Equal opportunity torture. The subarctic north offered cold and mud and cliffs to anybody who challenged it. And, as the black soldiers of the Corps would learn when they came in 1942, the mosquitoes and the no see ums landed and feasted on skin, utterly indifferent to whether it was black skin or white. Link …
Category Archives: Northern Canada Trails and Roads
Nine Children
Nine children ranging from 1 year old to 20 along with both parents made it to Anchorage, Alaska from Mobile, Alabama in a 65 Chevy van along with a homemade utility trailer. David Feldhaus started his comment on my Steamboat Mountain story with those words. His family made that trip in 1969. The comment …
Rusty Dow
Rusty Dow, the first woman to drive a fully loaded truck the length of the Alaska Highway, did it in 1944. She drove the 1600 miles from Fairbanks to Dawson Creek in seven days, and she astonished every man along the way. Rough Draft of a Highway Rusty had been driving trucks down in …
Blazing the Path of the Alcan
Blazing the 1800-mile path of the Alaska Highway, soldier topographers led the way into the subarctic wilds of Northern Canada and Alaska in 1942. The first road builders rushed into frigid British Columbia in March. The soldiers of the 29th and the 648th Topographic Battalions had come in February. Instead of maps, the topographers had …
Obsession Genesis, Next Step
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 3:51 PM Subject: Next Edition So last night I wrote out a new edition and sent it… And it promptly disappeared into cyberspace. As soon as that occurred, the message turned into the most profound and eloquent piece of writing I’ve ever done–or ever read, for that matter. Sorry you …
Ft. Nelson, Chester Russell’s Passage
Ft. Nelson, General Hoge’s goal for Chester’s 35th lay another 230 miles north of Fort St. John on a trail resting on ice—ice rapidly turning to water. The 35th moved over the trail in an endless stream of men, trucks, dozers and other equipment—for three weeks in March while the trail behind them effectively disappeared. …
River Ice–Chester Russel
River ice, the first big problem, confronted Chester Russel and his buddies in the 35th almost immediately as they moved through Dawson Creek and a few miles out to their real destination—Fort St. John. Just short of Fort St. John, the Peace River loomed. Short periods of early spring warmth softened the river ice. Crossing …
Epic Achievement
An Epic achievement, the construction of the Alaska Highway exemplifies a truth about the violent upheaval of World War II. Challenge requires response, and epic challenge requires epic response. The war, the most horrific event in recorded history, presented epic challenges to virtually every person alive. It brought death and destruction, but it also inspired …
Ice Posed the Biggest Problem in the Winter
Subarctic Cold and Vehicles Ice posed a much bigger problem than snow to the soldiers working on the Alaska Highway into the winter of 1942. When snow came, bulldozers and graders could remove it relatively easily. Ice was a different matter. At more than 250 places between Watson Lake and the Alaska border frequent icing …
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Problems loomed in October
Problems loomed in October What Extreme Cold Does to Equipment—and Beer Serious problems loomed for the Alaska Highway Builders as they moved out of September into October 1942. Their leaders, General Sturdevant and General Hoge knew that at best they had put 1600 miles of mess in place—some of it nearly up to pioneer standards, …