Lt. Mullan's Diary

Hello, I'm Nelson Olmsted. Today let's turn a weathered page for a glimpse into Pacific Powerland's past. First, a word from Clint Goober speaking for Pacific Power. Welcome once again to Stories of Pacific Powerland, a presentation of Pacific Power and Life, the company that has been serving the electric needs of the region's homes, farms and industries

through more than half a century of progress and growth. Now let's get back to Nelson and today's story. Some years ago a gentleman named Powell Clark of Walla Walla, Washington, received a package from a friend, a catchless a note which read, knowing your interest in history, we thought you might put this volume to good use.

It is of no further value to us. Well, Mr. Clark opened the scuffton-fated volume, and at once experienced the thrill of a scholar discovering an original source. As he perused page after page of handwritten notes, he stepped back in time more than one hundred years to the days when the region we call Pacific Powerland was a dangerous

hostile wilderness. He saw this country through the eyes of the author of the diary, Lieutenant John Mullen, engineer, Indian fighter and visionary, who had written the notes during the years of 1858 and 1860. As Powell Clark read, his imagination reconstructed the scene between Lieutenant Mullen and his commanding officer, Colonel Wright.

He could almost hear the Colonel say, John, since the Whitman Massacre, the servers in territory demanding protection from the Indians. It's imperative that we open a good road to move troops from Fort Benton in Montana to Fort Walla Walla and Fort Dalles. I'm putting you in charge of the project because you know the