More about Dawson Creek in 1942
Delivering chickens? The number of jobs that had to be done to build the Alaska Highway staggers the imagination and most of them never occur to us.
Leo Perra’s dad delivered food to the soldiers on the highway, and several months ago Leo commented to that effect on one of my Facebook blogs. “Leo”, I responded, “that sounds interesting. Do you have information, photos anything you might be willing to share.”
Leo responded and he’s a good writer. I’m going to let him tell the story.
He also shared a photo that I think priceless.
Enjoy.
“I have an old picture of my dad with a truckload of chickens. These don’t look very alive as they seemed to have simply been loaded into the truck. From memory I recall a photo of a truck with chickens or rabbits in cages when I was a child. These were destined for the Alaska Highway crews. I’m not sure how far up the Alaska Highway that my dad travelled but I do recalled that it was a 17 day round trip.
We lived in a small community in Spirit River Alberta which was about 60 miles east of Dawson Creek. The Northern Alberta Railroad spur line from Grande Prairie terminated in Spirit River. There was talk of completing a more direct railroad connection to Dawson Creek as it was a shorter route than going around via Grande Prairie. Right of way had been cleared for the railroad but it was never constructed.
I’m attaching a photo from my collection. My father is the one with glasses.
I read in your book about turkey being available for a Xmas dinner and it made me wonder if turkeys may have been trucked up much like the chickens. I think food was sent live as refrigeration etc. was not that common in carriers.
Take care, Leo”