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Located about 13 miles east of Bozeman, Montana in the Gallatin County along Interstate 90/U.S. 10-191 is Bozeman Pass. Like the city, this pass was named after John Bozeman, who in 1863 to 1866 brought prospectors and emigrants through it northward from the Platte Valley route of the California-Oregon Trail to the Montana gold mines and settlements.
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John Bozeman is recognized in the nomanclature of this area, but the pass would have been more appropriately named after Sacagawea. Captain William Clark stated on July 13, 1806 "the indian woman who has been of great service to me as a pilot through this country recommends a gap in the mountain more south which I shall cross." Two days later, on July 15, 1806, Sacagawea guided the Clark contingent over an old buffalo road through the pass upon their return journey from the Pacific. Eastward bound, they entered the Yellowstone River Valley, built canoes and proceeded downriver to the Missouri, where a reuniting with the Lewis party took place.
Besides Clark and Sacagawea, the detachment consisted of her infant son, Pomp; her mate, Charbonneau; York; Sergeant Pryor; and seven privates. The nine soldiers, Charbonneau and York were apparently the first nonnatives to see and traverse the pass. Two days earlier, at the Three Forks of the Missouri, Sergeant Ordway and nine men had taken the canoes recovered at Camp Fortunate, Montana and headed down the Missouri to meet part of the Lewis complement at the Great Falls. At the same time, the Clark party with 50 horses, pushed overland toward the Yellowstone River.
Since the days of the Indians, the pass has always been a thoroughfare and accommodated some sort of road or trail. In the 1860s John M. Bozeman, an adventurous young Georgian, opened a trail from Fort Laramie, Wyoming to Virginia City, Montana across the hostile Indian country east of here. He brought his first party through in 1863 and the next year guided a large wagon train of emigrants and gold seekers over this pass. Bozeman's outfit was in a race with Jim Bridger's outfit. Bridger used a pass north of the Bozeman Pass, and the two outfits were speed demons making as much as fifteen to twenty miles a day. The outfits reached Virginia City within a few hours of each other.
In the 1880s the Northern Pacific Railroad built its main line up the Yellowstone Valley. Until a tunnel could be built through and below the pass, which has an elevation of 5,712 feet, the line utilized a switchback. Later, in 1910, the railroad dug a new tunnel and vacated the old one. Today, the Bozeman Pass is traveled by many as I-90 provides a clear path for motorized travelers moving east and west between Livingston and Bozeman.
The pass is not only accommodating to motorized vehicles but acts as a vital wildlife corridor linking two large chunks of prime habitat. Animals move between the Bridger and Gallatin Mountains where they breed, calf and find summer or winter range. These wildlife migrations have occurred across thousands of generations. Only in the past few decades has the automobile created a new deadly predator against which the animals can offer no defense. Two years ago American Wildlands launched an effort to make Bozeman Pass safer for the wildlife. The project has received important funding from Congress along with local residents, businesses and national political figures lining up to support the issue of giving wildlife a safe passage across roadways. American Wildlands are hoping that the work done for the Bozeman Pass serves as a model for the rest of the country.
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