Alaskan Highway documentary

production funding for the alaska highway is made possible by the Alaska Division of Tourism Westmark hotels offering lodging dining and northern hospitality throughout Alaska and the Yukon gray line of Alaska the Anchorage times locally owned and operated since 1915 [Music] called the longest main street in the world the alaska highway runs from dawson creek british columbia 1,400 22 miles to delta junction alaska a journey that once took months now takes only days [Music] yet even today 50 years after it was first opening travelers driving this road still find a sense of adventure as a person drives north there's a feeling of excitement adventuring along the same trail the trappers and gold seekers used over 100 years ago heading for Dawson Creek Whitehorse and Fairbanks [Music] in 1899 eh Harriman the railroad magnate proposed building a railroad from Chicago to the Bering Sea connecting the Alaska and Canadian Gold Fields with the continental United States when the claims played out the gold seekers left and the idea of building a railroad became just another memory of the Gold Rush plans to construct a road through Canada to Alaska surfaced in the early 1920s Donald MacDonald a locating engineer for the Alaska Road Commission had dreamed for years of an overland coastal route to Alaska it would run north from Seattle across British Columbia through the Yukon Territory to Fairbanks MacDonald and a group of Fairbanks residents formed the International Highway Association to sponsor the building of a road to the continental United States citizens of Canada and the United States lobbied for years to begin construction but political territorial and economic factors kept the great project stalled [Music] in 1933 Donald MacDonald in the automobile highway association trying to draw attention to his proposed route to the States helped finance an Alaska prospector in trapper Slim Williams to make a trip over MacDonald's coastal route by dogsled using primitive maps drawn by MacDonald's swim traveled from Fairbanks to Seattle in five and a half months in Seattle slim replaced his sled runners with wheels and outfitted his dog team with leather moccasins he then headed east mushing 2,000 miles to the 1933 Chicago World's Fair slim was a big attraction at the fair people from across the country came to see the man who had mushed a dog team from Alaska to Chicago after the fair closed for the season slim must onto Washington DC to tell Alaska's representative to Congress Anthony diamond about the possibilities of a road between Alaska and the United States Slim was invited to the White House to brief President Roosevelt on the proposed road [Music] years later mrs. Roosevelt would remember swim is the most vocal Alaska advocate for the International Highway [Music] late in 1933 President Roosevelt was authorized by Congress to set up a Joint Commission with the Canadian government to determine the feasibility of a road to Alaska after many meetings the Commission determined the highway was feasible from an engineering viewpoint but expressed concern of its practical usefulness representative diamond again voicing a need for the road introduced a bill in Congress for a highway but could not find any support [Music] as the years passed pressure continued for a highway in the Northwest prompting President Roosevelt in 1938 to appoint the Alaska International Highway Commission to make yet another study this new commission also submitted a favorable report and even undertook a survey of several possible routes the Commission would end up suggesting three routes Donald MacDonald's coastal route route a starting in Prince George going north to Hazleton and Telegraph Creek crossing the Yukon by way of Whitehorse and reaching Fairbanks by the Tanana Valley route B which also started in Prince George followed the rocky mountain trench up the parsnip and Finlay rivers to then lay Forks in sight and pass [Music] then turn north to Dawson City down the Yukon then connecting to Fairbanks [Music] but once again plans for the highway were tabled due to high construction costs and the uncertainty of what effect the intrusion of the United States government into northern Canada would have on the territories on May 14th 1939 and another attempt to focus attention on the proposed highway adventurers slim Williams and John Logan and their dog blizzard left Fairbanks for Seattle they traveled by motorcycle over the coastal route that MacDonald had advocated for years and the same route Williams had used to muss his dog team out in 1933 [Applause] slim and John using maps provided by McDonald followed pack trails for easier going pushing their motorcycles across half thought Muskegon fallen logs and ferried their motorcycles across rivers on canvas boats and wooden rafts blazing their own Trail part of the way the two traveled 2,300 miles in six and a half months slim said he and John never missed a meal just got several days behind sometimes arriving in Seattle in early December they were introduced at a Chamber of Commerce meeting as the first men to motor the proposed Alaska Yukon international highway to Seattle early in 1939 with the rumble of war sounding in Europe a string of air bases extending from Edmonton Alberta to Fairbanks Alaska was proposed the Canadian Department of Transport wanted to develop the basis to move people and supplies to Western Canada and Alaska Hitler's invasion of Europe in the fall of France in 1940 alarmed the governments of Canada and the USA the defense of Canada and Alaska became an issue of paramount importance the go-ahead was given for construction of more than 20 airfields and emergency landing strips that would become the Northwest staging ground [Music] when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December the 7th 1941 the threat of invasion on Alaska and Canada became a reality there was no certainty that the shipping lanes to Alaska could be kept open both the US and Canada realized the military need for an overland supply line secure from enemy attack in the interest of their mutual defense the two countries finally agreed to build a highway across Canada [Music] Canada agreed to provide the right of way wave import duties and taxes and allow the use of timber gravel fill and rock for construction along the route of the highway the United States agreed to pay for the construction and to maintain the highway for the duration of the war turning over the Canadian portion of the road to the Canadian government six months after the war ended a Canadian official said we will supply of the soil the United States will provide the money in total a highway would be built to Alaska [Music] with the signing of the agreement an American cabinet committee consisting of the secretaries of Navy war and interior was assigned by President Roosevelt the difficult task of route selection they met and then transferred route selection to the US Army Corps of Engineers military considerations were recognized as the most important factor in choosing what path the highway would take the Corps decided the road would follow the line of the Northwest staging route airfields this route not only furnished a visual guide for the pilots but would help supply the airfields and flight scripts with fuel and materials the core requested permission from Canada to conduct a survey and construct a Pioneer Road plans call for a rough working Road which would be in part the site of a permanent road work would begin at Dawson Creek British Columbia and extend Northwest were two big Delta Alaska just 98 miles east of Fairbanks US Army Corps of engineer troops would survey and construct a rough Military Road usable by all-terrain vehicles that would connect the airfields civilian contractors directed by the US public roads administration would then utilize the Pioneer Road in the location and construction of a permanent Road Brigadier General CL Sturdivant assistant chief of engineers was ordered to obtain survey reports and determine the availability of Road building equipment colonel soon-to-be Brigadier General bill Hogg was appointed director of the project his orders from general Sturdivant were to push the Pioneer Road to completion with all speed within the physical capacity of the troops hoog did a preliminary aerial reconnaissance of the route and found that the few maps that did exist were largely inadequate he flew over great stretches of unmapped wilderness searching for a route that would connect the airfields together Howe discovered that existing access to the project was limited to three major routes by rail to Dawson Creek British Columbia by boat to Skagway Alaska and then rail to Whitehorse Yukon by boat to Valdez Alaska and from there by highway to go canna Alaska little did the towns realize the impact the construction of the road would soon have on their communities speed was of the essence top priority was given to cutting a passable trail through the short working season the northern climate dictated a construction period of six months or less Hogue had to move men heavy equipment and supplies across the Peace River to fort nelson this task had to be accomplished while the river ice could still support heavy traffic the spring thaw would make the winter road out of Dawson Creek a sloppy mire that could swallow both man and machine orders went out and men and equipment of the 18th and 35th combat regiments began moving north they came from all over men and boys officers and enlisted black and white from Iowa Georgia South Dakota New York California and Florida heading north by airboat and rail most of them not knowing their final destination most of the men had never seen or used to heavy equipment that they would very shortly be operating they would learn by doing soldiers from New York Atlanta Chicago and Los Angeles soon would become skilled woodsmen with their axes they would work in a land where summer was three months of daylight and where temperatures would rise to 70 degrees and sometimes much higher and wetter there were months of darkness and prolonged periods of sub-zero weather when temperatures sometimes dropped lower than 50 below zero they would learn about the cold ice and snow they would also learn to live in an environment that offered continuous daylight to have mud or dust mixed in with every meal and to sleep with flies and mosquitoes that were always on the attack some would grow to hate the country some would love it on march 19th 1942 two days after General Douglas MacArthur became supreme Allied commander in the Pacific and still several weeks before the fall of Corregidor the men of the 35th engineers arrived in Dawson Creek unloaded their heavy equipment and began driving north overland and minus 35 degree weather to Fort Nelson British Columbia [Music] their track of 325 miles would last 25 days and some of the worst weather the men had ever experienced crossing the Peace River the thirty-fifth engine has laid planks and sawdust over the ice to form a bridge and drove across the Fort st. John they then pushed ahead 265 miles over frozen muskeg to Fort Nelson arriving in Fort Nelson on April 5th the men of the 35th had beaten the spring thaw and were ready to start the road westward to Watson Lake at the same time the Alaska Highway was beginning plans for a second major building effort in Northwest Canada were being finalized in Washington and Ottawa the Canadian oil pipeline project kennel called for construction of an oil pipeline and road running 577 miles from Norman Wells Northwest Territory south west across the Mackenzie mountain range to connect with the refinery being constructed in Whitehorse this project would provide gas and diesel fuel for trucks using the highway an aviation gas for the fighter planes bombers and transports flying the Northwest staging round [Applause] the oil pipeline would take two years to build and employ the labor of over 14,000 engineers and civilians as plans for the oil pipeline were beginning an army of road builders began moving into position to start on the highway in early April the 18th combat engineers landed at Skagway and took the White Pass and Yukon narrow gauge railroad 111 miles to Whitehorse from there they begin working on a trail westward to clone a lake Skagway and the White Pass and Yukon Railroad would become a major port and supply route for troops and materials used on the construction of the Alaska Highway and the canal project in mid-april the 93rd general service regiment and three hundred and fortieth general service regiment consisting of black enlisted men and white officers arrived in Skagway they landed without their heavy equipment and would remain in Skagway from mid-april to mid-may awaiting their trucks tractors and graders the three hundred and fortieth was moved by rail to Whitehorse and divided part working West the remainder assigned to work south toward Watson Lake the 93rd was sent to Carcross and worked east to Tesman Lake in late April 1942 Lieutenant General Eugene Raybould chief of engineers split the project into two independent commands placing colonel patsy o'connor in charge of the fort st. John our southern sector and General Howe in charge of the white horse or northern sector Watson Lake was the dividing point [Music] the 95th and 340 first general service regiments unloaded in Dawson Creek and were sent to Fort st. John to build the road north to Fort Nelson [Music] as construction begins survey crews were laying out the route for the Pioneer Road bush pilots spent long hours flying aerial reconnaissance taking Army and Public Roads administration engineers up to check the terrain possible routes were photographed to find the best location for the new Road aerial surveys were followed by ground reconnaissance on foot with pack horse and dog sled [Music] Canadians played an important part in the surveying and mapping of the highway locals hired on as guides leading locating teams and advising as to the best possible route scouting the country for solid ground and good stream crossings some stretches of the route followed old Indian and trapper trails [Music] the primary road was cut with axes and bulldozers through forests of spruce jack pine and aspen trees sometimes when a clearing crew didn't have a surveyor they would send a man out with an axe in the general direction of their objective with the bulldozers following along some locators expressed fears of being run over by the heavy equipment as the tractors kept pushing forward while the road was being built one soldier was asked what he thought about this part of the world he said this country ain't nothing but miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles living conditions were very difficult for the thousands of men building the road it was impossible to make the camp's comfortable since they had to be moved every few days to keep up with the road building camps at the head end of the Pioneer Road were primitive framed tents with field kitchens housed under canvas the GI stove never reached some outfit so they used open fires and oil barrel ovens most laundry was done the old-fashioned way and rubbed in rivers lakes and streams the 97th general service regiment landed at Valdez in mid-may and began working out of Salina in mid-june northeastward towards the Tanana River by early June 1942 to combat regiments and five general service regiments with over 10,000 officers and Men had arrived to work on the road the Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor and the seizure of Attu and Kiska Highlands in the Western illusions made construction of the road even more urgent the fight for Alaska had begun it was a race of men and machines against the vast wilderness of Canada and Alaska against time and the enemy [Applause] as the army was issuing marching orders and moving troops into place the Public Roads administration the PRA started gathering engineers and support personnel from district offices across the United States civilians would also play a major part in the construction of the Military Highway the PRA would act as overseer on the project contracting with and supervising the civilians working to widen and straighten the Pioneer Road or to relocate the road on a new alignment to be established by public roads administration engineers [Music] the PRA first selected five management construction companies who then hired smaller individual Canadian and American companies with their men and equipment on cost plus fixed fee contracts with the US government the highway was divided into portions for various contractors depending on their size and skills a call went out for shovel operators cat scanners welders pile drivers laborers and cooks the contractors were hiring men and gathering trucks tools and other equipment the materials needed to build the permanent all-weather road working conditions were severe warning signs were posted in the contractors recruiting offices giving them in some idea what they would be up against base camps were built at 25 mile intervals with each contractor usually working in both directions to meet the other contractors halfway by May of 1942 the PRA had hired 54 construction companies including 13 Canadian firms engaging over 6,000 civilians to help build the road vast amounts of equipment and supplies had to be shipped north to keep the construction moving supplies by the railcar load begin arriving at the Dawson Peak railhead surplus equipment from camps of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the works project administration were located and shipped north for use by the public roads administration during one five-week period over 600 boxcars filled with equipment occupied every space in Dawson Creek [Applause] the big question during the late summer and fall of 1942 was whether the road could be pushed through before winter halted all operations in July of the army realized that if the access road was going to be finished on schedule the engineer troops and civilians would have to join forces General Howe requested assistance for the engineer regiments the PRA and civilian contractors were ordered to leave their work on the permanent highway to help finish the pioneer Road contractors were shifted up and down the line to supplement and speed up construction some contractors were put onto the Pioneer Road to shape it up gravel the surface and improve the alignment and grade while others were put to work on on completed sections it would become a combined effort with overlapping work responsibilities as various regiments completed their sections of the road they fell back and improved their original efforts [Applause] it was a race of men and machines against the coming winter the many streams and rivers along the route posed major problems in the construction of the road by the time it was completed over 130 bridges would be built some streams could be forwarded others required pontoon bridges and wider waterways troops made rafts by lashing pontoons together and decking them with timber powering them with outboard motors the 74th Lite pontoon company hauled men and supplies across the Peace River at fort st. John on the tug Alcan tugs and barges also moved men and supplies back and forth on the Tasman River and on Teslin and tag East Lakes nothing was allowed to hold up construction if a trucker cat broke down and was holding up progress it was pushed over the side [Music] build the road was the motto during the first months of construction a spirit of cooperation developed among all workers on the jungle military and civilian alike work work and more work was the schedule seven days a week sometimes four or five miles of road could be built in a day as the summer daylight hours allowed the crews to work around the clock during July and August and 90-degree heat the men were forced to wear gloves and old style hats with netting to protect themselves against swarms of mosquitoes flies and the legendary noseeums despite long hours and tough going the men kept a sense of humor humor was everywhere there were signs all along the road recalling memories of talyn's far away there was a story passed up and down the road about two mosquitoes in a tent who were discussing the merits of two sleeping soldiers one said let's not eat them here let's drag him outside oh no the other replied if we do the big fellows will get them sergeant Harrell Hubbard's cartoons of army life brought smiles and laughter to the men if you can laugh at yourself things don't seem so bad [Music] entertainment took various forms including cribbage poker horseshoes baseball photography and watching the numerous bears that became attached to the garbage dumps a large sign was posted outside some of the construction camp sites that read warning if you were being chased by a bear don't run into camp men adopted pets such as Huskies squirrels and bear cubs some former city boys became expert fisherman on the hundreds of lakes and streams along the route the men working on the highway dubbed the road the oil can highway because of the hundreds of empty gas and diesel fuel drums scattered along the road a lack of spare parts and the difficulty in making repairs were problems faced by both the Army and the civilian contractors due to the great shortage of spare parts it was necessary to cannibalize some machines in order to keep others serviceable repair shops on wheels kept equipment in service portable refueling and greasing units kept the machines online and a crews working on September 24th bulldozers of the 348th regimen cutting a trail south from Whitehorse and bulldozers of the 35th regiment heading north met it contact Creek about 50 miles east of Watson Lake closing the road on the southern sector [Music] on October 25th lead bulldozers of the 18th and 97th Engineers met at Beaver Creek a few miles east of the Alaska Canada border the two units had joined their sections by means of a winter road which will be passable until spring break up the Alaska Highway was officially dedicated at soldier's summit overlooking Kewanee Lake on November 20th 1942 it was 30 degrees below zero and the men had a tough time keeping warm to the American Corps of Engineers or one of the greatest engineering marvels in the whole world died on that splendid work this road is built for war but this road will be used when peace and victory come back to us again this road will again be used for the great purposes or brief instructions out of peace [Applause] [Music] is now officially over [Music] eight months after construction began the Honorable Ian McKenzie of Canada and Al Bartlett acting governor of Alaska cut the ribbon and trucks moved northward over the 1600 mile highway the objective of getting a road into Alaska that letter had been achieved but the highway had exacted its toll of human life a pontoon ferry crossing Charlie Lake near Fort st. John capsized in a sudden squad drowning two officers in ten men eight soldiers were drowned crossing the Peace River one death from exposure occurred when a driver tried to walk ten miles to camp instead of waiting for help and his disabled truck workers lost their lives when trucks and jeeps overturned on muddy inclines all the drivers talked about one steep and treacherous spot at mile 108 called suicide hill several fatal accidents occurred there before it was finally leveled out services were held and lost comrade remembered work continued on into the winter under extreme weather conditions temperatures reached 72 degrees below zero on the northern sector at sub-zero temperatures diesel fuel solidified and gasoline lines froze drivers kept engines running continuously or risk having their trucks freeze up throughout the winter convoys used the road to carry supplies to the camps and the airports sometimes punishment becomes a pleasure for a time any driver who slid off the road got five days KP since most of the truck cabs weren't heated a lot of drivers started sliding into the ditch just to spend time in a warm mess hall a new order was issued stating that the first order of business was for the driver to get his truck out of the ditch maybe then he would be allowed the honor of KP many trucks and tractors dropped through the ice becoming trapped by the freezing water they were left as a ghostly memory of what happens when you break down after the breakthrough there was still a lot of work left to make the truck trail into a useable Road during the winter of 1942 the army Lord design standards for the permanent highway directing the public roads administration to follow the early truck trail as much as possible in order to expedite completion of the year-round all-weather Road the PRA spent much of the winter of 42 on preparations for the next season's construction by repairing equipment and building shops and camps rest camps were established along the road to house truck drivers road maintenance crews into service and repair equipment the steady stream of supplies was only halted when temporary bridges were carried away by ice or when heavy rains caused embankments to give way causing landslides that blocked the road with the coming of warm weather long stretches of the Pioneer Road became impassable traffic would back up for miles trucks would jam up when the muskeg melted in the ground became a deep-rooted gumbo mud permanently frozen ground became a bottomless quagmire when exposed to Sun and air the ever-present cats had to pull the vehicles through and get the traffic moving again [Applause] logs often had to be placed in a corrugated fashion to form a foundation for the trucks to drive over wash outs were a major problem the first bridge is built by the Corps of Engineers were temporary log bridges of untreated timber heavy rains on July 9th and 10th 1943 destroyed 24 bridges and closed the Fort Nelson section of the road for 40 days at the beginning of World War two less than 3% of the Armed Forces were black soldiers the military had a policy at the time that used Negroes mostly as service troops there existed an attitude that black soldiers could not perform the complex jobs at the modern military required black soldiers working on the road would proved this attitude wrong of the more than 10,000 troops working on the highway 3600 were black the three black regiments served with distinction receiving Meritorious Unit Commendation they built not only the highway but acceptance for all blacks in the military [Music] with the pullout of the army engineers in July of 43 it was now up to the Public Roads administration to finish construction workers leveled and straightened the roadway and improved the drainage system the best parts of the Pioneer Road were saved and incorporated into the final highway the worst parts lasted long enough to serve their purpose and were replaced at the peak of operations 81 contractors had 14,000 men working on the highway from Dawson Creek to big Delta most of the contractors worked to 11 hour shifts a day seven days a week hourly pay rates went from 96 cents for laborers to two dollars for Chevrolet glein and crane operators truck drivers were paid from a dollar ten to a dollar forty an hour women played an important support role in the building of the highway they worked as cooks clerks secretaries nurses and some even drove trucks wherever they went along the road they brought smiles and memories of home to the men [Music] another milestone occurred in early August of 1943 with the opening of the Peace River Bridge located about 50 miles northwest of Dawson Creek [Music] reconstruction of the Pioneer Road to a permanent all-weather road was completed October 13 1943 with the reopening of a 40 mile section near the Alaska Yukon border by the utah construction company the building of the highway not only changed the land of the northwest but would have a lasting impact on its native people the military and civilian workers brought different lifestyles and values to the area the soldiers and civilians unknowingly brought sickness the Yukon Indians had no immunities to diseases like German measles monks and influenza serious epidemics caused many deaths and villages along the new road the road also brought education easier travel between villages and made health care more accessible to the people of the Northwest the end of the war brought great changes to the highway and compliance with the agreement signed in 1942 the United States was to turn over the Canadian portion of the road six months after the war ended [Music] on the 1st of April 1946 control of 1200 miles from Dawson Creek to the Alaska border passed to the Royal Canadian Army headquarters for the newly established Northwest highway system was in Whitehorse [Music] the new Northwest highway system was primarily a military route the Canadian Army was assigned the task of maintaining the highway rough spots wash outs and dust everywhere continued being major barriers in keeping the highway open when the Canadians took over the road they knew that they were committed to endless repairs and revisions and would have to replace many of the earlier wooden bridges and culverts during the war and for the first few years afterward the road was closed to most civilian travel for lack of most of the regular highway facilities the only way a civilian was allowed on this military Highway was by permanent any civilian who wanted to travel the road had to get clearance from the military authorities in Dawson Creek before venturing up the outfit the Alaska Highway lies along some of the most beautiful yet forbidding country in the world there were few gas stations motels or roadside cafes people who did travel the road travel through the kindness of those who lived along the way the highway was finally open to civilian traffic in 1947 the road was gravel almost the entire length it could be driven comfortably at 45 miles per hour there were some bumpy rutted and hilly stretches calling for speeds of 25 to 30 miles per hour a woman driving up the highway wrote a friend that signs were scarce along the road but when you did come on one you had better believe it in 1949 William Wallace seeing there was a need for civilians using the Alaska Highway to know what services were available published the mile post the name mile post comes from the familiar white mile posts which give the number of miles from mile zero at Dawson Creek British Columbia the mile post is an annual guidebook with useful information about services and accommodations offered along the road a large fold-out map mileage tables and more now in its 44th Edition milepost has become a popular reference for residents and tourists alike by early 1950 the highway had emerged as an important commercial supply line highway traffic continued to increase with the flow of goods and materials moving north into the Yukon and Alaska an old trucker was heard to say I get a new thrill out of every mile of this old highway every trip I make [Music] at noon on October 16th 1957 girders of the Peace River bridge failed and a 600 foot span fell into the river traffic along the Alaska Highway had to be rerouted to use a railroad bridge three miles upriver the new Peace River Bridge was opened in January of 1962 traffic on April 1st 1964 nearly 22 years after opening the Pioneer Road the Department of National Defense transferred responsibility for the highway to Public Works of Canada civilian traffic had greatly increased between 1946 and 1964 with increased traffic came demands for reconstruction and paving there were calls for feasibility studies on highway redevelopment and endless political debates on both sides of the border about spending large sums of money on a small population spread across vast distances and contributing only limited funds in 1967 local leaders in Whitehorse sponsored a 25 year Alaska Highway anniversary celebration speakers called for paving the highway arguing that a paved road would increase tourist travel improve the flow of freight and be an overall benefit to the people of the north public criticism escalated as the increasing number of trucks and campers accelerated deterioration of the highway the government wanted to put responsibility of the highway into the hands of the provincial government the provincial government was not willing to accept the increasing costs by the late 1960s some sections of the road were paved some sections had a good gravel surface while some sections were still dusty and substandard broken windshields and headlights were common and in dry weather dust clouds reduced visibility construction of the trans-alaskan oil pipeline in the proposed construction of a gas pipeline parallel to the alaska highway would bring an increased number of cars and trucks traveling the outdated [Music] in 1973 the US and Canada again open negotiations for a cost-sharing program for paving the highway in 1978 the US and Canadian government agreed to the upgrading and paving of the Canada section of the Haines Road to Haines Junction and from there to the Alaska Yukon border [Music] the 1980s brought more and more cars trucks and RVs up the highway annually more than 100,000 people were using the Alaska Highway for business and tourist travel time brings changes with each year a mile is straightened here the curve is taken out there and a little more of the original route is lost to progress we end up bypassing parts of our past for the sake of convenience [Music] today the alkane is 1422 miles in length from Dawson Creek BC to Delta Junction Alaska the Canadian portion of the route measures 1200 miles from Dawson Creek to the Alaska Yukon border the road is paved in most places less than 100 miles renamed gavel as recently as 1991 [Music] [Applause] it has been called one of the most remarkable construction feats in history built by thousands of soldiers and civilians American and Canadian built as a result of the military need to connect the continental United States with Alaska [Music] now McDonald's said a highway to Alaska must be built slam William have proved it could be done thousands of men and women opened a road north the vision became a reality [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] production funding for the alaska highway is made possible by the Alaska Division of Tourism Westmark hotels offering lodging dining and northern hospitality throughout Alaska and the Yukon gray line of Alaska the Anchorage times locally owned and operated since 1915 you

Channel: Sherway Academy of Music

Views: 36,303

Keywords: music education, piano, guitar, violin, voice, bass, organ, TV, visual arts, transportation, history, historic highways

Id: X3J80p365vY

Length: 58min 17sec (3497 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 04 2019