sentences:  Work to develop the road occurred first in 1776.General George Washington, to support the Continental Army's 1775 invasion of Quebec, asked Thomas Johnson, a local landowner, to blaze a trail to St. John's on the Richelieu River near Montreal that army regiments could use to reach the area.On March 26, 1776, Johnson and four men set out through the snow, covering the to St. John's in 11 days.