Alaska Highway bibliography, 3rd edition

• Main Author: Prange, Laurie
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Friends of the Yukon Archives 2006
• Subjects: Yukon; Northern Canadian economic development; Northern Canada; World War II; Yukon history; Mackenzie river; Norman Wells; Whitehorse; Alaska
• Online Access: https://vbn.aau.dk/da/publications/76030353-fac4-449c-b5a6-e1b86590cd1d; http://www.tc.gov.yk.ca/alaska_highway_biblio.pdf

Since the early 20th century various schemes were considered for the construction of roads, trails or railways 71 to link the Yukon, northern British Columbia and Alaska to the “outside.” These schemes were motivated by economic interests, including mining, lumber and tourism concerns. During the 1920s and 1930s a small but vocal group of “builders” began to campaign for a highway, either a coastal or inland route, to improve the northwest’s economic base. With the impending threat of war in the late 1930s, there was an increasing awareness by the American and Canadian governments of the vulnerability of the Pacific Coast to both air and sea attacks by “unfriendly” nations. In 1939, the Northwest Staging Route (NWSR) was surveyed by the Canadian Department of Transportation with the view towards improving the existing airfields for year round use between Edmonton and Fairbanks, and meeting increasing military needs. The unexpected bombing of Pearl Harbour in December 1941 stimulated interest in the construction of the Alaska Highway by the American government. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers selected a route based on the location of the NWSR airfields and the military needs for an alternative land route to Alaska for defence purposes. The military was not interested in developing or planning a highway for the civilian needs of the future. The chosen route ran from Edmonton to Whitehorse, then on to Fairbanks. The U.S. Army and U.S. Public Roads Administration (PRA) roughed out a “pioneer” road in eight months in 1942; the PRA then hired civilian contractors who improved the highway in 1943 and 1944. During this time the Americans grew increasingly concerned over the lack of petroleum available in the north and the submarine threat to oil tankers transporting fuel on the Pacific Ocean. Thus the Canol project was developed to ensure a continuing supply of petroleum to meet military needs. The end result of the Canol project was a pipeline and road network transporting oil from Norman Wells on the Mackenzie River, ...