Alaska Highway

Alaska Highway all-weather road, 1,523 mi (2,451 km) long, extending NW from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Fairbanks, Alaska. An extension of an existing Canadian road between Dawson Creek and Edmonton, Alta., the Alaska Highway was constructed (Mar.-Sept., 1942) by U.S. troops as a supply route to military forces in Alaska during World War II. It was a significant engineering feat because of the difficulties of terrain and weather. In the last stretch to Fairbanks the road used the previously built Richardson Highway. The Haines Cutoff connects the Alaska Highway with the Alaska panhandle. In 1946 control of the Canadian part of the road was transferred to Canada. In 1947 the entire highway was opened to unrestricted travel; it is one of the best routes to Alaska. The highway is open throughout the year, and there are roadside facilities along its length. It was formerly known as the Alaskan International Highway and the Alcan Highway.

Alaska, the most north-western part of North America, which includes the Aleutian Islands. It was purchased by the USA from Russia in 1867, but did not become the 49th state until 1959. It had a governor and the laws of Oregon were applied to its 72,000 population, half of whom were indigenous Inuit. From these, and from Aleuts and Indians, were drawn the men who composed the 2,700-strong Alaskan Territorial Guard, known as the Tundra Army, formed in 1941 to defend the territory against a Japanese attack. In fact, Alaska, with two Aleutian islands being occupied by the Japanese during the Aleutian Islands campaigns as well as Japanese attacks on Dutch Harbor, saw more of the war than the rest of the USA, though the Tundra Army's only chance for action was when its members shot down Japanese balloon bombs. A number of air and military bases were rapidly built there to counter the Japanese threat and the Alaska Highway was started. When this was completed in 1943 it ran for 2,450 km. (1,523 mi.) from Dawson Creek in British Columbia to Fairbanks. Officially called the Alcan Military Highway, it was a joint Canadian–US defence project which involved 11,000 US and 16,000 Canadian troops, as well as civilians.