mechanical problems. The air brakes failed on the cars, and the train rolled nine miles back into

where, at approximately 5:30 a.m., they collided with a parked work train and caught fire. An explosion later linked to a

tank car A tank car (International Union of Railways (UIC): tank wagon) or tanker is a type of railroad car (UIC: railway car) or rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodity, commodities. History Timeline The following major event ...

filled with

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscosity, viscous than Properties of water, water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usua ...

shook the town, knocked out power, and caused extensive damage in the community, but no deaths."20 years ago today, Helena shook, rattled and froze"
/ref> In mid-July 2009, part of the Mullan Tunnel roof collapsed while it was being enlarged to handle double-stack freight cars. It was reopened to train traffic 28 days later, on August 14, 2009.

Second Mullan Pass

A second Mullan Pass (), also on the Mullan Road, is located on the Montana-

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

border in the

Bitterroot Range The Bitterroot Range is a mountain range and a subrange of the Rocky Mountains that runs along the border of Montana and Idaho in the northwestern United States. The range spans an area of and is named after the bitterroot (''Lewisia rediviva ...

at . It is approximately east-northeast of Lookout Pass, where

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

crosses the state line.

Climate

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news, date=1 October 1911, title=Flies over the Rockies, work=The New York Times, url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1911/10/01/104838096.pdf, accessdate=21 October 2009 , format=PDF

External links

MRL plans to upgrade the Mullan Tunnel
Landforms of Lewis and Clark County, Montana Mountain passes of Montana Northern Pacific Railway Landforms of Powell County, Montana

Notable events

Second Mullan Pass

Climate

See also

References

External links