Alcan Hwy

To the best of my knowledge, the relevant road has never officially been named the "Alcan"...I'm more than willing to be corrected on that....but what I understand was that it was called the Alcan by the GI force that built it.

At least that's what two of my uncles who were part of that force (1 a catskinner, 1 a timber feller) told me in my so-long-ago tender youth. Rightly or wrongly, back in the day in Alaska circa '60's and '70s, the term Alcan was used as a measuring stick: "Is that truck dependable enough to drive the Alcan?"

Even back in the '60's (if fading memory doesn't play tricks) there were bumper stickers proudly proclaiming "I drove the Alaska Highway".

So I don't know that it is political correctness.

All that being said, I'm lazy and getting old, certainly stubborn, so I'll probably go on calling it the Alcan.

I wondered how long it would take for political correctness to get here!

Tee Jay wrote:
Calling it the Canol or the Alcan is silly given the existing road signs.

Calling it the Canol would certainly be silly, since that's the correct name for a different road. :)

Here is a Great film made by the US Army during WW II about the Alaskan Highway

https://youtu.be/tOcNBrE25MI

sue.t wrote:

enblethen wrote:
Some of the Canadians do not like it called the Alcan.
It maybe their age!

Making fun of my age? Sheesh...I was born and raised along the Alaska Highway in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Never heard it called the Alcan by Canadians. Just Americans.

http://www.alaskahighwayarchives.ca/en/index.php

If you do we are are at mile 78.3 on the Sterling. The State are planning to rebuild the road from the last bend of the Kenai River to the Sterling 4 lane, so expect delays, but most work will, I suspect, focus on the bridge work over the Moose River near Johnson Lake, We have power, water and sanitation dump. Welcome for a free camp spot.

Terry

sue.t wrote:

enblethen wrote:
Some of the Canadians do not like it called the Alcan.
It maybe their age!

Making fun of my age? Sheesh...I was born and raised along the Alaska Highway in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Never heard it called the Alcan by Canadians. Just Americans.

http://www.alaskahighwayarchives.ca/en/index.php

Sue
some of us respect the sensitivities. The road signs all say Alaska Highway. Calling it the Canol or the Alcan is silly given the existing road signs.

enblethen wrote:
Some of the Canadians do not like it called the Alcan.
It maybe their age!

Making fun of my age? Sheesh...I was born and raised along the Alaska Highway in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Never heard it called the Alcan by Canadians. Just Americans.

http://www.alaskahighwayarchives.ca/en/index.php

Terry, I am sure we will go down to the Homer area to see friends plus I would like to stop in at your business to meet you guys. There must be close to a dozen of our Interior Alaska friends that have moved to the Kenai, especially the Homer and Anchor Point regions. Hopefully I have one more trip in me. LOL. I have told my family that when I can no longer pass my DOT commercial physical, I plan to hang up my keys. I can no longer pass my pilot's license physical so those days of flying as a pilot are behind me now. No regrets at all as I have so many good memories of traveling to Alaska and living and working there for 25+ years. We kept our Anchorage apartment rentals for about 5 years after moving to Colorado to raise our daughters. After 30 years they were deprecated down to zero and was time to sell them. Luckily we had good professional management for the apartments so never had to personally live in Anchorage. LOL

Hey Joe, if you go will you hit the Kenai?
Terry

enblethen wrote:
Some of the Canadians do not like it called the Alcan.
It maybe their age!

8********************************

wonder why? if they called it the Canal would that make a difference?