Alaska Highway construction workers at Mile 1 out of Fort Nelson, 1942.
For a road built more than 60 years ago, the story of the Alaska Highway's construction remains surprisingly well known, perhaps because more than any other road in North America its construction is so well documented. Or perhaps because the story of building a road through the remote wilderness of North America, in extreme weather conditions under an impossible deadline, is so compelling.
The most memorable images of the construction days come from those men who worked on the road. In Earl Brown's "Alcan Trail Blazers," the author has assembled a collection of quotes, most from letters and diaries, from some of those Alaska Highway construction workers. Their letters and diaries vividly recall the drudgery and excitement of day to day life on the trail. All of the following quotes are courtesy of Earl Brown, from his book, "Alcan Trail Blazers, Alaska Highway's Forgotten Heros." Earl grew up on the Alaska Highway and is a resident of Fort Nelson, BC. He has also been field editor for The MILEPOST since 1985.
The Beginning
An overland link between Alaska and the Lower 48 had been studied as early as 1930, under President Herbert Hoover, but with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, it was deemed a military necessity. President Roosevelt authorized construction of the Alaska Highway on February 11, 1942. The U.S. secured rights-of-way through Canada in March. The formal agreement between the 2 countries stipulated that the U.S. pay for construction and turn over the Canadian portion of the highway to the Canadian government after the war ended. In turn, Canada furnished the right-of-way; waived import duties, sales tax, income tax and immigration regulations; and provided construction materials along the route.
Equipment like this D-8 Cat would routinely get stuck in the mud during construction of the Alcan.
The following quotes are from Alfred Eschbach, a 27-year-old captain stationed in Louisiana, commanding Company A, 648th Topographic Battalion, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Harry Spiegel, who was under his command. Men like Eschbach and Spiegel were part of a massive mobilization of men and equipment that took place in that first month following the executive order to build a military road to Alaska.
Construction of the "Alcan" Highway (ALCAN was the military acronym for the Alaska-Canada Highway) officially began on March 9, 1942. By June, more than 10,000 American troops had poured into the Canadian North, most of them regiments from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Roadwork began in April, with crews working out of the 2 largest construction camps, Whitehorse and Fort St. John. Construction ended 8 months and 12 days later on Oct. 25, 1942. The official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Nov. 20, 1942, on Soldier's Summit.
* February 1942, "I received a telegram from the office of Brig. Gen. Clarence Sturdevant, Assistant Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, which read: 'You will take one company of men and proceed to Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and thence in a northwesterly direction to Fairbanks, Alaska, locating a route for a military road.' We had a month to prepare for departure."--Alfred M. Eschbach
* March 6, 1942, Camp Clairborne, LA. "We are warned to keep knowledge of our pending trip and mission a secret. Oddly enough, much date and information about it was heard a number of times in news flashes over the radio cast last night to the general public. It struck me as being rather humorous. We were told by our captain we are going into the wilderness far from towns and civilization, and there would be very little opportunity to spend money."--Harry Spiegel
* March 16, 1942, Fort St. John, BC. "We are now located on the last fringe of civilization; 60 miles from the nearest railroad and there are no roads save for one bush trail blazed about 300 miles north to Fort Nelson from here. In plain sight of the towering, challenging snowcapped peaks of the rugged Canadian Rockies our work begins. What a magnificent, soul-stirring sight these mountains are! Only in my wildest fancies did I ever dream I would be able to behold the beauties of this nature-laden country."--Harry Spiegel
* March 19, 1942, Fort St. John, BC. "Many convoys of heavy engineering and pontoon boat equipment are arriving every day. Even though I am in the midst of army activity all around me, all this impresses me as working on a huge, peacetime construction job, or being a member of a wilderness expedition. Very few wartime precautions are observed. Open fires burn at night, no camouflage is used and the trucks do not use their blackout lights."--Harry Spiegel
* April 10, 1942, "...Four of us in our party have been heading through the wilderness on a compass bearing towards a spot designed on an aerial photograph as Evelyn Lake. I doubt if man has ever set foot or even gazed on much of this territory. We keep taking frequent compass bearings and blaze a trail by marking trees with ax blazes and tying bits of red cloth on the crowns of the bush. Back of us a plane table party follows and formulates a traverse map with station elevations over our blazed trail. Often it is necessary to temporarily change course to dodge the dreaded muskeg, a steep grade, a cliff or a ravine. We are really working on the first stage of the Alaska Highway now.
"... The equipment has crawled its long way up into these forests from the railhead at Dawson Creek. Giant 'cats', power shovels, cranes, ground skimmers, bulldozers and all types of trucks are here waiting for the word go. Some of the massive road building equipment has tires 6 feet in diameter. You should see one of the giant diesel 'cats' cut a path through these forests. Nothing in their way stops them... After 3 'cats' pass through a wooded area--crashing timber, the second clearing and the third grading--a fair road already exists in their path. "--Harry Spiegel
Surveying the Route
Gas drums frozen in the river at Fort Nelson.
The general route of the Alcan Highway determined by the War Department was along a line of existing airfields from Edmonton, AB, to Fairbanks, AK, known as the Northwest Staging Route. (This chain of airfields was used to ferry more than 8,000 war planes to Russia as part of the Lend Lease Program.) But mapping out a general route for the Alaska Highway in Washington D.C., and actually surveying the route in the field, proved to be two very different things.
* "In the Arctic, the brush is thick. Visually one cannot determine the topography. The recon around would climb trees to select the best magnetic bearing on what would appear as the best general route. They used a Brunton compass as a survey instrument and a sapling pine as a staff. One man would set up with his compass on the staff and--utilizing the chosen bearing--locate a second man, who would proceed through the brush, waving a signal flag from the top of his staff as far as he could be seen. At that point, he would stick his staff in the ground, set up his compass, align it on the chosen bearing, and a third man would then move ahead of him... Leapfrogging in this manner, the unit could make as much as 8 or 10 miles on a good day."--Capt. Eschbach
* "The men were selected to do the various jobs of surveying the road. They were divided into 4 crews: Transit, Level, Alidades and Taping. I was selected to run the level from Fort Nelson to Watson Lake. I had worked for the Missouri Highway Dept. before joining the army, so I had some knowledge of surveying.
"When we were ready to start our work, we had to determine our elevation above sea level. Because no levels had ever been run in Fort Nelson, I took an elevation from the altimeter of an airplane at the small airport. They said the altimeter could be within 50 feet of the true elevation, so we started from there.
"We had trouble at first because we were right behind the bulldozer, but we soon let him get ahead of us. All 4 crews stayed close together. I thought the taping crew worked the hardest and did an accurate job. Some days we would cover 2 miles and some days 4, depending on the terrain. Our crew level would set a railroad spike on a tree at the end of each day's work, and there we would start the next day.
"I was told to run my line straight to Watson Lake with no check on my line. I wonder if any other level line has been run 365 miles without a tie-in point. We moved camp about every 2 weeks on up the road. We always balanced our level book after each page to see if we had made any mistakes in addition or subtraction. We always kept a smudge fire going to keep the mosquitoes away while we worked on our book."--Sgt. John Fisher
* August 6, 1942, MacDonald Pass. "Yesterday we moved 7 more miles to our present camp. The party ran 3 miles of line in the thickest swarms of gnats... Evening: A swim in the lake, vile chow (corned beef and cabbage), last smoke before turning in. The "cats" caught up to our centerline again today, making an amazing progress in the last 2 days. We'll have to hustle to keep ahead of them tomorrow. We should be at Muncho Lake by evening... Tomorrow our pack train goes for chow, which means mail from home."
Reconnaissance
The route of the Alaska Highway followed existing winter roads, summer pack trails and winter trap lines. Where no trails existed, reconnaissance parties scouted through river valleys and mountain passes, often depending on local guides to help locate possible routes for the new road. And like the early-day explorers who preceded them, along with those who called this country home, the Alaska Highway construction crews often left their mark by naming the lakes, rivers and mountains they found along the way.
* May 24, 1942. "The longest 2-man reconnaissance trip taken so far was from the Kledo River to Steamboat Mountain, the highest one in the Steamboat range, which lies just east of the Rockies. Sgt. Gras and I went on that trip together. With full rucksacks on our backs, including 5 days' rations and a stripped sleeping bag, we headed out. What a journey! After a day and a half we arrived at the first slopes of Steamboat Mountain. After a hard climb over boulders as big as boxcars, we began to ascend. Snow still lay in the crevices on the mountainside and often we sank waist deep. With every step climbed, the view became more impressive. Finally, after several hours of exertion, we reached the summit. What a view!"--Harry Spiegel
* June 1, 1942, at a camp on the Muskwa River. "Now we are a real recon outfit, because 3 days ago the pack horses arrived! We have 8 horses in our pack train... An old trapper by the name of Archie Gardner, who has lived up here all his life, is the wrangler and is in charge of the string. He wears homemade moose-hide beaded moccasins, "Kentucky-jean" pants, [and] a big beaten slouch hat. A hank of gray hair always protrudes from under his old hat and half covers his eyes. He sports a half growth of stubbly gray whiskers and smokes a crooked, big-bowled, sweet smelling pipe... Archie is 62 years old, and even though quite thin and weather-beaten, he is as straight as a spruce tree and as nimble as a boy in his teens... Archie knows this country like a book and I'm sure his knowledge of this terrain is going to be very helpful for our work."--Harry Spiegel
* "A route through the mountains through a large valley looked so tempting with its ease of construction, I decided to take my Indian guide, Charlie McDonald, and a string of horses to explore it thoroughly. We were on this reconnaissance from mid-July to mid-August. It was on this route that we came upon a beautiful lake about 2 miles long. I asked Charlie the name of the lake and he answered, 'No Name Lake.' Therefore I named it Isabel, after my wife, and so designated it in my report. Charlie said he had also named a lake after his wife. When I asked him what he had named it, he replied, 'Old Woman's Lake.'
"[Charlie] remarked that if he had some squirrel hair he could tie a fish hook and he might catch a grayling fish for dinner that night. Soon we spotted a squirrel scampering up a tree. I drew my .45 and shot it. Charlie was quite impressed by my marksmanship, so a bit further along the trail he remarked that if we could get a grouse for dinner it would be a real feast. As luck would have it, a grouse soon flew up and sat in a tree near us. Again, I drew my .45, shot 4 times at the bird, and missed every time. Charlie, ever the diplomat, said very earnestly, 'Pretty hard to hit him in the head.' I would have been satisfied to hit him anywhere."--Alfred Eschbach
* April 11, 1942, near Fort Nelson, BC. "Shortly after erecting this camp... we had a cold snap. It officially hit 37 degrees below zero one night, and a lot of frost bitten fingers and toes resulted.
"The snow is rapidly going in the woods and soon I expect to hear a roar and crashing of ice as the rivers go out... Most of us are glad to see the severe winter go, because it's not exactly a picnic to live outdoors in it 24 hours a day. In spite of the hardships, it sure is a great experience. The nightly displays of the Northern Lights are indescribable... Up here the stars each night stand out like diamonds in the sky."--Harry Spiegel
Daily Life
For the soldiers and civilian workers building the Alaska Highway, it was a hard life. Working 7 days a week, they endured mosquitoes and black flies in summer and below zero temperatures in winter. And the farther away from base camp you were, the harder the living conditions. Weeks would pass with no communication between headquarters and field parties.
* March 23, 1942 "This morning (Monday), at approximately 11 a.m., we arrived at [Fort] Nelson, a sorry flock of soldiers. Thirty-six hours in back of a CI truck in a temperature that went down to -30F! ..... I have no light and it is too dark to see. My fingers are numb, too."--Sid Navratil
* April 26, 1942. "We are working 16 hours a day, working like hell blazing a trail just ahead of the 'cats.' The days are long now: There is light at 4 a.m., and at 9:30 p.m. we still can see easily enough to work. We have brought a minimum of supplies with us, so when the ink from this pen runs out, I'll be without a pen."--Sid Navratil
* April 27, 1942. "This morning the schedule is the same again, except that we'll have to lug kitchen equipment as the 'cat' broke down. And this afternoon we'll do as we did yesterday: Cut our way through dense jungle of dead willows to make way for the transit line. We're short a man which makes it all tougher. In the evening, Joe and I pitch a pup tent, spread our sleeping bags and drop off to sleep. Not even the mosquitoes or bugs or hard ground can keep us awake."-- Sid Navratil
* July 22, 1942. "Our terrific chow shortage is getting everyone grumpy. The daily menu: breakfast, 3 pancakes, thin farina, coffee; lunch (when there is any), 2 biscuits size of a quarter each (and just as hard); supper, fish and potatoes... No cigarettes.-- Sid Navratil
* "Sgt. Price could make a meal out of most anything. He is one of my heroes in the army, because he made lots of good meals for us. I can remember one time when we ran short of food and we had hot cakes, noon and night. I liked the syrup he had. I guess you could [call] it 'Price's Candy Syrup,' because he would boil down hard candy - orange, strawberry, lemon, lime - to make syrup.
"It must have been kind of tough for some of the boys who lived in the city. We were busy the next few days cutting wood to keep us warm at night. I doubt it if some of the boys had ever used an axe or saw before, but they soon learned. It was just a little hard to wash or shave in the cold weather. It seemed like the razor just pulled the hair out. I'm sure we didn't keep our bodies too clean. We weren't G.I. like we would have been in the States."--John A. Frank
* "About a mile from the Liard [river] crossing we built a mess hall and set up a Quonset hut. We also dug a deep 4-hole latrine. It began to snow and got very cold. It was then our problem with the latrine began. It began filling up, forming columns all the way up to the holes... The captain had me and 2 other men build a fire in the latrine. I told Daunhauer and Warren to get a little gasoline and start a fire. They poured about 5 gallons of gasoline down a hole and then, for some reason, proceeded to wait.
"Finally, they threw in a lighted match and the latrine exploded, plastering the sides and roof with a brown substance and toilet paper, which immediately froze. It looked like some bizarre kind of Christmas decoration. Daunhauer and Warren had their eyebrows burned off and were a mess. We did use the latrine afterwards, but I sure wouldn't have wanted to be there when it warmed up in the spring."--Sgt. Chris Gras
Contact
Col. James McCarty (on right) of the 35th Combat Engineers, meets Col. Russell Lyons of the 340th Engineers, at Contact Creek.
In June 1942, the Japanese invaded Attu and Kiska Islands in the Aleutians, adding a new sense of urgency to completion of the Alcan. Crews working from east and west connected at Contact Creek in September.
September 15, 1942, Base Survey Camp. "After battling the remote wilderness day in and day out since the middle of last April, a few days ago we tied in the centerline on our sector, completing the mission. On the day we finished the line it was exactly 6 months to the day our troop train crossed the border and entered Canada. Amidst the cheers of the 2 parties, which had been working the centerline toward each other, the last tree was blazed and the gap was linked. I was thrilled! To me the event was comparable to the driving of the Golden Spike when the Union Pacific Railroad was completed across our glorious West in 1869.
"... The Reconnaissance and Survey parties were combined, and the following day [we] started our long trek back to the head of the road. The combined pack outfit made a string of horses about 50 in number. All the fellows were in jubilant spirits as we hiked back, even though averaging 15 miles a day. On the morning of the third day, while packing, blasting was heard. We knew we were getting close to the lead 'cats.' About noon, rounding a point on the river, we could see the dust and hear the roar of the D-8s clawing their way through the wilderness toward us.
"We were a sight, lightly stepping along the road. With our long hair, whiskers, torn clothes and worn shoes, we looked as if we were heading for a hobo's convention. When the horses hit the clearing they broke into a run, instead of plodding along as they usually did on the trail. It was a great day for man and beast.
"All the construction boys we met were eager to hear about our experiences up ahead...We rode back to the survey camp in a GI truck. The ride was plenty rough, but another comparatively new experience. What hearty welcomes were received from our old buddies at this camp! All kinds of pictures were taken, both snaps and movies. Compared to the monotonous rations in the field, what wonderful chow was served. We had soup, fresh baked bread, fresh vegetables and fresh meat. Food never tasted so good!
Today they are letting us take it easy and rest up... Production on the home front must be in high gear now, judging from the swarms of bombers and pursuit planes flying over here... From what little war news I can gather, my guess is all hell will break loose before long.
"I don't know as yet what we are going to do now. We might either revise some of the line, help this outfit survey the finished road, or go back and start crating our equipment. The weather is starting to get pretty snappy. We have frost almost every night... During the day and night, flocks of ducks, geese and swans noisily pass overhead, honking and winging their way southward ahead of the cold weather."--Harry Spiegel
September 16, 1942, Base Survey Camp. "...This highway will certainly be something for our nation to be proud of when it is finished. The army boys in overalls are really making a name for themselves. The politicians in Washington who opposed this job will be singing a different tune before long. As my lieutenant said, 'This highway will cost less than a battleship, cannot be sunk, and will be a thing of joy and beauty forever.'"--Harry Spiegel
