Since 1942 thousands of men and two governments have struggled to complete the Alaska Highway. It hasn’t happened yet. In the summer of 2017, men and heavy equipment worked over several miles of the Highway north of Kluane Lake. Waiting for their turn to pass through the construction zone, some drivers got out to …
Category Archives: Alaska Highway in Yukon
Blues and the Highway Project
Blues came to Yukon in the blood and marrow of soldiers from the Mississippi Delta—the soldiers of the 93rd Engineering Regiment. After all, the blues were born in the Delta too. On a wall in the Carcross Depot today hangs a photo of a large group of black soldiers in front of the 1942 depot. …
Tagish River
Tagish River, 1,275 feet wide, posed the first major obstacle to the 93rd Engineering Regiment. To build Alaska Highway through Yukon, the soldiers of the 93rd had to get a road out of Carcross, and during the first week of May local guide, Johnny Johns, guided Captain James Cassano as he laid out a path …
The Steepest Railroad Grade
The steepest railroad grade in the world, the White Pass and Yukon Railway (WP&YR), carried men, supplies, and equipment for building the Alaska Highway up into Yukon Territory in 1942. From sea level at the Skagway dock the rails climbed 2,900 feet in just 19 miles. Whitehorse Yukon 1942 The Saturday Evening Post in its …
Hell Bent
Hell bent for their portion of the Alaska Highway, the lead company of Colonel Paules’ 18th Engineers left the opulent SS Aleutian; moved off the dock directly to the depot of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad. The 18th Comes to Skagway They climbed into the passenger cars of the narrow gauge train, settled themselves …
Extreme Geography
Extreme geography awaited the soldiers of the 93rd Engineers when they left Southern Louisiana in early 1942. From hot and humid Louisiana, they travelled north—way north—to Alaska and Yukon Territory. The 93rd came to Carcross Sergeant Albert France, interviewed long after the fact by Donna Blazer-Bernhardt, remembered their time on the Alaska Highway Project. He …
December 25, 1942
December 25, 1942 found the black soldiers and the white officers of the 93rd Engineers deep in Yukon. In our book, We Fought the Road, we shared two memories from that day. For December 25, 2019 my Christmas present to all of you is to share those memories here. Another Holiday Story from Lt. Timberlake …
Thanksgiving in Yukon and Tim’s Best Story
Thanksgiving in Yukon, at Morley Bay, gave Tim’s best story its punchline. All of Tim’s stories conveyed feelings and meaning wrapped in humor, and the funniest and most meaningful ones we couldn’t hear too many times. His thanksgiving at Morley Bay gave him the best punchline he ever used. Christmas in Yukon The story didn’t …
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Departing Our World, Samuel Hargroves
Departing our world for a better place on November 21, former United States Army Tech 5 Samuel Hargroves, one of the last survivors of a very special group of men, left it a lesser place. Millions of men stepped up during the catastrophe of World War II to defend their country. But black men like …
Ghosts at Morley Bay
Ghosts would surround us at Morley Bay, but first we had to find them. In late summer 1942 the 93rd Engineering Regiment maintained a motor pool and a supply dump at Morley Bay, Yukon. On a lazy afternoon in 2013 we had come to find it—and the ghosts of the hundreds of men who worked …