Missoula began as a trading post in the 1860s situated along the Mullan
Military Road to take advantage of the first route across the Bitterroot
Mountains to the plains of Eastern Washington. Its designation as county seat
in 1866 and location of the hastily built Fort Missoula in 1877 ensured
Missoula's status as a regional commercial center; a status further
consolidated in 1883 with the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway. The
railroad expanded Missoula's trade area to cover a 150-mile radius, and
Missoula's location as the railway's division point and repair shops provided
hundreds of jobs. When the railway
