The fledgling settlements of Puget Sound were slow to develop in part due to lack of easy access. In 1850, M.T. Simmons, one of the first pioneer settlers of the region, led an effort to cut a road over Naches Pass, but the heavy forest and steep ridges made the effort difficult and the attempt failed.: Emigrants arriving in Portland, Oregon Territory, who wished to continue north had to slog up the muddy Cowlitz Trail, first by river and then overland, to the southern end of Puget Sound. One of the first tasks taken up by Washington Territory when it was separated from Oregon Territory was to build a wagon road over the Cascades that aimed to divert emigrants heading to the Willamette valley to Puget Sound instead.