In the first year of Meiji, Enomoto Takeaki led the old shogunate forces to Washinoki with Shinsengumi member Hijikata Toshizo and others to establish a new country in Ezo, and later occupied Goryokaku.
The following year, he fought against the new government forces in the Hakodate War and surrendered. However, Enomoto was saved by the kindness of Kuroda Kiyotaka, and in 1872 he served in the Kaitakushi (Development Agency), of which Kuroda was vice minister. At that time, he directed the construction of the Sapporo Main Road, the first magadam paved road in Japan, connecting Hakodate and Sapporo. The "Sapporo Main Road" connected Mori to Muroran by sea, and during the construction of the pier at Mori, Enomoto coated the piers with crude oil produced in Washinoki, a wood preservative treatment.
This is considered to be the beginning of the wood preservation method in Japan, and the piers from that time still remain at the site of the Mori Pier behind JR Mori Station.