Alcan Highway built through Alaska's Wilderness
How World War II Prompted The Construction of the Alaska Highway
The building of the Alcan Highway proved to be a major feat for the military construction crews of the American and Canadian army during World War II. The German air attack on Rotterdam in May 1940 sparked Congress into action. The politicians immediately authorized the construction of Fort Richardson, a large air base near Anchorage. And others were to follow. A "military rush" had started.
Supply Problems for the Armed Forces had to be Solved
This quick influx of service men and women into Alaska caused huge supply problems the solution of which greatly favoured Alaska's long-term economic development. Coal was mined on the Kenai Peninsula and oil pipelines were laid to oil reserves in Canada. Nobody knew anything about Alaska's own oil along the North Slope. One of the most important decisions, however, was to build the "Alaska Canada Military Highway", which President Roosevelt authorized on February 11, 1942.
The Alaska Highway Took Only Eight and a Half Months to Build in 1942
On March 9, 1942 construction crews began to work on the highway from both ends and moving towards one another through the bush. The highway connected a line of air strips, which were originally built to move airplanes to America's World War II ally - the Soviet Union. When the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor on the Aleutian chain of islands the building of the highway became more urgent.
A Highway Hacked Out of the Wilderness
From Dawson Creek in British Columbia and Delta Junction near Fairbanks the construction crews worked towards one another. They hacked their way through uncharted wilderness, hard rock and mosquito-ridden muskeg. Wilderness guides like Johnnie Johns from the Yukon searched for trails for the bulldozer convoy making its way through mud and bush. Heavy construction equipment fought its way through muddy bogs and much of it didn't make it and was left lying along the trail. Approximately 11,500 service men, among them many Afro-American soldiers, that were not yet fully integrated into combat units, worked exhausting 12- to 16-hour days.
Completion of the Highway on November 20, 1942, and Celebration on Soldier's Summit on Kluane Lake
On November 20, 1942, the two construction teams met on Soldier's Summit on Kluane Lake in the Yukon Territory and celebrated the completion of their task. The new wilderness highway was the first road link from the Lower 48 to Alaska and the Yukon and military trucks transported supply goods to the U.S. troops in the north and equipment for the Russian allies. However, because of the rough terrain the trucks had to travel through the highway never was the main transportation route into the north. Cargo ships were much more important.
The Alaska Highway Opened to the Public in 1948
In 1948 the first non-military traffic was allowed on the highway, and travelers began to take over the road which turned into a paved tourist road in the 1990s. The Alcan highway is still the main road link into the north and takes tourists from all over the world on an adventure from the wheat fields of British Columbia through the hills of the Yukon to the black spruce taiga of interior Alaska.
Alaska Highway
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