Communicable diseases swept the native population of Northern Canada in 1942. And, when illnesses began to appear, the army and civilian physicians who came with the Corps offered their services. At first Canadian bureaucracy made that difficult. Territorial authorities, protecting existing private medical practices, required Canadian licensure for physicians treating Canadian citizens. Sickness from Outsiders …
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Indians, First Nations, In the North Country Sickness from outsiders, nothing new to the people of the Great Subarctic North. Outsiders who came to the North Country always brought sickness. The first Nations suffered infectious diseases brought by white missionaries and trappers throughout the 19th century. Myriad bugs and germs rode north in the bodies …
Getting two bulldozers in the same place, in front of a reporter’s camera, became the overriding goal for commanders on the Alaska Highway project in October 1942. The 97th Engineers working south from Alaska and the 18th Engineers working north through Yukon Territory had to cross 55 miles of permafrost to meet and complete the …
The international border, the border between Canada and Alaska, had everybody’s attention at the end of the summer of 1942. The soldiers of the 18th and those of the 97th would meet there and complete the Alaska Highway. The 18th Combat Engineers–more on the champs Just as the race to the border heated up, permafrost …
Extreme cold does things to equipment that the soldiers of the 97th and 18th Engineers never imagined. As the last two regiments working on the Alaska Highway, in October and November 1942, working in northernmost Yukon Territory, they became experts on the subject. The 18th Combat Engineers Young Black Soldiers of the 97th Even in …
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The line on the map that the Corps of Engineers would turn into the rough draft of the Alaska Highway in 1942, started at Dawson Creek, British Columbia and ended at Delta, Alaska. The Corps had no idea what lay in front of them. The land of the Midnight Sun could offer a traveler …
Starting at the Little Tok River, the young black soldiers of the 97th Engineers raced north, ever deeper into Alaska, in early August. They would start constructing their portion of the Alaska Highway on the north bank of the Tanana River. But they had to build their own road to get there. Tanana River Starting …
Permafrost proves conclusively, if we actually needed more proof, that in the Far North, Mother Nature fights back with endless creativity. The mileage champions of the Alaska Highway Project, the 18th Engineering Regiment, faced and bested every challenge. Then they passed the Big Duke River, and Mother introduced them to permafrost—muskeg on steroids. Slims River …
On the north bank of the Tanana River, near present day Tok, Alaska the black soldiers of the 97th Engineering Regiment would finally reach the starting gate. The white soldiers of the 18th Engineering Regiment raced north through Yukon Territory toward the Alaska border. From the north bank of the Tanana the 97th would race …
White civilians, contractors, came up behind the black soldiers of the 97th at the end of July. They set up tents at what they called the What Fir Camp, found black soldiers working all around them. The next morning Bubbles Smith ventured out with a group of his fellow white civilians. A black soldier stopped …
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