Ordinary Men Build A Legendary Road
Black Engineers & The ALCAN Highway
Teslin Lake is 78 miles long and about 3 miles wide. While the road that would access Morley Bay was under construction, sternwheelers pushed barges loaded with supplies and equipment for the road builders up the Lake to Morley Bay.
The most important objective for Colonel Johnson of the 93rd on its initial move into the Yukon was a road from Carcross to the Teslin River. The spot where the road crosses the river, appropriately, is named Johnsons Crossing. The headquarters of the 93rd wound up at Squanga Lake. From Johnsons Crossing, the 93rd ferried themselves and their equipment across Teslin River to the other side and began their road to Teslin – 100 miles away.
During its initial foray into the Yukon, the 93rd centered its activities around a forested area ten miles from Tagish. For a short time they located the Motor Pool there and it became what it is today, the spot on the map named Jakes Corner. The name came from Lt. Cleve R. Jacobsen an electrical engineer from Tennessee.
In the 93rd’s rush to build the road to the Teslin River they arrived at a ‘spot on the ground’ that would be later called Jakes Corner. That was the point at which they had been directed to build road back northwest to Whitehorse. Col. Johnson split two companies off from his main force and sent them in that direction. By late July they were at M’Clintock River, having covered 30 of the 44 projected miles. But the 340th was in serious trouble back to the south and Hoge sent the 93rd to the relief of the 340th. Johnson pulled his companies back from M’Clintock River and the PRA took over. The PRA completed the road from M’Clintock River to Whitehorse and brought it up to standards.
The 93rd Engineers arrived June 1942 and crossed the Tagish River, 1275 feet, on a pontoon ferry. Tagish, a small village, was the traditional home of the Carcross/Tagish Tlingits. It is 23 miles southeast of Carcross. The Tagish river, known to the Tlingits as the Six Mile River, was a popular fishing hole for the soldiers. One soldier attached a hook to a string, tied the string to his rifle barrel and caught a trophy size trout. Lieutenants Timberlake and Bonaparte caught four trout for dinner. According to Lt. Tim, one weighed 19 pounds. It was a welcome change from Spam, Vienna Sausage or Chili.
The Corps of Engineers appropriated the White Pass and Yukon Railroad as a critical link between the harbor at Skagway and the interior. The 770th Railway Battalion ran it for them. The WP & YT ran a daily train, the 770th ran 30 daily trains.
A “spot in the road”, Carcross housed 100 Tlingit Natives, the Watson Trading post, a railroad depot, and Caribou Hotel and Bar. Over 10,000 soldiers would pass through their little village on their way to build the highway. In May of 1942, 1200 segegated soldiers of the 93rd arrived. The first white man that ten year old Millie Jones had ever seen was black. By mid-June, most of the 93rd was gone. One hundred and thirty troops remained to guard the bridge and help unload equipment at the depot. The 340th, a white battalion, passed through on their way to Teslin River.
The 340th second battalion, over 800 men, left Skagway for Carcross and began their march to Teslin River. With limited heavy equipment they were ferried across Tagish River to continue marching past the 93rd Motor Pool at Jakes Corner.
A city of 600 souls swelled to 3,600 in April of 1942 when the US Army and the 93rd Engineers occupied their harbor, buildings and airfield for the Alaska Highway Project. The origin of the path from the sea to the interior and central portion of the Alaska Highway Project, Skagway became a major military troop and supply transport center.
Alaska Highway, Corps of Engineers, 18th Regiment Exec Officer, 93rd Regimental Commander. Education: West Point graduate in 1925 and an advanced degree in Engineering at Cornell University in 1929. Born: 22 May 1903, Chicago, Illinois. Died: 21 April 1949. He died when aboard an Army Bomber that crashed on Mt. Hood, Oregon. He was 46 years old. …