In 1867, the United States purchased the Alaska Territory from Russia. For nearly 80 years, however, the only way to reach there from the “lower 48” was by sea. That changed in 1942 when the US government and Canada agreed to construct an overland route to Alaska through Canada. Proposals for such a road had been considered for decades, but there had been little sense of urgency in either the US or Canada. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor dramatically changed that. Should the Japanese invade Alaska, it would bring the “lower 48” within much easier reach of Japanese ships and planes. Construction began in March 1942, starting north from central British Columbia and simultaneously working south from Alaska. Less than 9 months later, the 1,600+ mile land route to Alaska was declared complete. The men of the US Army Core of Engineers had carved it through an unmapped wilderness of forest, seemingly bottomless mud, and over mountains, as they fought not only time but rain, snow, and clouds of mosquitos. This course will look not only at how they did it, but also at the background, context, and impacts of building the road. We’ll go back to the purchase of Alaska; look at the Klondike Gold Rush and how its legacy contributed to the Alaska highway; Japanese occupation of two Alaskan islands; race relations in the US army; the road’s role in delivery of US planes to Soviet Russia; and much more. In 1948, the US and Canadian governments opened the Alaska Highway to public travel. Sixty-five years later, in 2013, my husband and I drove from San Francisco to Fairbanks AK and back on a 9,000-mile road trip that covered every single mile of the highway as it exists today. As we consider the history of this amazing highway, we will do so in parallel with this wonderful road-trip.