Mullan

History

Mullan came into existence in 1884 with the discovery of gold at the Gold Hunter Mine, which turned out to be a lead and silver producer. That same year, George Good made a lead-silver strike with the Morning Mine and Mullan came into existence between the two mines. By 1887, Mullan was also known as "Nigger Prairie." The site was filed in August 1888, after the village had twenty log and fifteen frame houses, a sawmill, and a population of 150. The Northern Pacific Railway arrived in 1889 and the city was incorporated in 1904. During the Coeur d'Alene labor confrontation of 1899, two hundred miners from Mullan joined the Dynamite Express. In the aftermath of the labor war, many of Mullan's leaders and Populist elected officials including the sheriff were arrested and sent to the Wallace bull pens. The city was named for West Point graduate John Mullan who was in charge of selecting a wagon route (commonly called the Mullan Road) between Fort Benton (Montana) and Fort Walla Walla (Washington). Lieutenant Mullan, a topographical engineer in the U.S. Army, began gathering information in 1854. Delayed by the Coeur d'Alene War of 1858, construction began in 1859 from Fort Walla Walla. From today's Mullan townsite, the Mullan Road continued southeast up Willow Creek to cross the border at today's St. Regis Pass It was formerly "Sohon Pass," named by Mullan for artist Gustavus Sohon, whose explorations found the gap, about a mile west of Lookout Pass. After the strenuous project was completed in 1860, floods wiped out substantial stretches of the road, and the road was re-routed in 1861. Floods again damaged the road, and ultimately, no provision for maintenance was provided. Mullan's population has declined in recent decades, from a peak of 2,291 in 1940. Mullan…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• SILVER HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · OSBURN · 298 students · 15.7:1 ratio
• WALLACE JR/SR HIGH SCHOOL
  High · WALLACE · 214 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• MULLAN SCHOOLS
  Other · MULLAN · 85 students · 6.5:1 ratio