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ALASKA HIGHWAY
The Alaska Highway The Brooklyn Bridge The Eisenhower Interstate System The Empire State Building The Hoover Dam The New York City Subway System New York Citys Central Park The Telephone: Wiring America
THE
ALASKA HIGHWAY
PAUL KUPPERBERG
The Alaska Highway Copyright 2009 by Infobase Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Chelsea House An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York, NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kupperberg, Paul. The Alaska Highway / by Paul Kupperberg. p. cm. (Building America : then and now) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60413-074-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Alaska HighwayHistoryJuvenile literature. 2. RoadsAlaskaDesign and constructionHistoryJuvenile literature. 3. RoadsBritish ColumbiaDesign and constructionHistoryJuvenile literature. 4. RoadsYukonDesign and constructionHistoryJuvenile literature. 5. United States. Army. Corps of EngineersHistoryJuvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series. F1060.92.K87 2009 388.109798dc22 2008025547 Chelsea House books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can nd Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at http://www.chelseahouse.com Text design by Annie ODonnell Cover design by Ben Peterson Printed in the United States of America Bang NMSG 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper. All links and Web addresses were checked and veried to be correct at the time of publication. Because of the dynamic nature of the Web, some addresses and links may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid.
CONTENTS
Imperative from the Viewpoint of National Defense It Was Nothing but Indian Trails Permafrost Was the Worst Thing We Had to Contend With When One Company Finished Their Work, They Would Leapfrog Ahead This Is No Picnic Nobody Else Knew the Mosquitoes Were There I Think Our Average Daily Mileage Was 14 Miles a Day Im Not Sure if the Roads Finished Today Chronology and Timeline Glossary Bibliography Further Resources Picture Credits Index About the Author
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INTRODUCTION
n December 7, 1941, the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was attacked by the Japanese air force, devastating the nations Pacic Fleet and drawing the United States into the global con ict that became World War II. The attack on the future ftieth state of the Union had an impact that was felt around the world, including in the farthest reaches of the future forty-ninth state, Alaska. A little more than three months after the bombs fell on those American ships, the rst of more than 18,000 U.S. military personnel and civilian workers and countless tons of equipment were hastily mobilized and shipped across Canada and Alaska in a massive effort to prevent future attacks on America or its interests by the Japanese. Hawaii and Alaska could not have been more diverse. Tropical Hawaii is located in the middle of the North Pacic Ocean, whereas Alaska is half the world away in the Arctic tundra. The one thing they had in common with each other, and with Japan, was the Pacic Ocean.
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The A laska Hig hway wa s bui lt to st rengthen t he inf rastructure of A laska an d prevent at tacks f rom in vading natio ns. T he U .S. mi litary a ssigned soldier s to the t ask o f con structing th e h ighway. Above, th e SS David W. Branch ca rries troops into the Gulf of Alaska.
would thus be strategic from Singapore via Australia, the Philippines, Hawaii and the United States to Canada and Alaska. Before the year was out, the Japanese government in Tokyo would further express its displeasure via its actions at Pearl Harbor. By 1941, about 20,000 American troops were stationed in Alaska, although they were not sufciently prepared. Alaska was home to fewer than three dozen bombers and ghters, only half of which were operational. General Simon Buckner, the commander of the Alaska Defense Command, reported to Washington, D.C., that he did not have the resources to defend
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CHAPTER 1
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After t he Jap anese at tack o n Pear l H arbor, Pres ident R oosevel t (above, s igning a d eclaration of war a gainst G ermany) rea lized shipping routes aroun d Alaska an d C anada also were v ulnerable. The p resident mad e t he A laska Hig hway p roject a top p riority, in order to create an al ternative met hod of t ransporting sup plies to military bases.
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EAST OR WEST?
The joint American- Canadian commission had, in fact, very few options in their choice of a route. The main objective was to cut a road through Canada and Alaska to link a string of military installations that stretched from Edmonton, Alberta, to Fairbanks, Alaska. It would form a supply chain to Europe and Asia and a defensive wall against invasion. The route was, for the most part, dictated by the location of the bases and installations it would service. Initially, there was discussion of constructing a rail line, which offered a greater capacity for cargo than did a road. Laying tracks through the wilderness, however, was deemed too time-consuming and expensive. As it was initially envisioned, the two-lane gravel road that could connect the existing U.S. highway system to distant Fairbanks, Alaska, would be difcult enough to build on its own. Early estimates had the project taking two years to complete at a cost of between $50,000 and $60,000 per mile. At the outset, four proposed routes were under consideration. Some were longer than others but offered disadvantages in such matters as terrain, weather, or location. The road had several separate but distinct needs, including having to pass as close as possible to many points on the map where existing airelds and other facilities were already located; relative ease of travel through harsh terrain, Arctic weather conditions, and mountains; access to connecting sea and rail facilities so that men and machines could be brought in; and being located far enough inland that it was not vulnerable to attack from the sea. Not one of the four routes, known as Routes A, B, C, and D, offered everything that was needed. In fact, none answered the greatest need of running parallel to the string of seven Northwest Staging Route airelds the road was being built to link. The United States favored Route A, which started in British Columbia at Prince George, and then cut northwest to Hazelton and up the Stikine River to White Horse and Fairbanks by way of the Tanana Valley. Although this was advantageous because it
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Though it met many of the militarys criteria, the new route was far from perfect. Between Watson Lake and Whitehorse lay the Rocky Mountains. The Rockies, formed millions of years ago, stretch more than 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from New Mexico in the American Southwest to northern British Columbia in Canada. They reach as high as 14,400 feet (4,401 meters) at Colorados Mount Elbert and 12,972 feet (3,954 km) at Mount Robson in British Columbia. This great hump across the back of the North American continental Midwest was a formidable obstacle to an eastern or western route through or, more accurately, over the mountains. In truth, no one could say with any certainty that there even was a viable path through the mountains in the area the road had to travel. Even as construction began, the planners hoped they would have a solution to that problem by the time they had to face it.
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A resp ected en gineer an d mi litary man , C olonel W illiam M. Ho ge (above) wa s given an almost impossible assignment when he was put in charge of the Alaska Highway project. Resp onsible for managing the work of seven re giments over a lar ge area t hat wa s sti ll mostl y unmap ped, Ho ge ar rived in A laska an d immediately went to wor k at est ablishing a p lanned route for t he road way.
going and what conditions they would encounter once they got there. Surveyors began their scouting and mapping efforts as soon as a decision on the route was reached. The surveyors of Company D of the 29th Engineer Topographical Battalion and Company A of the 648th Engineers were the rst ones in. Working with only a single map of the area between Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson and in conditions that included several feet of snow on the ground and dense clouds of mosquitoes and gnats, they pushed through the wilderness.
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Hoge was a ssigned to t he A rmored Force at F ort Knox, Kentu cky. Fro m there, he b ecame c ommander of t he 5 th En gineer Sp ecial B rigade, which wa s to p articipate in t he June 1 944 A llied in vasion of t he E uropean c ontinent. G eneral H oges c ommand w as ins trumental in h elping to se cure t he b each o n D-Day, an d he later p articipated in t he B attle of the Bulge with the 9 th Ar mored Division, an act ion that won him the Distinguished S ervice M edal. H e wa s f urther d ecorated in 1 945 an d received a p romotion to major g eneral. After W orld W ar II , G eneral Ho ge c ontinued hi s ser vice an d ear ned further distinction and decorations, f rst as an en gineer and then as the commanding general of U.S. troops in Trieste, Italy, and as commander of I X C orps dur ing the Korean W ar following his p romotion to l ieutenant general. B efore he retire d in Januar y 1 955, G eneral Ho ge c ommanded the F ourth A rmy at F ort S am Housto n, T exas, an d t he S eventh A rmy in G ermany. In S eptember 1 953, he re ceived hi s four th st ar a s c ommander in chief of the U.S. Army in Europe. General Hoge became chairman of t he board of Inter lake Iron Corporation of Clevelan d, O hio, an d retire d in 1 965. In 1 975, Ho ges heal th began to f ail; he move d to E aston, K ansas, to l ive wi th his so n, retire d army c olonel G eorge F. Ho ge. H e die d o n O ctober 29, 1 979, at t he a ge of 85, at Munson Army Hospital in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
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whose p rotes ts against t he use of t heir lan d as a p rison le d to an en d to that practice in 1848. Over time, and as the population increased during the nineteenth century, colonies w ere settled in other ter ritories across Australia, including V ictoria, Queensland, South Australia, the Nor thern T erritory, and Queensland. These six self- governing ter ritories joined to for m a federation in 1901, creating the Commonw ealth of Australia. It remained a dominion of the British Empire until 1942, however, when the country ended most of its for mal constitutional links with England. During most of its histor y, the majority of Australia s European citizens remained conf ned to the coastal areas of the continent. The vast interior of Australia comprises deser t or semi- arid lands, and temperate climates exist only in its southeaster n and southwester n corners. Australia is mostly f at and is the driest of the wor lds inhabited continents. So remote and inhospitable are these interior lands, known as the Outback, that more than 70 year s after it w as f rst settled Europeans still had no idea what la y at the hear t of their ne w land. One common belief w as that a great inland sea stood at the center of the continent, but attempts to explore this har sh land w ere met with failure and, often, death. Not until 1862 was a successful south- to-north crossing of Australia achie ved; this paved the w ay not only for the opening of the Nor thern Territory and the mysteries of the interior , but also for a highw ay across the continent.
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Although most did not b elieve African-American soldier s c ould p erform wel l in cold cl imates , t he shor tage of manp ower dur ing W orld W ar II for ced t he U .S. military to sen d t hree bla ck regiments to wor k o n t he A laska Hig hway p roject. Arriving in Alaska by Greyhound bus (above), t hese soldier s d ef ed the stereo types p laced upon them an d performed at t he s ame level of t heir w hite c ounterparts despite su bstandard e quipment an d c hallenging cl imate i ssues.
itself, would need to be broken up into segments. In June 1942, he placed Colonel James A. OConnor in command of the southern sector. As construction got under way, the four regiments were joined by the 93rd, 95th, and 97th Regiments, each composed of African-American soldiers commanded by white ofcers; this brought the total number of troops on the job to more than 11,000. Additional labor would come from civilian workers through the Whitehorse-based Public Roads Administration. By the summer of 1942, 18,000 soldiers and civilians were at work. Harvey Maloney, a member of the rst team to survey the route between Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, recalled in the book The Alaska Highway: A Historic Photographic Journey, The engineers blazed a trail for the soldiers to clear and we followed,
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CHAPTER 2
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The unp redictable cl imate of t he A laskan wi lderness p roved to b e a g reat challenge for t he hig hway team. T he soldier s, man y of w hom had never e xperienced c old cl imates b efore, were for ced to ad apt to t he A rctic quickl y. Above, a crew of soldier s bui lds a br idge over t he W hite Ri ver.
The 250 miles (402 km) between Fort St. John and Fort Nelson were divided into sectors, each with its own temporary base camp. These base camps offered supplies of fuel, a eld kitchen serving meals 24 hours a day, heated tents where drivers could rest while fresh drivers replaced them, and a tow truck that was constantly on the move to look for breakdowns or vehicles stuck in the mud. The march of men and equipment went on day and night. Then, on April 24, the warming trend that had sent temperatures above 50F (10C ) ended; overnight, the temperature plummeted
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for t he f abled inlan d sea bu t for v aluable miner al d eposits an d for farming an d g razing lan ds a s wel l. Aust ralias hosti le O utback b este d Stuart unti l hi s 18 611862 e xpedition, w hich set ou t f rom A delaide in S outh Aust ralia. T hough he f aced di sease, hosti le A borigines, an d temperatures t hat c ould rea ch 1 20F ( 49C), he su cceeded in rea ching t he nor thern c oast, near present-day D arwin. M ore imp ortant, he survived the journey if only just barely. He had to be carried home on a st retcher for t he dif f cult trek ba ck to A delaide. Stuarts ef forts not o nly p roved t hat Aust ralias inter ior was ho me to desert and that no inland s ea existed, it also opened the way to the c ontinents N orthern Territory an d d ef ned t he rou te t hat Char les Todd, t he p ostmaster g eneral of S outh Aust ralia, would fol low in 1872, wi th few d eviations, to la y the O verland Telegraph. T he route of the O verland Telegraph linked t he f ar en ds of t he c ontinent v ia a s ingle 1 ,988-mile ( 3,200 km) g alvanized i ron wi re str ung a long 36 ,000 poles, an d, ul timately, o n to En gland by un derwater c able v ia alread y existing l ines at Ja va, In donesia, ap proximately 1 ,000 mi les to t he east. T he tele graph l ine would lead to t he est ablishment of tow ns along i ts len gth, t he bui lding of a r ailroad, an d, more t han a c entury later, a hig hway name d for t he man w ho f rst p enetrated t he inter ior.
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The rou te of t he A laska Hig hway cu t t hrough mount ain r anges an d forest s. Although clear ing the forest s wa s e xpected to b e an ea sy t ask, t he equipment and men were s oon bogged down in mud. Above, a C aterpillar t ractor wid ens the roadway.
a distant second to permafrost, the permanent layer of frozen ground (at varying depths beneath the muskeg) that had stayed at below-freezing temperatures continuously for anywhere from a few years to several thousand years. Everyone talked of muskeg and everybody talked of mountains and crossing lakes and rivers, recalled General Hoge, but they had never heard of permafrost, which was the worst thing we had to contend with. In the early winter days of construction, bulldozers would clear a stretch of highway anywhere from 60 to 90 feet (18.28 to 27.43 m) wide of muskeg, trees, roots, and rocks by literally
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Seasonal t haws create d mu d p its in area s wi th p ermafrost an d musk eg. Confronted wi th bui lding o n t hese unst able sur faces, t he ar mys C orps of Engineers ad vised t he soldier s to c onstruct c orduroy roads an d dig dr ainage ditches. T hese in ventive solu tions al lowed wor k to c ontinue, bu t p rogress o n the road way slowe d as trucks and bulldozers became stu ck and damaged.
culverts was made of wooden staves, or narrow strips of wood held together by metal straps, like a barrel. Yet, there was little that men and machines could do in the face of nature. The land did what it had done since it had been formed. The U.S. Armys attempts to tame nature were only partially successful, but these engineers were nothing if not adaptable. North of Whitehorse was a stretch of road known as the Grand Canyon of the Alaska Highway, a narrow ditch formed by the gradually draining and settling silt. The constant ow of heavy trucks and construction equipment that passed over this
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CHAPTER 3
When One Company Finished Their Work, They Would Leapfrog Ahead
t looked like we didnt know what we were doing, said army engineer Bill Batey on Building the Alaska Highway. Sometimes wed head off one way and head off another way, and nally end up going through the most favorable route, not the best, but the most favorable. On-the-spot improvisation was required for most of the length of the road to Alaska via Canada, popularly known as the Alcan Highway. From the actual route to the methods for carving relatively level and, hopefully, sustainable surfaces out of whatever conditions happened to greet the engineers along the way, the highway was not a project whose problems could be foreseen. The fastest and easiest way to locate routes through deep forests, along rocky ledges, and over unstable landscapes was by air. As difcult as the initial miles had proven for the engineers and men not yet familiar with subarctic working conditions and challenges, their hard-won experience and the warming weather
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UP IN THE AIR
To build a road that provided access to these remote places, surveyors and engineers rst had to get to them. Although conditions on the ground could be examined by teams on horseback, the determination of the big picture of the terrain ahead depended on air travel. Satellites did not yet exist to give digital views of the Canadian and Alaskan landscape; instead, the workers had to rely on slow-moving aircraft and cameras or, just as likely, the naked eye. By far the greatest challenge for the Alcan was getting across the Rockies. Numerous passes at varying altitudes were suggested, evaluated, and discarded. The higher the road climbed, the steeper and more difcult it was to navigate. Another disadvantage to a route at higher altitudes was the weather, which grew colder the higher one climbed. General Hoge had his pilot y him over the proposed pass that would take the road down to the Yukon River. The place they had mapped out for me . . . was up above the timber line and was in the snow country, he recounted in his Engineer Memoirs. It would have been one hell of a job to get up there and then get down. . . . They just picked (the route) off of a map someplace, an airplane map or something. They had no information. They had a few (aerial) photographs . . . but that was all they knew about it. Like the engineers and surveyors who often hired natives as guides through the wilderness, General Hoge relied on a local to be his expert guide to the countryin this case, bush pilot Les Cook. He called Cook a crackerjack pilot and credited him as the one that showed me the route to follow. Cook and men like him were vital to the success of the highway project. They provided the only reliable form of transportation up and down the
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Without roads or inf rastructure, the most ef f cient form of transportation within the A laskan wi lderness wa s t he air plane. G eneral Ho ge an d hi s st aff were heavily dependent o n experienced bush p ilots like Les C ook (above), w ho had f own Ho ge over t he entire rou te of t he p ropose d hig hway.
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A railroad connecting Whitehorse an d Skagway became an i nvaluable mean s o f delivering sup plies an d mater ials to t he A laska Hig hway p roject. Above, tr ains carry sup plies to t he men wor king o n the A laska Hig hway.
The man suggested a possible but dubious alternative: down the Liard River, then up the Trout River to Muncho Lake. He added, Not sure though. Nobody ever go that way. Following the Watson Lake mans directions from the air, the engineers were surprised and delighted to nd that the suggested route was exactly what they had been looking for. The route offered only one obstacle: A sheer limestone cliff blocked the route on the eastern shore of Muncho Lake. This could be overcome, however, with enough dynamite to carve a ledge out of the cliff for the roadway.
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For most of t he ninete enth c entury an d into t he f rst half of t he twentieth c entury, t he T rack remaine d t he o nly l ifeline b etween t hese remote outposts and the rest of civilization. In the days before refrigeration, meat had to b e p rovided on t he ho of, or d elivered live to b e slaughtered an d c onsumed a s ne eded. A lfred G iles, w ho had wor ked to build the O verland Telegraph line, c hanged occupations an d became a sup plier of f resh meat. O n his f rst t rip up t he Track, he drove 7 ,000 sheep f rom S outh Aust ralia to t he st ations in t he N orthern Territory, a journey t hat t ook him an entire year t o complete. In 18 89, t he Palmer ston an d Pine Cre ek Rai lway l ine, w hich fol lowed t he g eneral rou te of t he Track, wa s op ened in t he N orthern Territory. O ver t he year s, i t would b e extended sou th to K atherine an d, by 1929, to Bir dum. T he Pine Cre ek line was shu t down in 1976. A lthough a north-to-south r ail l ine had lo ng b een di scussed, i t wa s not unti l February 2004 that a rail line from Adelaide in the s outh to Darwin in the nor th wa s f nally c ompleted. I t would , however , t ake t he ou tbreak of W orld W ar II to tur n t he dust y old T rack into so mething t hat more closel y resem bled a real road .
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SUPPLY CHAINS
The steady, reliable stream of supplies and equipment was vital to the speedy completion of the pioneer road through the wilderness. Without the access road to Teslin Lake, the only method of moving supplies in the summer months was by steamboat and barge up the Yukon River. In fact, the equipment that the 93rd needed to build the access road was stuck on the docks in Seattle, Washington. The troops were forced to start work with hand tools. As with most challenges along the highway, they completed their task with the
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Truck shi pments f rom Edmo nton, C anada, would t ravel over t he M ackenzie River (above) to rep lenish t he sup plies at D awson Cre ek. T he fo od an d e quipment t hat was d elivered to t he sou thern work s ite of t he A laska Hig hway project wa s share d wi th C anadian oi l p ipeline emp loyees. S oldiers in t he nor th received t heir mater ials by wa y of t he Y ukon Railroad.
tools they had. By June 18, 1942, the access road was cut and the engineers of the 340th were able to start their push north to Watson Lake. Supplies that came in on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad were trucked to centrally located Whitehorse. As construction progressed, supplies began to move up the road behind the workers. The military was sharing resources with the civilian contractors of the PRA, who followed behind the army engineers,
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CHAPTER 4
This Is No Picnic
orkers who applied for jobs with civilian contractors Bechtel-Price Callahan for the CANOL pipeline project were greeted by the following sign at the hiring halls where they gathered:
This is No Picnic! Working and living conditions on this job are as difcult as those encountered on any construction job in the United States or foreign territory. Men hired for this job will be required to work and live under the most extreme conditions imaginable. Temperatures will range from 90 above zero to 70 below zero. Men will have to ght swamps, rivers, ice and cold. Mosquitos [sic], ies and gnats will not only be annoying but will cause bodily harm. If you are not prepared to work under these and similar conditions, DO NOT APPLY.
This warning was a brutally frank assessment of what conditions would be like on the CANOL project. The same held true for the soldiers who built the highway.
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This Is No Picnic
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CANOL PIPELINE
During construction, Whitehorse remained the main supply point for the entire project. The materials, which arrived by ship and then rail via the White Pass and Yukon Railway, were trucked along the Richardson Highway. From there, they could be sent up the road as needed. Norman Wells, located about 500 miles (804 km) up the Mackenzie River from Whitehorse, was home to a little-known, undeveloped Canadian oil eld. The army decided to develop these oil resources as a backup in the event of a Japanese attack that might cut off oil supplies from the south. The oil was to be piped to the re nery at Whitehorse through the 4-inch (10 cm) CANOL pipeline, where it would be processed in the new re nery before it was shipped up the highway route to keep the bulldozers, the jeeps, and the rest of the construction effort moving. Before the pipeline could be laid, however, docks, cargohandling facilities, and a road had to be built. Men were also needed to operate the barges and pontoon rafts that would ferry supplies for CANOL. The grueling job of constructing the CANOL road in some of the most brutal conditions experienced by any workers on the project was assigned to the men of the AfricanAmerican 388th Engineer Battalion. At that time, the military was segregated, which meant that white troops and black troops were kept in separate units and were not allowed to minglea practice that would be ended by President Harry S. Truman in 1948. Civilian workers hired by the contracting rm of BechtelPrice Callahan to work on the road and re nery could choose whether or not they wished to labor under these conditions; the African-American soldiers could not. Along with two pontoon battalions of white soldiers, the 388th were shipped north to Waterways to construct the CANOL road. They also supported what would grow into a 1,200-mile (1,931 km) supply system that would stretch across both land and water, including Lake Athabasca and the Great Slave Lake, down to the Mackenzie River. The CANOL road connected with
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Recruiters p laced s igns in t heir of f ces war ning p otential ap plicants of t he br utal wor king c onditions at t he wor k s ites (above).
This Is No Picnic
the main highway at Johnsons Crossing, approximately midway along the Alcan Highway. The white engineers were assigned the tasks of building docks and cargo facilities at Norman Wells, as well as the operation of the barges and ferries. The black troops were responsible for the heavy lifting, for building the road and assisting on the construction of the pipeline through the harsh terrain, and for unloading and reloading up to 300 tons of supplies a day, including the endless miles of pipe that would carry the oil to and from the re nery. In terms of supplies, the CANOL project was given priority over even the road itself. Yet, as was the case with the entire highway, General Hoge was determined to forge ahead and get the job done with the supplies and resources on hand. But the specications for our road were that (we) had to supply the troops, and (we) had to have a decent road to get food, gasoline, and equipment up to the troops that were working, the general said in his memoirs. As for the CANOL road itself, that work was left mainly to the civilian contractors, although Hoge tested the turns, the radius on curves and what not, till I was sure that I could get our trucks and so on around them. Ultimately, the nal say on even that part of the operation was left to the efcient General Hoge. In all, the CANOL road, the pipeline between Norman Wells and Whitehorse, and the re nery would cost approximately $134 million. Soon after the end of the war, the entire project would be abandoned and the re nery dismantled.
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This Is No Picnic
along the highway route, pontoon planesaircraft that could land and take off from the water and did not require traditional aireldswere popular. The route of the Alaska Highway crossed thousands of small streams and major rivers in its run from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks. By the time the rst rough road was nished, it would feature 133 bridges and 8,000 culverts that spanned everything from minor springs and streams to major rivers. Some of these
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Like t he A laska Hig hway, t here wa s no time for nic eties. N o o ne expected the Track to be transformed from dirt path to paved highway overnight, or even in t he c ourse of a year . Instead , t he bui lders would have to b e content to wid en, st raighten, an d otherwise improve the dir t highway running through a wide variety of climatic c onditions t he length of the conti nent. The y cou ld a lso seal, w here p ossible, t he road bed. Although they were not f aced with unmap ped and mount ainous ter rain or t he bone-chilling c old o f t he A laska H ighway, t he A ustralian c ivilian and mi litary en gineers a ssigned to imp rove t he T rack had t heir ow n hazards to f ace. The road sou th of D arwin had never b een paved. T his raw, dir t track would b ecome c hoked wi th dust in t he dr y summer mo nths an d tur n into a mu ddy quagmire during the wet sea son. B eginning in S eptember 1940, construction crews st arted work on a 600-mile (965 km) section of road b etween Bir dun, t he ter minus for t he N orth Aust ralian Rai lway, and Alice Sp rings in t he Northern Territory. The work was c ompleted by years en d, bu t t he su bsequent r ainy sea son tur ned t he t hree mo nths of har d wor k into an imp assable r ibbon of mu d t hat cros sed cre eks swollen wi th r unoff. T he BirdunAlice Sp rings st retch would ne ed to be rebu ilt, t his ti me a s a p aved, all-weather road wi th br idges a cross creeks an d ot her water ways.
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Priorities shif ted w hen t he U .S. mi litary d ecided t he C anadian oi l p ipeline was a more imp ortant p roject t han t he A laska Hig hway. G overnment of f cials wanted to ensure a s teady, reliable s ource of oil could be accessible within North A merica. S oldiers an d en gineers were t ransferred to t he area to b egin building roads (above) that would s upply the pipeline project with materials.
This Is No Picnic
Engineers own sawmill, which itself was portable and could be moved up the road as the work progressed. Trucks delivered the freshly cut lumber to the work sites along with all of the necessary nuts and bolts and other hardware. In some cases, bridges and sections of culvert were assembled at the sawmill and then brought to the site and put into place by a roving crane. Most of the structures, however, were too big for this procedure and had to be built piece by piece over the rivers and streams they bridged. Later, private construction company crews hired by the Public Roads Administration would follow. These crews replaced timber bridges with permanent steel structures, and they nished and paved the rough dirt and corduroy roads the military workers slashed through the wilderness. The month of June saw increased activity, as the ground was nally dry enough that mud and silt were no longer a problem. The mood all along the highway was optimistic until July 9 or 10 when, without warning, the area was hit with the heaviest rains anyone could remember in more than 50 years. Heaviest hit were the several hundred miles around Fort Nelson. In those two days, the work of several weeks was undone: 24 of 25 bridges, countless culverts, and thousands of cubic yards of soil and gravel were washed away by the torrential downpour. The Muskwa River, where a 970-foot-long (296 m) bridge was under construction, rose 34 feet (10 m) overnight, washing away a construction crane and 300 barrels of fuel. A month later, another downpour destroyed four bridges and brought mudslides that blocked several sections of completed road. The engineers had learned the costly lessons of the rst rainstorm, however, and were prepared this time. The road was cleared and reopened within days. Other bridges, such as the 300-foot (91 m) Sikanni Chief River Bridge, which was reconstructed in 1943, would be completely bypassed when the permanent roadbed was later laid by crews from the PRA. The original temporary bridge across the river was put up by one of the African-American regiments in less than
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This Is No Picnic
four days and would last longer than any other bridge built during the original phase of construction. We cant afford to lose our own personal pride by slipping up, said one of the troops involved in the construction on Building the Alaska Highway. For the most part, workers relied on temporary pontoon bridges, which could be oated into place quickly, and on log bridges built on the spot by workers who used handheld crosscut saws and local lumber felled by the crews as they cleared the path for the road. The priority was to have structures that spanned the water, no matter how temporary, so that construction could keep moving forward. Northwest of Kluane Lake was the Donjek River, which would prove to be the most difcult river the crews spanned. The river, fed by glacial melt from the mountains, was wide and dangerous especially during the springtime, when the ice broke up and created treacherous ice jams that could pound bridge supports to pieces. Crews tried to erect several log bridges across the Donjek, none of which survived for very long. Forty miles north, the White River, another glacial river, proved equally daunting until sturdier and more permanent bridges could be erected. The longest trestle bridge along the route was the Nisutlin Bay Bridge at Teslin Lake at Johnsons Crossing. Because of the wartime shortage of steel, it would not be completed until 1944. At 2,300 feet (701 m) in length, the pilings, or foundations, for the approximately one-half-mile span had to be built on a thin layer of sand on top of a river bed that was mostly solid ice. Today, only a single original timber bridge built in 1942 remains, over Canyon Creek in the Yukon Territory. Like other stretches of the original pioneer road, this short span is no longer part of the Alaska Highway. The route shifted in later years to accommodate permanent construction.
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CHAPTER 5
he construction of the Alaska Highway changed not only the map of the remote territories through which it ran but the entire social and economic pro le of these areas as well. Before the territory opened up to settlers and tourists attracted by the highway, the construction crews of the military and the trailing PRA workers had to rst survive some of the harshest conditions on Earth to complete this vital artery. These workers faced not just cold weather but inferior living conditions, insects, and often dangerous methods of construction, especially in the early days of the project. The mosquitoes were all over, said General Hoge in his memoirs. Despite the cold weather, mosquitoes and gnats were so bad that, according to Hoge, the soldiers had to wear protective netting at all times, even to eat their meals. You would raise the head net and by the time you got food on the spoon up to your mouth it would be covered with mosquitoes. You were eating mosquitoes half the time, and then you had to pull (the net) right down again.
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Alaska i s ho me to 3 5 dif ferent sp ecies of mosqui to, an d t he wor kers o n t he Alaska Hig hway did t heir b est to st ay awa y f rom al l of t hem. D onning largebrimmed hats with net ting to p rotect their heads an d necks, the soldier s wore long shir ts an d pants (above) at al l times in an at tempt to c over ever y in ch of skin f rom t he blood-sucking ins ects.
Fortunately, unlike mosquitoes found in tropical climates, these were not dangerous. They were merely annoying: They didnt carry malaria or anything else, but there were all kinds. They came right out of the snow. As the snow melted, youd see them all over. Those were the big ones. They didnt sting so much and werent so bad. As the ones (later in the season) got smaller, they were more vicious. Id put my hand on my neck and pull it back and it would be covered with blood (from the mosquito bites). It was not uncommon for workers to be incapacitated from swelling caused from bites.
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depressions alo ng the route, the Aust ralian crews had to t ruck in ever ything el se. In f act, f resh sup plies were almost imp ossible to c ome by ; to ad equately fe ed t he hig hway crews an d keep t he N orthern Territory supplied with fresh produce to s upplement canned rations, the army set up f arms alo ng t he rou te. Fuel dumps were al so est ablished al l alo ng t he rou te. T he t rucks that move d c ontinuousl y alo ng t he Track and alo ng t he c onnecting road to s taging areas in the west coast city of Adelaide consumed vast quanti ties of ga soline du e to st rong head win ds an d t he hea vy loads t hey carried. In ad dition, there was a hig h rate of fuel evaporation in t he stor age dr ums e xposed to t he bl istering sun an d hig h temp eratures of t he re gion. From 1941 to t he end of t he war in 1 945, near c ontinuous mi litary convoys c arrying men , e quipment, sup plies, an d fo od move d up an d down the newly developed highway between the northern and southern coasts of Australia. Trucks that carried almost 200,000 troops and all that a ccompanied t hem, a s wel l a s sup plies an d fo od for t he ci vilian population i n t he Nor thern T erritory, dro ve an esti mated 1 00 m illion miles ( 160 mi llion k m) alo ng t he Track. I t wa s a l ifeline t hat enable d Aust ralia to en dure an d do i ts p art to f ght t he war in t he Pa cif c. When t he f ghting was over , t his well-est ablished Track t hrough t he wilderness rema ined. Yet, more t han three decades would p ass before construction of a p aved road t he entire wid th of t he c ontinent wa s undertaken.
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Keeping everyone fed was another problem that faced the workers scattered along the length of the Alaska Highway. Engineers and workers would often not see fresh food for months at a time. They relied instead on C rations, or prepackaged meals that offered few optionsusually vegetable hash, meat hash, or
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The la ck of v ariety in fo odstuffs create d anot her har dship for t he wor kers to endure w hile wor king o n t he A laska Hig hway. Pan cakes, c anned meat s, an d frozen p otatoes of ten were t he o nly e dible sup plies o n han d, t hough most soldiers were able to s upplement their diet with local f sh an d game . Above, hungry soldier s t ake a break to ref ll t heir b ellies aroun d t he f re.
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AFRICAN-AMERICAN SOLDIERS
African-American soldier s were t hought to b e esp ecially v ulnerable to the cold and harsh conditions foun d in the nor th. S hockingly, the of f cial U.S. A rmy p osition ( as p ut for th by a stu dy c onducted by t he A rmy War College, a t raining s chool for mi litary of f cers) wa s T he N egro i s c areless, shif tles s, irresponsible and se cretive. . . . H e is best han dled with praise and by ridicule. Indeed, t he mi litary wa s relu ctant to even sen d African-American troops to wor k o n t he hig hway, for fear t hat t hey would not b e able to keep up with their white counterparts on this vital and fast-moving project. It was, in fact, unoff cial army policy to not send African-American troops places like Alaska and Canada because of t he mistaken assump tion t hat t hey were not c apable of p erforming wel l in t he e xtreme c old. Yet, a war time shor tage of troops following the Japanese at tack on Pearl Harbor, before draftees an d enlistees c ould be trained and shipped out, forced t he use of bla ck troops o n this v ital nor thern mission. Although African-American soldier s mad e up ab out one-third o f th e troops a ssigned to t he hig hway, t hey of ten were a ssigned the har shest jobs in t he wor st c onditions, in cluding d oing t he lab or o n t he br utal CANOL pipeline project. They were used only because the better-trained and better-equipped white soldier s were ne eded for jo bs d eemed more important. T he bla ck wor kers were rou tinely underequipped, an d l ittle
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Time Magazine reported that Out in the bush the only recreation is hunting and shing . . . (soldiers) hunt to vary meals of corned beef, potatoes, lemonade, carrots, preserves and dried eggs, by adding moose and bear steaks, lake trout, spruce partridge (Yukon chickens), ptarmigan (a species of game bird),
thought wa s gi ven to t heir p hysical well-being or s afety. I t wa s not unusual for sup plies an d equipment to g o to w hite soldier s, lea ving t he African A mericans to mak e d o wi th han d to ols. T hey lab ored for we eks at a time in br utal temp eratures t hat c ould rea ch 60F ( 51C), l iving on frozen rations and in drafty c anvas tents. Blacks in unifor m had to en dure t he A rmys di scriminatory r acial policies, s aid hi storian H eath T wichell. T he f requent e xpressions of hostility a nd cont empt the y e ncountered from i ndividual wh ites on ly made t hat e xperience al l t he more p ainful. Af rican A mericans w ho worked un der w hite of f cers t rained in t hese p rejudicial b eliefs f aced diff cult c onditions. A ccording to T wichell, In t he min ds of most senior white of f cers, bla ck troops were not a s capable in ter ms of t heir technical ef f ciency and abi lity t o use t he e quipment. T here wa s an e xpectation that they would do poorly. Their every action became an effort to prove to t he w hite of f cers an d soldier s t hat t hey were a s c apable a s anyone el se. Of c ourse, a s wa s ul timately p roven by t heir re cords for most hig hway mi leage bui lt, t he ar my v astly un derestimate d t he intel ligence an d skill of their black soldier s. The durability of the 300-foot (91 m) Sikanni Chief Ri ver B ridge, w hich wa s c onstructed by African-American r egiments in les s than four d ays, wa s p roof of t his.
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In t he su bzero temp eratures of Y ukon Territory, f rozen e quipment st alled p rogress as trains and trucks needed to be warmed up manually or dug out of the snow. Frost bite was al so an enor mous p roblem, a s even t he smal lest p atches of exposed skin c ould freeze and require me dical at tention. Above, men use a rotary plow to dig ou t t he Y ukon Route t rain f lled with s upplies from S kagway.
the extreme northern climate. These included sheepskin-lined trench coats, reversible parkas, fur helmets, lambskin caps, wool pants, goggles, and down sleeping bags. Yet, the woolen gloves and rubber boots were not enough to ward off the harsh conditions. Cases of frostbite, or the freezing of esh from the extreme cold, were routine. Ofcers reported coming across heavy machine operators parked by the side of the road, in tears because of the cold.
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Others reported that even antifreeze did not prevent a trucks radiator uid from freezing. To prevent the frozen uid from expanding and cracking the engine blocks, it would be drained and kept warm over a re until it was time to restart the vehicle. Engineers and workers alike were diligent in keeping their equipment in working order. It was, said Griggs, actually a ght for survival. Billy Connor put it bluntly: Minor mistakes can be deadly. If your vehicle breaks down in the Arctic, walking a few miles can actually cost you your life. Sanitation and personal hygiene were also problems for the men in the eld. During the coldest winter months, the New York
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pring and summer brought renewed hope to the men building the Alaska Highway. Unfortunately, it also brought new challenges, including the onset of mosquitoes, gnats, and black ies as well as the challenge of the melting permafrost exposed to the above-freezing temperatures. The northern section of the highway came to a virtual standstill, with as little as a single mile a day of road being completed until engineers came up with a solution to the sodden problem.
OTHER ROADS
Although the highway wound through territories largely unknown and unmapped by the army surveyors and engineers, this was not entirely unexplored territory. The areas indigenous peoples and settlers had long traveled and traded along the general region that was selected as the highways corridor. In addition, as has been noted, it passed through and, in many instances, destroyednumerous settlements and villages. So quick was the progress of the highway that Canadian and
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Though not te chnically a p art of t he A laska Hig hway, t he Ric hardson Hig hway wa s a v ital c onnection f rom t he c oast to t he hig hway proper. A nother preexisting st retch of road, the Glenn Highway which was f rst laid ou t a s t he Palmer R oad in t he 1930s connected Anchorage, A laska, near t he mi litary ba se of M errill F ield nor thwest of V aldez to t he a gricultural c olony of G lenn, 18 7 mi les ( 301 k m) to the n ortheast. Du ring th e co urse o f th e con struction o f th e Al aska Highway, t he Palmer R oad wa s e xtended to rea ch G lennallen o n t he Richardson Hig hway. T he T ok Cu toff, a se ction of t he G lenn Hig hway (named for C aptain Ed win G lenn, w ho le d t he 18 98 ar my e xpedition that blazed the Alaska route to the Klondike), extended the highways length to 3 28 mi les ( 528 k m). Crews wor king for t he Pu blic R oads Administration were put to work improving the Richardson Highway into Fairbanks. The Ric hardson Highway was by no means an ea sy p iece of wor k for the construction crews, who were brought in by s hip at Valdez in April. The road needed t o be clea red o f the dee p wi nter sno ws a nd wi dened to render it passable, esp ecially over a t reacherous p ortion of t he route through T hompson Pass. T his jo b was a ssigned to t he 97th En gineers, one of t he African-American regiments. T he wor kers, however, were not given t he p roper t raining or ad equate e quipment to d o t he ne cessary work of quickl y op ening t his st retch of road to t ruck convoys ne eded to ferry men an d sup plies f rom the port at V aldez to t he main c onstruction corridor. I t took t wo months fo r 78 miles ( 125 km) of ro ad to b e hacked out of t he wa gon road.
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The st retch of t he A laska Hig hway t hat to ok t he lo ngest to c onstruct wa s t he mile near K luane L ake. T he lak e i s sur rounded by g ranite cl iffs, quicks and, and permafrost, an d it was o ne of t he big gest c hallenges of t he project. U sing dynamite and jackhammers, workers had to cu t through the rock to make room for t he hig hway (above).
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techniques, in cluding t he c onstruction of more st able road beds an d drainage systems , were p ut into ef fect alo ng t he entire st retch of t he road. M uch of t he World War II era bitumen sur face was remove d and replaced. W hen the S tuart Highway was of f cially opened on March 24, 1987, by F ederal Mini ster for T ransport Peter M orris, l ittle if an y of t he original s ealed sur face sur vived. Construction continues al l along the S tuart Highway. A minin g boom in p arts of S outh Aust ralia ha s le d to t he ne ed for b etter an d wid er highways to a ccommodate t he in crease in t raff c an d t rucking. Pa ved surfaces ha ve al so d eteriorated over t he year s un der t he har sh heat of t he O utback. T he ef fort and cost of maint aining t he hig hway le d the government to insti tute a p rogram of up grades to t he T rack. A mong other i ssues, t he up grade program which w ill c ontinue into 20 09 will wid en lanes to a unifor m 1 1.5 fe et ( 3.5 m ), wi th 3 .2-foot-wide (1 m) should ers, lar ge enou gh to a ccommodate t he giant dump t rucks, tandem t railers, an d ot her vehicles t hat wi ll ne ed to use t he road in the c oming year s. A dditional an d up graded ser vice area s wi ll al so b e added alo ng t he rou te, where tow ns an d ou tposts c an b e hundreds of miles ap art. Todays S tuart Hig hway ha s evol ved into f ar more t han t he or iginal dirt Track t hrough t he O utback. T he mo dern S tuart i s no lo nger just a highway but a high-tech corridor through which run not o nly the historic Track bu t a t ranscontinental r ailroad, ga s an d water p ipelines, p ower and f i er-optic c ommunications l ines, an d microwa ve tower s. F ar f rom being a l ine b etween t he sou th an d nor th c oasts, i t ha s g rown into a vital li feline t hat li nks all p oints o f A ustralia.
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The f rst t ruck to r un f rom D awson Cre ek to F airbanks i s f anked by soldier s (above). Af ter eig ht mo nths of c onstruction, t he hig hway wa s p ut to use , although it was not entirely com plete.
before they could truly be called a road, the meeting of the two units was symbolic, and the army used it to great public relations benet. Knowing they were only days away from this moment, the army hadtwo days earlier sent two soldiers, Corporal Otto Gronke and Private First Class Robert Bowe, on the rst ofcial trip along the completed highway in a half-ton weapons carrier. Corporal Gronke and Private Bowe drove the 1,030 miles (1,658 km) between Dawson Creek and Whitehorse in 71 hours
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eneral Hoge was relieved of command of the Alaska Highway project in September 1942 and reassigned to Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he trained to command armored divisions of tanks. We had gotten trucks through when I left, he recalled in his memoirs, published in 1993. We didnt have the road nished. Actually, Im not sure if the roads nished today. The highways ofcial opening ceremony was held as scheduled, 162 miles (260.7 km) north of Whitehorse. Two hundred invited guests stayed at a newly constructed barracks building and feasted on a banquet of moose steak and roast mountain sheep. Brass bands played and speeches were made before the ribbon- cutting ceremony took place in the 15F (26C) weather. Yet, for all the pomp and circumstance, the highway was still little more than a rough supply route. It would be a long time before it could truly be considered a proper highway. The winter of 1942 was one of the coldest on record, with temperatures reaching 70F (56.6C). Nonetheless, the army was under orders to keep the highway open as a supply line. In
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The U .S. mi litary c elebrated wi th an op ening c eremony for t he hig hway o n Soldiers S ummit beside Kluane Lake. Used as propaganda to boost wartime mor ale in t he Uni ted S tates, t he sp lashy event feature d a br ass ban d, speeches, an d an elab orate banqu et during o ne of t he c oldest mo nths of t he year. Above, t he of f cial ribbon-cutting c eremony.
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The dramatic dif ferences b etween winter and summer p osed unique problems for t he c onstruction an d maintenan ce of t he A laska Hig hway. B ridges were submerged by r ising water s in t he winter, t hen wa shed awa y in t he r ushes of the s ummer thaw. Above, a t ruck is stu ck in r ising waters as an ic e bridge collapses in T eslin.
ice pushed the icy waters higher and ooded the surrounding countryside. Bridges were literally swallowed by ice from below; come the spring thaw, they were swept away by the force of the receding waters. This problem was particularly acute along the northernmost stretches of the highway in Canada, from the Donjek River to Big Delta in Alaska.
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Built from an initial reaction of fear and vulnerability in wartime, the Alaska Highway was an ep ic undertaking by the U.S. mi litary. Eleven re giments of men, many of w hom had never e xperienced t he A laskan wi lderness, c ompleted o ne of t he greatest en gineering feat s in t he har shest of cl imates in a mere eig ht mo nths. Though the road is no longer used s trictly for military purposes, it is often frequented by tour ists w ho are at tracted to t he sp ectacular A laskan s cenery.
job was to keep it in passable conditions on a year-round basis. They had to widen it where necessary to a width of 26 to 32 feet (8 to 10 m), straighten its hairpin turns, reduce grades to the maximum allowable 10 degrees, lay new roadbeds across vast stretches of swampy areas, and replace the hundreds of temporary wooden bridges with permanent steel structures. Workers for private construction companies hired by the PRA, who had gained experience working in the harsh Arctic conditions during the initial construction season of 1942, began to replace the military engineer regiments. By mid-1943, more
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CHRONOLOGY
1867 The United States purchases the 663,267 square miles of the Alaskan Territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or approximately .02 per acre. August Gold is discovered along the Klondike River near Dawson City in Alaskas Yukon Territory, bringing a stampede of an estimated 40,000 people to this remote northern area. Construction of the White Pass and Yukon Railway begins; the U.S. Congress authorizes funds for development of a telegraph line running from Seattle, Washington, to Sitka, Alaska, on the Gulf of Alaska.
1896
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TIMELINE
1867
The Uni ted S tates p urchases t he 663,267 s quare miles of t he A laska Territory from Rus sia for $7.2 million, or approximately .02 per acre.
1928
Donald MacDonald, an engineer with the A laskan Road C ommission, p roposes the idea fo r a hi ghway that would connect the lower 4 8 states w ith Alaska an d the Yukon Territory via C anada.
1867
1941
December 7 The J apanese at tack Americas nav al base at Pear l Harbor, Hawaii, si gnaling the beginning of U .S. involvement in W orld War II.
1941
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Chronology
1904 North West Mounted Police ofcer Major Constantine is sent to open a trail to the gold elds of the Canadian Yukon, building 375 miles (603 km) of road between Fort St. John and the Stikine River before the project is cancelled. A telegraph line from Seattle, Washington, to Valdez, Alaska, begins operation. January 27 Congress creates the Alaska Road Commission, which is authorized to build the territorys rst proper roads. Construction begins on the Alaska Railroad to connect Seward to Fairbanks. July 13 The 470-mile (756 km) Alaska Railroad between Seward and Fairbanks is completed at a cost of $65 million.
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1905
1915 1923
1942
February 7 The chief of s taff of the U.S. A rmy approves t he A laska Highway project. March 8 Construction of t he A laska Highway of f cially begins.
1942
September 24 The northern and sou thern segments of t he highway meet at C ontact Creek, marking the completion of t he Alaska Highway.
1948
1948
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1933
1939
1941
1942
Chronology
May 15 A makeshift barge transporting men and equipment across Charlie Lake capsizes in a sudden storm, killing 12 soldiers. May After two months of work, only 95 miles (152 km) of highway have been built. June 3 The Japanese attack the American base at Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, 750 miles west of the Alaskan coastline, and seize two islands at the western end of the island chain. June In improving weather, 295 miles (475 km) of road are nished during the month. July Progress increases, with an additional 400 miles (644 km) of road nished. September 24 The northern and southern segments of the highway meet at Contact Creek, marking the completion of the Alaska Highway. November 20 The Alaska Highway is ofcially dedicated at Soldiers Summit with the arrival of the rst truck convoy from Whitehorse to Fairbanks. April 1 The U.S. Army ofcially transfers control of the Canadian portion of the Alaska Highway to the Canadian army, Northwest Highway System. The Alaska Highway is open to limited public access.
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1946
1948
GLOSSARY
Arctic
The region near or at the North Pole that is characterized by low temperatures and hostile environments. berm A mound of earth formed to control the ow of surface water. corduroy road A roadbed built up with logs laid tightly together; named for the rough texture of the fabric. culvert A pipe used to direct water away from the surface and under the road. elevation The height of a geographical location in relation to a specic xed point, usually sea level. engineer A person professionally trained in creative, scientic, and technological specialties to plan and create mechanical or physical structures for a variety of uses. frostbite The freezing of esh exposed to extreme cold. gauge The distance between two rails; standard gauge in the United States is 56.5 inches (143.5 cm). grade The angle, or gradient, of the slope of a road or other surface. Great Divide The division in the North American continent formed by the Rocky Mountains. muskeg A swamp or bog formed by thousands of years of accumulated decayed vegetative matter; common to glacial regions. Northwest Staging Route A series of airports, airstrips, and radio directional stations placed every 100 miles (160 km) from British Columbia across the Yukon to Alaska, connected by the Alaska Highway. Panama Canal The 40-mile-long (64 km) ship canal built by the United States across the Isthmus of Panama between 1904 and 1914 to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacic Ocean, cutting 8,000 miles (12,875 km) from the journey by ship between New York and San Francisco.
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Glossary
permafrost
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A layer of soil at varying depths below the surface that has remained continuously frozen for anywhere from a few to many thousands of years. pioneer road The rst rough road through a wilderness area, usually unpaved. pontoon A at-bottomed boat, or the oats used to support a structure on water. prefabricated Standardized sections that are preassembled in a factory or other location to be shipped and assembled at a building site. Public Roads Administration The U.S. government agency charged with overseeing and maintaining Americas roads and highways. Quartermaster Corps The unit of the military that specialized in supplying and provisioning troops. siding A short stretch of railroad track used to store railcars or to allow trains on the same line to pass one another. silt A rock or mineral particle smaller than very ne sand and larger than coarse clay. surveyor One who determines the boundaries and elevations of the land through the three- dimensional measurement of points and the distances and angles between them. trestle A timber, reinforced concrete, or steel structure usually consisting of many short spansused to support a temporary or permanent bridge or to temporarily construct a bridge. United States Army Corps of Engineers A division of the U.S. Army whose mission is to provide military and public works and engineering services in support of military actions and the public good, including dams, canals, military installations, and environmental regulations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barracks with Bath. Time, August 31, 1942. Available online: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/ 0,9171,850012,00.html Cohen, Stan. The Trail of 42: A Pictorial History of the Alaska Highway. Missoula, Mont.: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1979. Griggs, William E. The World War II Black Regiment That Built the Alaska Military Highway: A Photographic History. Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi, 2002. Haigh, Jane. The Alaska Highway. Whitehorse, Canada: Wolf Creek Books, 2000. Public Broadcasting Service. Building the Alaska Highway. American Experience. PBS.org. Available online: http:// www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/alaska/. Twichell, Heath. Northwest Epic: The Building of the Alaska Highway. New York: St. Martins Press, 1992. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Engineer Memoirs: General William M. Hoge, U.S. Army. January 1993. Available online: http://www.usace.army.mil/publications /eng-pamphlets/ ep8701-25/toc.htm.
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FURTHER RESOURCES
Alaska Highway Construction During World War II. DVD. College Park, Md.: National Archives of the United States, 2008. American Experience: Building the Alaska Highway. DVD. Directed by Matthew Collins and Rocky Collins. PBS, 2005. Bauer, Erwin, and Peggy Bauer. The Alaska Highway: A Portrait of the Ultimate Road Trip. Seattle, Wash.: Sasquatch Books, 2003. Brown, Tricia. The World-Famous Alaska Highway. Portland, Ore.: Alaska Northwest Books, 2008. Dalby, Ron. The Alaska Highway: An Insiders Guide. Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, 2007. Dalby, Ron. Guide to the Alaska Highway. Birmingham, Ala.: Menasha Ridge Press, 2008.
WEB SITES
The Alaska Highway http://www. alaska-highway.org/ Alaska Highway Photo Album http://www.explorenorth.com/library/weekly/aa111398.htm Alaska Road Traveler Information Service http://511.alaska.gov/ Driving the A laska Highway http://www.outwestnewspaper.com/akhwy.html The Milepost http://www.themilepost.com/
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PICTURE CREDITS
PAGE 10: Courtesy of William E. Griggs 16: Library of Congress, 3a17434 21: Library of Congress, 08547 29: Yukon Archives, Al Tomlin collection, 92/30, #3 34: Yukon Archives, R.A. Cartter fonds, #1497. 39: Library of Congress, 8e00450 44: Yukon Archives, Phillip Neal fonds, 93/09, #46 48: Yukon Archives, Robert Ward fonds, #8767 53: Library of Congress, 8e00467 57: Finnie/NWT Archives/ N-19790630144 62: Yukon Archives, Finnie family fonds, 81/21, #43
66: Finnie/NWT Archives/ N-19790630163 71: Yukon Archives, Robert Hays fonds, #5702 77: Finnie/NWT Archives/ N-19790630172 81: Yukon Archives, William J. Preston fonds, 85/78, #15 88: Yukon Archives, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration collection, 87/28, #32 95: Yukon Archives, Aubrey J. Simmons fonds, 82/192, #10 100: Library of Congress, 8e00462 101: Yukon Archives, James Philips fonds, 93/93, #44 103: Henry Georgi / Getty Images
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INDEX
A
accidents, 4143, 67, 75, 82, 92 African-American soldiers, 7879 CANOL road construction, 61, 63 conditions endured by, 75, 79 equipment for, 5657, 78, 79 performance of, 97 regiments in, 29 Richardson Highway, 87, 89, 96, 97 Sikanni Chief River Bridge, 67, 69 aircraft airelds for, 18, 49, 89, 92, 9394 ying conditions, 48 surveying by, 4748, 49, 52, 53 transporting men and equipment by, 6465 weather and, 17 Alaska American armed forces in (1941), 10 defense and, 811, 1517, 4849, 93 Japanese military bases near, 8 location, 7 Alaska Highway completion, 97, 99, 104105 cost of, 18, 97 length of, 12, 105 maintenance and improvements, 101104 opening ceremony, 99 popular name for, 46 reasons for, 9, 11, 18 as secret, 50 The Alaska Highway (Haman), 40, 75 The Alaska Highway: A Historic Photographic Journey (Haigh), 2930, 45 Aleutian Islands, 8, 15, 93 American Experience (television series). See Building the Alaska Highway (PBS documentary) armed forces. See speci c units Attu (Aleutian Island), 93 Australia, 2627, 3637 See also Stuart Highway
B
Barracks with Bath (Northwood), 50 base camps, described, 34 Batey, Bill, 46 Batey, Bob, 74 Bechtel-Price Callahan, 60, 61 bitumen, 72, 91 Blizzard (dog), 14 Bowe, Robert, 9596 bridges destroyed, 101 ice as, 6364 number built, 97 Sikanni Chief River, 67, 69, 79 types built, 6669 Buckner, Simon, 1011 Building the Alaska Highway (PBS documentary), 24, 38, 40, 46, 49, 69, 7273, 74, 75 Burke, George H., 45, 75, 76
C
Canada contribution to road building, 27 early roads, 13 Northwest Staging Route jobs and, 94 route preference, 19 Canadian-American Permanent Joint Board of Defense (PJBD), 8 CANOL (Canadian Oil) pipeline construction of, 61, 63 as rival for supplies, 5859 working conditions along, 60 Carey, F.W., 17 Charlie Lake, 42 civilian workers, 29, 8687, 89, 94 clothing, 7879, 8081 communications, 102 Company A of the 648th Engineers, 21 Company D of the 29th Engineer Topographical Battalion, 21 Connor, Billy, 38, 41, 82
115
116
F
Fairbanks, Alaska, 93 res, 4243, 82, 92 First Nations effect of construction on, 8485 food for construction workers from, 77 knowledge of area, 24, 8485 land claims of, 30 oods, 4345 food, 34, 56, 7680 Fort Nelson aireld at, 93 as base camp, 25, 34 history of, 43, 92 route and, 19 Fort St. John as base camp, 25, 3132, 34 Constantine road, 13 history of, 92 Frontiers (publication), 14
D
Dawson Creek, British Columbia re, 4243, 92 growth of, 8992 preparations for arrival of crews, 3132 as supply point, 58 Dot Lake, 89
G
Gabriel, Lynn, 105 Geyer, Henry, 74 Giles, Alfred, 55 Glenn Highway, 87 gold, 13 Grand Canyon of the Alaska Highway, 4445 Griggs, William, 75, 77, 82 Gronke, Otto, 9596
E
18th Combat Regiment Engineers assignment of, 25 section built by, 89, 9697 permafrost and, 4041 Engineer Memoirs: General William M. Hoge (Hoge), 1920, 28, 47, 58 Engineering News Record (publication), 76 entertainment, 76 equipment for African-American soldiers, 78, 79 aircraft to transport, 6465 amount of, 27, 5657 CANOL and, 5859 effect of cold weather on, 8283 effect on land of, 4445 for Lend-Lease Program, 9 mud and, 38, 45 muskeg and, 39 slush and, 2728
H
Hacker, Alden, 75 Haigh, Jane, 2930 Haines Cutoff Road, 85, 100 Haman, Ray, 40 Harriman, F.H., 13 Hawaii, 7 Hochi (Japanese newspaper), 910 Hoge, William M., 2223 on accomplishing mission, 63 on CANOL road, 63 command and, 2829 on completion of Alaska Highway, 99 on construction speed, 41, 55 on construction strategy, 25 on Cook, 47, 48
Index
on oods, 43 on ying conditions, 48 on food for workers, 56 on getting supplies and equipment, 58, 59 on hours worked, 74 on maintaining secrecy, 50 on mosquitoes, 70 movement of men and supplies, 33 on muskeg, 38, 40 relieved of command, 99 route and, 19, 2425, 28, 35, 47, 54 on use of aircraft for surveying, 49 on Wheeler, 51 weather and, 25, 32, 4345, 99100 Lend-Lease Program, 9, 93 Logan, John, 14 Lytle, Wallace, 40, 7374 Lytle and Green, 87, 89
117
M
MacDonald, Donald, 1315, 17 MacDonald, Donald, III, 14 Magnuson, Warren, 17 Maloney, Harvey, 2930 maps, 20, 21, 2223 See also surveying teams McConachie, Grant, 49 McCusker Trail, 5254 Mile 0, 89 Mims, Fred, 7273, 77, 8081 Mitchell, Billy, 8 mosquitoes, 7074, 75, 84 mud, 3738, 45 mud season, 35 muskeg, 3840, 41, 52
I
ice bridges, 6364 indigenous peoples effect of construction on, 8485 food for construction workers from, 77 knowledge of area, 24, 8485 land claims of, 30 insects, 7074, 75, 84
N
Native Americans effect of construction on, 8485 food for construction workers from, 77 knowledge of area, 24, 8485 land claims of, 30 New York Times (newspaper), 11, 1415, 76, 7879, 8283 93rd Regiment Engineers, 29, 5657 95th Regiment Engineers, 29, 75 97th Regiment Engineers member of, 29 performance of, 97 Richardson Highway and, 87, 89 Tok Cutoff and, 89, 96 Nisutlin Bay Bridge, 69 Norman Wells oileld, 61, 63 Northwest Epic (Twichell), 50, 82, 9697 Northwest Service Command, 92 Northwest Staging Route air transportation and, 17 airelds, 18, 9394 beginning of construction of, 9 Canadian government and, 94
J
Jalufka, Alfred, 97 Janszoon, Willem, 26 Japan attack on Aleutian Islands, 15, 93 attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 Australia and, 64 military bases near Alaska, 8
K
Kluane Lake, 97, 100
L
land conditions effect of equipment on, 4445 installation of telephone lines and, 102 mud, 3738, 45 permafrost, 39, 4041, 97 prior knowledge about, 20
118
O
OConnor, James A., 29 Ottawa Journal (newspaper), 50 Oubre, Hayward, 74 Out West (newspaper), 104 Outback (Australia). See Stuart Highway Overland Telegraph (Australia), 37, 5455
P
Palmer Road, 87 Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway, 55 Peace River bridge, 68 frozen, 25, 32 thawed, 42 Pearl Harbor, 7 permafrost, 39, 4041, 97 pontoon bridges, 66, 69 Public Roads Administration (PRA), 25, 29, 86, 102104
S
sawdust insulation, 32 secrecy, 50 segregation, 61, 63 770th Railway Operating Battalion, 51 Seward, Alaska, 15 shipping, importance of, 17 Sikanni Chief River Bridge, 67, 69, 79 Sims, Re nes, Jr., 97 648th Engineers, Company A, 21 Skagway, Alaska, 5152, 92 snowdrifts, 100 Soviet Union, 8, 9, 93 Stewart, Charles, 17 Stimson, Henry, 11, 9798 Stuart, John McDouall, 26, 3637 Stuart Highway construction of, 7273, 90 history, 26 modern, 9091 Overland Telegraph and, 5455 World War II and, 6465 Sturt, Charles, 36 supplies CANOL and, 5859, 61, 63 food for workers, 56 for Lend-Lease Program, 9 for maintenance and improvements, 101104 Stuart Highway and, 73 summer route, 56
Q
Quartermaster Corps, 32, 35
R
railroads as alternative shipping route, 85 Australian, 55 building instead of highway, 18 early plans for, 13 effect on local towns of, 5152 importance to construction of, 51 Northwest Staging Route and, 92 supplies shipped by, 51, 5758 Richardson, Wilds P., 86 Richardson Highway, 8687, 89, 96, 97 Riggs, Thomas, 17 roads, early, 1315 Rocky Mountains construction speed across, 5455
Index
transportation of, 2728, 42, 51, 5758 surveying teams aerial surveys by, 4748, 49, 52, 53 rst, 21 knowledge of territory and, 28, 30, 52 work methods of, 2324 U.S.-Canadian Alaskan International Highway Commission, 15
119
W
Wardle, J.M., 17 water bottom up freezing, 100101 muskeg, 3840 rains, 67 route and, 6566 weather and crossing bodies of, 25, 28, 3233, 42, 6364 Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, 92, 93 weather air transportation and, 17 altitude and, 47 bodies of water and, 25, 28, 3233, 42, 6364 changes, 33, 3435 effect of cold, 7879, 8083, 99100 land conditions and, 25, 32, 4345, 99100 railroads and, 85 roads and, 33 Rocky Mountains and, 52 winter temperatures, 11 Welling, Alvin, 31, 32 Wheeler, Herb, 51 White Pass and Yukon Railroad, 5152, 5758, 85, 92 Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, 25, 92, 100 Williams, Clyde Slim, 14 workers civilian, 29, 8687, 89, 94 conditions endured by, 60, 83 effect of cold, 7879, 8083 entertainment and, 75, 76 food for, 34, 56, 7680 hours worked, 7475 insects and, 7074, 75 isolation of, 75 for maintenance and improvements, 103104 See also surveying teams World War II Aleutian Islands, 1517 importance of shipping, 17 Pearl Harbor, 7
T
telephone lines, 102 35th Combat Regiment Engineers bridges built by, 6667 highway completion and, 9495 as model unit, 2527 supplies and, 42, 56 transport north of, 35 weather and, 33, 80 338th Engineer Battalion, 61, 63 340th General Service Regiment, 25, 56, 9495 341st General Service Regiment, 25, 42, 56 Time (magazine), 2425, 27, 50, 74, 7980 Todd, Charles, 26, 37 Tok Cutoff, 87, 89 tourism, 105 the Track. See Stuart Highway Tremblay, Thomas, 17 trucks. See equipment Truman, Harry S., 61 Turner, Frank C., 104 29th Engineer Topographical Battalion, Company D, 21 Twichell, Heath on conditions endured by African-American soldiers, 79 on construction methods, 9697 on difculties pilots faced, 49 on effects of cold weather, 82 on maintaining secrecy, 50 on supplies, 101102 on surveying teams, 24
U
United Service Organizations (USO), 76
120