On Interstate 90 at milepost 73, on the right when traveling west.
The Mullan Road is carved into the face of the mountains high above the Clark Fork River west of here. Lieutenant John Mullan tried to keep his wagon road as close to the river as possible. But when his work crews ran up against a mountain spur that . . . — — Map (db m123060) HM
Near Interstate 90 at milepost 72, on the right when traveling east.
"Great Spirit: teach us to walk soft upon the mother earth with all the creatures we live with ... Mitakuye oyasin! We are all related!" "Eagle Man" Ed McGaa, Oglala Lakota Sioux
The Bald Eagle is the magnificent emblem of the United . . . — — Map (db m123061) HM
On Interstate 90 at milepost 73, on the right when traveling west.
During the last ice age about 15,000 years ago, an enormous glacier pushed down from British Columbia and blocked the Clark Fork River in northern Idaho. The glacier functioned as an ice dam creating the largest glacial lake known to have existed, . . . — — Map (db m123059) HM
On South Frontage Road West near Albert Road, on the right when traveling north.
This structure is an example of how engineers incorporated a natural feature into the design of a bridge. Designed by Montana Highway Department bridge engineers, the bridge is a standard riveted Warren through truss. The bridge is unusual in that . . . — — Map (db m123057) HM
Near Rainy Creek Road (Federal Road 506) 2 miles south of Exit 5 (Taft) (Interstate 90).
“With the cinders and ashes falling all around him, and so dark that he could not see his horse’s head at three o’clock in the afternoon, [Barringer] rode up to the face of the fire…[and] collected his scattered crews….” - . . . — — Map (db m45505) HM
Near Rainy Creek Road (Federal Road 506) 2 miles south of Exit 5 (Taft) (Interstate 9).
“Fires of yesterday and last night have swept practically all the country from Avery to St. Regis. Nothing could have lived in the mountains last evening except for the tunnels.” - E. J. Pearson, Chief Engineer, Puget Sound . . . — — Map (db m45511) HM
Near Rainy Creek Road (Federal Road 506) 2 miles south of Exit 5 (Taft) (Interstate 90).
“All that remained was to salvage what material that could be salvaged from the disaster, and reorganize for a new start.” - Clarence B. Swim, Assistant Forester
As the railroad operated rescue trains, Missoula residents . . . — — Map (db m45509) HM
Near Rainy Creek Road (Federal Road 506) 2 miles south of Exit 5 (Taft) (Interstate 90).
“The whole twenty-five miles of railroad…between Avery and the Taft Tunnel was swept by a consuming blast of fire, so hot that pick handles lying in the open beside the track were utterly consumed.” - Elers Koch, Forest . . . — — Map (db m45510) HM
Near Rainy Creek Road (Federal Road 506) 2 miles south of Exit 5 (Taft) (Interstate 90).
Just getting groceries up here could be a challenge
Deep winter snow sometimes made getting to school, going to the doctor, or buying food an adventure.
Families living at the top of the Bitterroot Mountains, here at East Portal and . . . — — Map (db m45544) HM
Near Rainy Creek Road (Federal Road 506) 2 miles south of Exit 5 (Taft) (Interstate 90).
“I won’t die here in this creek… [I’m] getting out of here.” - Pinkie Adair, homesteader and camp cook
During the 1910 Fires, perseverance often meant the difference between life and death. At 26 years old, Ione . . . — — Map (db m45503) HM
Near Rainy Creek Road (Federal Road 506) 2 miles south of Exit 5 (Taft) (Interstate 90).
The Milwaukee Road faced the daunting task of drilling a tunnel 23 feet high, 16 feet wide and 1.7 miles long into Idaho.
It was a damp, dark, dirty dig. After the approaches were prepared in 1906, and a faltering start in 1907, work . . . — — Map (db m45550) HM
Near Rainy Creek Road (Federal Road 506) 2 miles south of Exit 5 (Taft) (Interstate 90).
Once a critical part of the longest electrified railroad in the world, the broken concrete foundation to your left is all that remains of the two-story, brick East Portal Substation.
Essentially a gigantic electric vault, East Portal was . . . — — Map (db m45542) HM
Near Rainy Creek Road (Federal Route 506) 2 miles south of Exit 5 (Taft) (Montana Highway 90).
The Last Transcontinental Railroad
The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway’s Pacific Extension survived for 71 colorful years. Racing silk trains sped along the route, and long, rumbling troop trains carried men and materiel through . . . — — Map (db m45548) HM
Near Rainy Creek Road (Federal Road 506) near Exit 5 (Taft) (Interstate 90).
…and Historians Trace the History along the Trail.
When the Milwaukee Road abandoned its route over the Bitterroot Mountains, salvage companies stripped the line of all the rails, ties, signals, posts and everything else of value. The . . . — — Map (db m45549) HM
Near Rainy Creek Road (Federal Road 506) 2 miles south of Exit 5 (Taft) (Interstate 90).
Buried beneath busy Interstate 90 in the valley below are the bones of what the Chicago Tribune in 1909 named “the wickedest city in America”.
This “den of iniquity” sprouted up when the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. . . . — — Map (db m45552) HM
Near Rainy Creek Road (Federal Road 506) 2 miles south of Exit 5 (Taft) (Interstate 90).
“The fire by this time was an awe-inspiring spectacle, the whole horizon to the west was aflame and the noise caused by the falling timber was terrific.” - Roy A. Phillips, Lolo Forest Guard
One of the most devastating . . . — — Map (db m45508) HM
Near De Borgia-Haugan Frontage Road near Savenac Creek Road, on the left when traveling east.
Creation of the National Forest Service in 1905 brought Elers Koch, one of the nation's first professional foresters, to inspect and evaluate the Forest Reserves of Montana and Wyoming. Appointed Forest Supervisor of the Bitterroot and Lolo National . . . — — Map (db m123027) HM
Imagine a world very different than we know today. About 1.5 billion years ago during the Precambrian Era, the earth's environment was desolate, with no trees, fish, animals or birds. Shallow seas with extensive near-shore flats were fed by streams . . . — — Map (db m123024) HM
On Interstate 90 at milepost 4, on the right when traveling east.
"Our work ... from the 16th of August to the 4th of December, 1859 consisted of cutting through this densely timbered section of one hundred miles, building small bridge were required, and grading thousands of places.... the work was heavy, and . . . — — Map (db m123025) HM
On Interstate 90 at milepost 4, on the right when traveling east.
Wherever you are in Montana, you stand in the pathway of Lewis and Clark. Their 1804-1806 expedition was a grand adventure to investigate the people and resources of the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase and to seek a navigable passage across the . . . — — Map (db m123023) HM
The Mullan Road is carved into the face of the mountains high above the Clark Fork River west of here. Lieutenant John Mullan tried to keep his wagon road as close to the river as possible. But when his work crews ran up against a mountain spur that . . . — — Map (db m123054) HM
On Mullan Road West near River Street, on the right when traveling west.
This marker commemorates the placement of the first 25 Bibles in November 1908 by the Gideons in the Superior Hotel, Superior (formerly Iron Mountain), Montana then located on this spot.
From that small beginning, The Gideons International has . . . — — Map (db m123030) HM
On River Ranch Road at 2nd Avenue East, on the right when traveling north on River Ranch Road.
Travelers along the Mullan Road and prosectors lured by the 1869 discovery of gold on Cedar Creek opened the way for settlement of this area. After the placer gold played out and other mining camps became ghost towns, the town of Superior continued . . . — — Map (db m123029) HM
