At the million-dollar valley, the North Country collected three bombers from the US Army Air Corps in January 1942. Flying over the Far North required a unique skill set. But the Air Corps didn’t know that, and nobody thought to ask the bush pilots who did know. They were, after all, the Air Corps and …
Tag Archives: Whitehorse Yukon
Down the Yukon but Up the Teslin
Down the Yukon River but up the Teslin, steamboats like the SS Nisutlin carried the soldiers and equipment of the 340th Engineers to their starting point at Teslin and Morley Bay deep in the interior of Yukon Territory. General Hoge had ordered the 340th to build highway from there through into the mountains of British …
The 18th, Pride of the Alcan Project
The 18th Combat Engineers, a crack outfit, came early to the Alaska Highway project. They came up the Inland Passage to Skagway, boarded the WP&YR and invaded Whitehorse in April. Their heavy equipment came up from Skagway in May. The only bright spot in General Hoge’s firmament, the 18th immediately headed north out of Whitehorse, …
The Liquor Store
The liquor store, of all the buildings in Whitehorse, had the longest line out front. To former Lt. Bill Squires that made it the most esteemed building in town. April 1942 had brought the 18th Engineers to Whitehorse, but they camped on the high ground above the city; and, as soon as their heavy equipment …
Larkins—Meeting Leonard, a Veteran of the Alaska Highway Project
Larkins, the name stood out in the roll of soldiers in the 93rd. Leonard Larkins’ son found us through our research site, contacted us and in short order we headed off to New Orleans to meet his dad. Leonard had served with the 93rd Engineering Regiment on the Alaska Highway in 1942. Our Research Site …
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Tech 5 Hargoves
Tech 5 Hargoves had no idea, but events in Washington would change his life profoundly. In early 1942, in the near panic that followed Pearl Harbor, FDR and the War Department ordered the Corps of Engineers to create a land route to Alaska—yesterday! At Camp Livingston, Louisiana Tech 5 Hargroves and the other men of …
McGee, Sam McGee, and the 18th Engineers
McGee, Sam McGee, probably a name familiar to you, couldn’t know he crossed paths, albeit a half century ahead of them in time, with the soldiers of the 18th Engineering Regiment. The soldiers, building Alaska Highway through Yukon, certainly didn’t know they’d crossed paths with him. Sam McGee, the real Sam McGee, not the one …
Sad News
Sad news sometimes visits Stories of Northern Canada and Alaska. Sad news visited today. As of February 27, Millie Jones, the living, breathing heart and soul of Carcross, Yukon lives and breathes no more. Her heart and soul, though, will remain part of Carcross forever. Link to another story “The 93rd came to Carcross” I’ve …
Greyhound on the Alaska Highway
Greyhound buses actually drove the Alaska Highway in its infancy, while it remained a rough draft of a Highway. Who knew? Link to another story “Rough Draft of a Highway” In a comment on one of my stories, Tom Lymbery wrote, “…12 Canadian Greyhound coaches driven and serviced entirely by Canadians… set up regular service …
Thousands Worked Incredibly Hard
Thousands Worked Incredibly Hard Thousands of men worked incredibly hard in cold and then heat and in incessant rain to build the Alaska Highway. They powered over mountains, through and across streams, through deep woods with bulldozers, trucks, saws, axes… They got injured. A lot. They lived in close quarters, especially when the weather turned …