Crooked Road ─ The Story of the Alaska Highway

On February 11, 1942, President Roosevelt authorized, and in mid-March Prime Minister King approved, the construction of the "Alcan" for the joint defense of the U.S. and Canada. The Army Corps of Engineers was to out the pioneer road, sufficient only "to get equipment through and to permit supply of troops." Working with the Public Roads Administration, the Engineers opened a barely passable road by early winter. After the opening ceremony at Soldiers Summit on Kluane Lake on November 20, the PRA used Canadian and American civilian contractors to build the "improved," year round road. At war's end, Canada took over control and maintenance.
David Remley tells not only of the Americans and Canadians who built the road, but of the people who lived in the North earlier and those who have driven the road since - truckers, tourists, and migrants. He has the people who live and work along the route tell the story in their own words.