The story behind one of Canada's most famous highways...and how it was built by a foreign army. From the Rocky Mountain foothills, all the way to Alaska—we take a road trip finding clues to its origins: rusted old trucks, strange-looking buildings, and abandoned gravel roads. This is the tale of the largest American invasion into Canada since the Gold Rush. This is the Alaska Highway.

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The first thing we want to mention is that the Alaska Highway originally had a far less American-centric name: the Alcan Highway (Alaska-Canada). In the same way Canol Road comes from “Canada-Oil.” We much prefer the Alcan since the majority of the highway is, ya know, in Canada.

One of the central reasons Whitehorse became the capital of the Yukon (in 1953) is because of the boom it experienced during the construction—dethroning Dawson City!

We wished we had the time to drive up Canol Road when we filmed the episode. The disaster caused by its construction is STILL being dealt with today. Here’s an article about the cleanup from July 2022:

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The Teslin Taxi:

By the time the Alaska Highway was built, many Yukon communities still weren't widely accessible by road. However, there is at least one notable exception: the village of Teslin (Desleen), YK. It was all thanks to a multi-talented man named George Johnston. Johnston was a Tlingit photographer and entrepreneur. As a successful trapper, he used some of his earnings to purchase photography equipment, which he then used to document his vibrant community in some of the best Depression-era photography out there—particularly during the years leading up to WWII (a few of these photos can be seen in the episode).

He also bought himself a four-door Chevrolet, which was shipped from the dealer down the Yukon River, up Teslin River, and over Teslin Lake to reach him. Since there was no road in Teslin, George Johnston built one 4 mile stretch himself. He turned his Chevrolet—the first car in town—into the famous Teslin Taxi, charging $1 a trip. Johnston's four miles eventually became a part of the Alaska Highway, with Teslin at Mile 804! You can find many of his photos today at The George Johnston Museum in Teslin (they also have a great Facebook page).

There are certainly examples of the Alaska Highway benefitting the First Nations of the Northwest, but the change it brought was drastic.

The Yukon Archives includes a page about the impact on First Nations here: [ Ссылка ]

And they have a great bibliography here:
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Joe Louis:

The heavyweight champion of the world was in Whitehorse for a stint during the construction. He was enlisted in the army and sent to raise the morale of troops around the world. He was spotted at the Regina Hotel where some Texan officers stormed out in protest at his presence.

Soviet Spies:

We made an entire episode about Soviet spies infiltrating Canada during and after WWII, and one of the ways they did so was by flying south along the Northwest Staging Route! There are even stories of spies escaping with suitcases stuffed full of secret documents. The North would soon become home to a series of detection systems to protect against the Soviet threat.

Clarifications:

The full cost of the construction is hard to pinpoint. The Canadian government repaid the American government $108 million “to cover airfields and flight strips... other assets...but not construction of the highway itself.” American investment in the highway is recorded as $147.8 million (between 2-3 billion US dollars today). Canada provided a lot of materials and waived taxes, fees, etc. The U.S. Department of Transportation clearly states that Canada paid the cost of the Canadian portion back in full.

11,000 American soldiers were joined by 16,000 American and Canadian civilians in constructing the highway.

The bridge crossing the Aishihik River is a replica of the original.

We mention that a store of dynamite exploded in Dawson Creek, BC, “leveling the town.” It leveled a large part, but not the entire town. Here’s a great article about Dawson Creek and the disaster, written months after the explosion: [ Ссылка ]

DESCRIBED VIDEO VERSION: [ Ссылка ]

#alaskahighway #canadianhistory #wwii

00:00 Introduction
01:03 America at war!
02:01 Northwest Staging Route
03:06 Fighting Germany
04:08 The Plan
05:05 The Construction
08:54 Japan Invades!
09:42 Soldier's Summit
10:09 Victory!
12:33 Bonus Story: Canol Road

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