U.S. Route 10, later U.S. Highway 10, (US 10) was a

United States Numbered Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

in the state of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

from 1926 to 1986. It was mostly replaced with

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

(I-90) and I-94; sections in major city centers were replaced by

business route A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route connected to a ''parent'' numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city or ...

s and state highways. It was the longest segment of US 10 in one state.

Route description

US 10 in Montana started on the Idaho border in

Lookout Pass Lookout Pass is a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of the northwestern United States. In the Coeur d'Alene Mountains of the Bitterroot Range, the pass is on the border between Idaho and Montana, traversed by Interstate 90 (formerly U.S. Rout ...

. As it traveled through the mountains, it traveled through several small towns, including St. Regis, where it intersected Montana Highway 461 (MT 461). From here, it continued east toward

Missoula Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

. In the Missoula area, US 10 would intersect US 10A (later MT 200), US 93, US 12, and MT 20 (later MT 200). The route within Missoula still exists and is signed as I-90 Business (I-90 Bus.). US 10 and US 12 ran concurrently east of Missoula until US 12 split off in

Garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

. An alternate route ( MT 1) split from US 10 in Drummond and rejoined US 10 east of

Anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus ''Eunectes''. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized. Description Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used to re ...

. After leaving Anaconda, US 10 would continue to travel east toward

Butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

. Shortly before entering Butte, US 10 would intersect US 91 (later

I-15 I15 may refer to: * Interstate 15, a north–south Interstate Highway in the United States of America * Polikarpov I-15, a Soviet fighter aircraft * I15 (band) "Soulja Girl" is the second single from American rapper Soulja Boy's studio album '' ...

) and US 91 would travel concurrently with US 10 into downtown Butte.

History

Before the establishment of the

United States Numbered Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

, a transcontinental road called the

Yellowstone Trail The Yellowstone Trail was the first transcontinental automobile highway through the upper tier of states in the United States, established on May 23, 1912. It was an Auto Trail that ran from the Atlantic Ocean in Plymouth, Massachusetts, throug ...

ran through Montana. This trail overlapped much of what would become US 10 and later I-90. US 10 completely replaced the Yellowstone Trail in Montana by 1930. US 10 was one of the first U.S. Highways established in 1926. Over time, it was slowly upgraded to freeway standards after the Interstate Highway System was introduced in 1956. Eventually, the majority of US 10 (except a section later designated MT 2) ran concurrently with the I-90 and I-94. In 1986, the US 10 designation was completely decommissioned in Montana. Many sections of the former route that were not upgraded to freeway standards are now either signed as I-90 Bus., I-94 Bus., as a Montana Secondary Highway, or simply "Old U.S. Highway 10" or some derivative of it.

US 10N

Until 1959, US 10 split into two sections. US 10N was replaced by MT 287 and US 12. US 10S became the mainline US 10 route after US 10N was decommissioned in 1959.

Decommissioning

In 1977, US 10 in Idaho was decommissioned from the intersection with US 95 Alternate east of

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Coeur d'Alene ( ; french: Cœur d'Alène, lit=Heart of an stitching awl, Awl ) is a city and the county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the largest city in North Idaho and the principal city of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolita ...

, to intersection with US 93/MT 200 in Wye. In 1986, Montana and North Dakota truncated US 10 to its current terminus in

West Fargo, North Dakota West Fargo is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. It is, as of the 2020 census, the fifth largest city in the state of North Dakota with a population of 38,626, and it is one of the state's fastest growing cities. West Fargo wa ...

, and also decommissioned US 10A. After US 10 was decommissioned, Montana created MT 2 to replace a portion of former US 10 from

to Three Forks. MT 1 was created to replace former US 10A from Drummond to Anaconda.

Major intersections

This list follows the final non-freeway alignment in 1960.

Related routes

U.S. Route 310 U.S. Route 310 (US 310) is a spur of historic U.S. Route 10, now Interstate 90. It runs for from Laurel, Montana, to Greybull, Wyoming. It passes through the states of Montana and Wyoming. Near the town of Lovell, Wyoming, US 310 ...

* U.S. Route 10 Alternate (Washington–Montana) *

Montana Highway 1 Montana State Highway 1 (MT 1) is a state highway in Deer Lodge and Granite counties in southwestern Montana, United States, extending west and north from the Anaconda I-90 Junction to Drummond. Both the beginning and endpoints of the ...

References

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