Chickens. How do you get fresh chicken to men building a highway through subarctic wilderness? Leo Perra’s dad found a way.
Leo reads my blog and one night he commented that his dad delivered food to workers on the Alaska Highway. I asked if he had information to share, and he certainly did. Here is the result.
Link to another story “Swarming Road Builders Need Food and Supplies”
Very young at the time, Leo didn’t remember a lot of details. He didn’t know, for example, how far up the Highway his dad delivered. But he clearly remembered that when dad delivered he was gone for 17 days.
“From memory, Leo wrote, “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 think, Leo wrote “that food was sent live as refrigeration etc. was not that common in carriers.”
Leo’s family lived in Spirit River Alberta, some 60 miles east of Dawson Creek. The Northern Alberta Railroad spur line from Grande Prairie terminated there. To get to Dawson Creek and the beginning of the Highway one had to ride around through Grande Prairie.
Clearly Leo’s dad made that trip a lot.
“I have” Leo wrote, “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.” Leo attached a copy of the photo and identified his father as the man with glasses. I have to agree the chickens don’t look like live specimens.
Referring to our book, We Fought the Road, Leo recalled a story about turkey’s being available for a Thanksgiving dinner in 1942 and that made him wonder if turkeys may have been trucked in the same way.
