We visited the Alaska House in downtown Dawson Creek. It had a excellent museum that profiled the history of the construction of the ALCAN/Alaskan Highway. The highway was built in 1942 following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The nation recognized the importance of having a land connection to Alaska. It was feared that Japan would invade the USA through a northern route into the nation. This urgency lead to the construction of a highway through the wilderness in 8 months. Many considered this an impossible task, yet it was completed in record time. The weather, frozen tundra, supplies, and materials were all obstacles that had to be conquered. Yesterday we took a drive out of Dawson Creek on the old ALCAN Highway to the Kiskatinaw Bridge. This bridge is a trussel bridge which crosses a gorge. The bridge is supported by wooden timbers and the deck is made of wide wooden planks. It is interesting that the bridge has a curve built in to follow the contour
The views from the bridge were spectacular.
In the town of Dawson Creek we visited the museum in the train depot and the Alaska House. The town has had an interesting history which included moving the town to the present site. The interpreter told a story where the hardware store was jacked up, placed on rolling skids, and moved without even closing. Can you imagine being in the hardware store and ending up 2 miles down the road when you left.
