Friday, July 4


The building of the Alaska Highway (aka ALCAN) marks one of the first major accomplishments of the United States during World War II . Although a land link between Alaska and the lower 48 had long been dreamed of, it took the bombing of Pearl Harbor to bring it to reality. President Roosevelt authorized it in February, 1942, and between March and November of that year a combined force of 10,000 American troops plus numerous Canadian and American civilian contractors built nearly 1500 miles of road from Dawson Creek, BC, to Delta Junction, Alaska, through vast wilderness. The occupation of two of the Aleution Islands by the Japanese in June lent extra urgency to the project. The military road was opened to the general public in 1948, and since then it has beckoned adventurers. We were thrilled to be driving this historic route.

We drove into Dawson Creek and headed for the tourist information center at mile 0, and before we could enter we were offered free hot dogs and cake in celebration of the Fourth of July! So we were able to enjoy our national holiday after all. The spirit of Canadian-American friendship and cooperation that marked the building of the highway still exists, and we saw many instances of Canadian and American flags flying together. The tourist center shared a building with a small museum, where we saw an excellent film about the building of the highway, with lots of original footage. This left us even more impressed with the enormity of the accomplishment, which would be constantly reinforced as we drove it.