Stop a steer head on and wrestle it to the ground? That’s just one story from the legendary life of Canadian cowboy John Ware. He could ride, shoot—and eat–as befits a legend. Some said he could cross a herd of cattle on their backs and easily lift small cows. No wild horse could throw him …
Tag Archives: Stories from History
Morley Bay Yukon
Morley Bay, today a beautiful body of water with quiet woods along its shore, teemed and bustled with soldiers and equipment in 1942. Ship dock, supply dump, motor pool—a sizeable military installation occupied the spot where two small, isolated houses now sit. Link to a story from Morley Bay “Dear …
River after River
River after river crisscrossed the path of the Alaska Highway. Smaller streams got quick timber bridges, larger ones brought out the barges and Ferries. Link to another story “Barge “Bridges” The black soldiers of the 93rd Engineers, tasked with building an access road for the white soldiers of the 340th from Carcross Yukon to the …
Winding in and Winding Out
Winding in and winding out… Retired Sergeant Troy Hise summed up his 1942 experience in northern Canada, “The Alaska Highway winding in and winding out, fills my mind with serious doubt, as to whether the lout that planned this route, was going to hell or coming out.” Sgt. Hise, referred to a potentially deal breaking …
Harriet Pullen, Queen of Skagway
Harriet Pullen, one of the ladies who joined a flood of men in their rush for Klondike gold, found her fame and fortune in Skagway, Alaska. She had no need to go on to the Klondike. “I only had seven dollars to my name. I didn’t know a soul in Alaska. I had no place …
Making Mistakes in Louisiana
Making mistakes in Louisiana instead of in Europe in the face of a real enemy made a lot of sense to Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall. His Texas-Louisiana Maneuvers in 1941 dispatched nineteen divisions, over 400,000 troops, to engage in mock conflict over 3,400 square miles of Southern Louisiana turf. Marshall fervently …
The Juggernaut
The Juggernaut, the Corps of Engineers proposed drive into Northern Canada would not “drive” easily. But the ‘very highest authority’ had ordered the Corps to build a highway to Alaska and do it immediately, and the Corps leaped into action. The Corps existed to build things fast under difficult circumstances. They could drive the juggernaut. …
The Land of the Midnight Sun
The Land of the Midnight Sun could offer a traveler the spectacle of a golden lavender sunset in the west and a rising moon, dusted with the same hue in the east. Oversized and spectacular, the land dwarfed every living thing in it—mosquitoes, moose, grizzlies and, very occasionally, men. Winters surrounded everything in this country …
Vanilla Extract
Vanilla Extract turned out to have unanticipated uses… Lt. Dewitt Howell told Donna Blasor Bernhardt about it as he recounted his memories from the construction of the Alaska Highway. More on drinking vanilla extract Howell commanded a company in the 97th Engineering Regiment and his company specialized in building bridges, culverts, and ferries. Howell and …
Canada Went to War Early
Canada declared war on Germany when Great Britain did in 1939. And the first important Canadian contributions happened in the air. The Royal Canadian Air Force established an air training command in Canada to train pilots from Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand—and, of course, Canada. And Canada paid hundreds of millions to support it. …