All hell broke loose when the US Army invaded little Skagway, Alaska in the spring of 1942. Endless ships of every description came up the Lynn Canal, tied up in Skagway’s harbor and disgorged soldiers—thousands of soldiers—then turned and went back for more. For old timers the sudden arrival of the Corps brought memories of …
Tag Archives: Skagway
One Night
One night, that is all Willis Grafe and his friends got as the guests of gracious Harriett Pullen. Willis had signed on to help the Army build the Alaska Highway and in early 1942 the Army intended to get him to where they needed him as quickly (and as cheaply) as possible. From the Pullen …
Willis Grafe, Civilian Roadbuilder
Willis Grafe, in early 1942, had a job he didn’t like in Salem, Oregon. And he heard a rumor. The United States Public Roads Administration wanted to hire surveyors to send north to Canada and Alaska to help the Army build a Highway. Link to another story “Civilians on the Alaska Highway Project” In his …
The Most Unique Contribution
The most unique contribution to Skagway atmosphere probably came from “Old Man Davis”. He considered bathing an unnatural activity, incompatible with good health. Residents knew to be up wind when they encountered Davis. Harriet Pullen brought her three sons to Skagway with the miners—sold them pies. When the miners left, she opened a small hotel, …
A Narrow Strip of Land
A narrow strip of land forms the boundary between the water of the Lynn Canal—at sea level– and the towering mountains of Canada’s Coastal Range. Skagway, Alaska occupies that tiny strip of land. The great Klondike Gold Rush just after the turn of the 20th Century created Skagway, a boomtown of mythic proportions virtually overnight. …
Every Bit of the Alaska Highway
Every bit of the Alaska Highway ran through as rugged a wilderness as exists anywhere. Through the spring and early summer of 1942 over 8,000 soldiers of the Corps of Engineers struggled against overwhelming odds to get themselves and their machines into that wilderness to the path of the Highway. Right behind the soldiers came …
A Thousand Pair of Army Boots
A thousand pair of Army boots had tromped across a railway platform into northern Canada in March at Dawson Creek, British Columbia. The second set of a thousand pair to tromp into northern Canada warmed—sort of—the feet of the 18th Engineers at the depot in Whitehorse, Yukon. The first troops to Dawson Creek When FDR …
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. …
Russell Wesley on the WP&YR
Russell Wesley’s comment popped up on my post about the White Pass and Yukon Railway the other night, and it took my breath away. Russell got my attention with this, “When I worked on the Yukon and White Pass Railway in the early 70’s, we had no modern equipment. We had a radio that was …
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 …