Cleveland High School - Beacon Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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mericak :wma ga Yes, that is just what the Alaska Highway is to America, a Burma Road. A number of years ago this section had been seen only by Indians, Royal Mounties, and occasional hunters and trappers until a certain grey- haired engineer, Donald MacDonald, fought his way through this wilder- ness. MacDonald had no trail to follow but he had the strong desire to prove the possibilities of a road connecting the United States with all- important Alaska. MacDonald figured that if it were at all possible for him to get by on foot, surely the American people would overcome ther handicaps and build a road. For twenty years MacDonald tried to per- suade the government to listen to his so-called fantastic idea. He made several trips to Washington to arouse interest in building a road from the United States to Alaska. Finally he got Congress and the Press inter- ested, and in 1938 President Roosevelt appointed an Alaskan Highway Commission of which MacDonald was a member. The Commission de- cided, in 1940, that immediate construction should be started but not until December 7, 1941, did things come to a head. Finally, MacDonald's hopes and dreams came true. It was necessary to work doubly fast to get all supplies in before the spring thaws came and hindered the con- struction at Dawson Creek. Immediately Canada sent men with dog teams to go out and buy up all the rights to the land. Army engineers were given furlined sleeping packs and clothes and told they were to do an important but fantastic job in four or possibly six weeks. If the weather 'continued freezing it would be possible, but if the spring thaws were early it would have been practically impossible, for in place of the supplies coming in by Army trucks, the bog and mud would make it necessary for supplies to come by pack horses. At first it seemed as if the thaws were early but then, as if through a miracle, a heavy freeze came which lasted until the end of April. Now the thaws had very little effect upon the construction, as all necessary supplies and machinery had been brought through and con- struction was carried on. With the thaws came the mosquitoes, and it has been said that over the humming of these insects talking was prac- tically impossible. Following the mosquitoes came the no-see-ums, black Hy, horse fly, and deer Hy, but fortunately none of these carried malaria. Day by day, week by week, the construction went on. All construction was under the order of Brigadier-General William Morris Hoge, a native Missourian. It has been said that this expedition could be compared with 18

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.fgfcwlah Ofcfedlf ,fgidclfic jlflllflf Excavations at Point Hope, two hundred miles north of the Bering Strait, bring to life a town inhabited by a highly cultured people some- time before the time of Christ. This town, sometimes called Ipiutah, had over eight hundred houses. About two hundred are still buried by the beach sand. Until 1940 the extent of the town was not known. The houses were about fifteen feet square and each faced the west. The central heating plant was a hearth in which blubber and driftwood were burned. The floors were made of driftwood. The walls were of sod blocks with a log framework. A cemetery was unearthed with log tombs. The skeletons found in these tombs had large eyes carved from ivory. Since nothing like this was to be found among the Eskimo ruins, it is believed these people mi- grated from some part of the Orient. Objects of ivory and flint were found but none of the natives of Alaska know any possible use for them. The skeletons found in this Arctic region may help to prove whether or not these people came from the Orient, or whether the Eskimos of today are descendants of these ancient people. ANTOINETTE BARTELS. . .. .- 1 ...g :.Q., zz' .1213 :fem if fifvil' stiffer- ,R-'fi' was sal imisa 2 -:aa -as-MQQFEB ll ll f P

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that of Lewis and Clark. His men slept in pup tents and received no leaves or furloughs until the completion of the Road. At the completion of the road, soldiers and equipment reached Fair- banks, Alaska, in 80 hours from Edmonton, which formerly took nine days by sea and rail. The cost of the road can be compared to less than the cost of a battleship, which seems almost nothing compared to the real value. Not only during war times will this road be profitable but after peace is again restored in this World people and families from Mis- souri, Texas, Florida, Maryland and from all over will be able to go to Alaska to live. There is plenty of free land in Alaska and after we can come into Contact with it more easily it will be more than just the place of the Eskimosf' BETTY RODERMUND. wr ea we f.3r J X 115- .Lv 1 X H e iv X A X FRAncu:ij1ls'i 'Y-R X X X ka navsml ..1 vp A A pf, png N 4,1 . jf.. .A .41 f xx h LN ,Tx X WAT ' I i 'lf MODEL KTANANLX H Siiiqax X O X Lwex Pos X Q X . Ps vw l U A if TESLIN f Ps wi,-gyfi REEK ,Q OSUNZ7 i 4 Q I X l L' Q, X, u lx dmclwt X Q Pt ,fi gk- ncsmn X 'Y Q , i Qcnxvuvm ixxvh A 5 F Qh X V T A Q .INN V PEL .q i ' ,F 4 gb O ceoaue fl S- Xu C1 rm o 1, SX , Zz -sg, 4 V X 9 X, A va R v O X xv , -YY. ..- 5 -A -' - ff- if ,ir A fs A a + Q41 1 -,IL 1 anti -1 A i ,flli 4 Ili 41 Q Anil , M- fm Tw W- 'VH 'TQ Wi U71 Ni' Wi nl Ilflargic Nazrght