John Mullan Jr. July 31, β December 28, was an American soldier, explorer, civil servant, and road builder. He extensively explored western Montana and portions of southeastern Idaho , discovered Mullan Pass , participated in the Coeur d'Alene War , and led the construction crew which built the Mullan Road in Montana, Idaho, and Washington state between the spring of and summer of He unsuccessfully sought appointment as Territorial Governor of the new Idaho Territory , although he played a significant role in the territory's formation and the establishment of its boundaries.
Leaving the United States Army in April , he failed at several businesses before profiting immensely as a real estate dealer and land attorney in California. At one point, the law firm he co-founded was the largest land speculator in the state. He later became an agent and lobbyist for the states of California, Nevada , and Oregon and for the Washington Territory , securing reimbursements from the federal government.
The tarnished reputation he earned as a land speculator, coupled with state politics, led the three states and the territory to deny him most of the income he expected to generate from this business. He died penniless and ill in Mullan also served from to as one of the commissioners of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, a private organization acting as an agent of the federal government.
He was the oldest son of what would eventually be 11 children. John Sr. John Jr. He attended St. John's College in Annapolis, where he studied Greek , Latin , history, mathematics, philosophy, art, rhetoric , navigation, surveying, chemistry, and geology, among other subjects.
Mullan graduated from St. John's in [ 5 ] with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In , Secretary of War William L. At Marcy's request, John Mullan Sr. Probably due to his father's lengthy career in the Army, John Mullan Jr. The Mullan family were Democrats , and John Sr. This made the Mullans extremely well-connected politically, and several respected citizens of Annapolis including St. John's president Hector Humphreys wrote John Jr. Polk to admit him. Mullan entered West Point on July 1, McClellan , and Phil Sheridan.
