Lolo Motorway - Road to the Buffalo

A Nez Perce legend tells us about the origin of the trail. A young boy was lost in these mountains. He was approached by Hah-hahts, the grizzly bear, angry that the humans were taking over his land. When confronted, ...

Dillon Depot, on the Union Pacific Railroad's Montana Subdivision

When the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) decided to build the Utah & Northern to the Montana mines, Richard Deacon named a kingly sum for his prized grazing land. UPRR, unwilling to pay the $8,000, sought businessmen willing to invest along ...

Humphrey, Idaho on the Union Pacific Railroad's Montana Subdivision

Humphrey, Idaho, is a ghost town.

     In 1902, Humphrey was the site of Patt Ranch, where the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) built a dam and ice pond along the early Utah & Northern route. Workers harvested up to 31,000 ...

Idaho Falls, on the Union Pacific Railroad's Montana Subdivision

In 1880, as the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) was advancing the former Utah & Northern north toward Silver Bow, Montana, UPRR officials chose Idaho Falls for their principal workshops. A team of one hundred men built “a station, several two-story ...

Southern Terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad's Montana Subdivision, Pocatello, Idaho

Pocatello, Idaho, is the southern terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad's (UPRR's) Montana Subdivision, formally known as the Utah & Northern line, which stretched north to the former silver and copper mines of Butte, Montana.

     Rail lines used to ...

The Milwaukee Road- Mineral County

In 1906, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway (known as the Milwaukee Road) began building a line meant to be shorter and faster than any of its competitors. Unlike its rival transcontinental lines, the Northern Pacific and Great Northern, ...

Going-to-the-Sun Road

The Going-to-the-Sun Road, named by Park Naturalist George C. Ruhle in 1929, is the only trans-mountain road within the boundaries of the park. It gives the visitor who is unable to get into the back country on the trails, a ...

Idaho and Washington Northern Railroad Bridge

For over 100 years, the Idaho & Washington Northern Railway (I&WN) Bridge, spanning the Pend Oreille River between Box Canyon’s sheer rock walls, has stood as a monument to Pend Oreille County’s transportation frontier and industrial development. Completed in 1911, ...

Northern Pacific Railroad Depot

In the early twentieth century, railroads provided remote communities with a vital link to the outside world. The 1883 arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad provided reliable transportation for the people of Missoula and served as a commercial boon for ...