The humble culvert—everywhere in our lives—serves an essential function. It carries water from where we don’t want it to where we do. You drive city streets, you walk city sidewalks… You drive or walk over culverts you don’t even noice. More on the Road Through Yukon Not remotely humble, culverts sprouted everywhere on the Alaska …
Tag Archives: Stories from History
Are We Filthy Rich Yet?
The first step in getting filthy rich on the Klondike in 1898? Getting to the Klondike in 1898. The “All American Route” came through the North Pacific, the Gulf of Alaska to Valdez, Alaska and then over the Valdez Glacier. Good luck with that. The Valdez Glacier Route But let’s say you survived all with …
Japanese Occupation
At the end of June 1942, the Japanese occupied American Territory at Kiska and Attu. Unacceptable. The Japanese had assaulted the American Naval base at Dutch Harbor then occupied the two American Islands in the Aleutians. At the same time, they laid a trap for the United States Navy at Midway and the trap backfired. …
They Soldiered On
When the Japanese attacked, the men on the Alcan soldiered on. The Japanese Bomb Dutch Harbor In spring 1942 seven regiments of the Corps of Engineers had headed into the wilderness of British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska, trailed by mountains of equipment and swarms of support troops. They came to build a land route to …
Rika Wallen
“Rika Wallen”, researcher/Team Leader pounced this morning. “You posted about Judy Ferguson and John Hajdukovich. When are you going to post about Rika Wallen?” “Today”, I responded. Remember that she’s not just “Researcher”. She’s also “Team Leader”. Judy Ferguson wrote about Rika as well as about John and her book, Parallel Destinies, is my …
341st, Much Too Slow
The 341st moved much too slowly. In March, when he ordered the 35th to rush to Fort Nelson before the winter road thawed to impassable, General Hoge bet that Colonel Joe Lane’s 341st Engineers could create a road across the rivers and through the gumbo to Fort Nelson before the 35th’s supplies ran out. No …
John Hajdukovich
Hajdukovich captured Judy Ferguson. I’ve recently shared the stories of two remarkable ladies of the far north—Mary Hansen of Alaska and Martha Black of Yukon. The North Country attracts and produces people like these ladies—resilient, independent, incredibly tough. Researcher recently discovered a writer named Judy Ferguson who has made a specialty of documenting the lives …
Johnny Johns from Paul Erlam’s Memory
I’m not very scientific about this, but I’m convinced that something in the air in Yukon creates wonderful, unique, larger than life characters. It could have to do with the weather, maybe the isolation. Or maybe mother nature protects her magnificent creation by making it so difficult to live that only unique, tough individuals can …
Problems Pile Up in May
The problems that had emerged to plague the Alaska Highway Project in April piled like dirt in front of a bulldozer blade in May. The hell-bent advance into the wilderness threatened to dissolve in chaos and confusion. Three entry points, Skagway, Valdez and Dawson Creek, swarmed with confused troops trying desperately to get organized.More on …
The Road from Ft Nelson
A few weeks ago, I posted about the dramatic effort of the 35th Engineering Regiment to get to Ft Nelson before the spring thaw. On the first of April, bedraggled, surrounded by their abused and broken machines, the soldiers of the 35th bivouacked there. General Hoge had ordered the 340th and 93rd Engineers into Skagway …