Donald W MacDonald II

HE MAPPED OUT THE HIGHWAY TO ALASKA, By Colin H. Mac Donald -

Since the turn of the century people have envisioned a highway running from the United States to Alaska.

My father, Donald MacDonald, an engineer who had been employed by the Alaska Engineering Commission in the construction of the Alaska Railroad, went further than a vision. He was employed, after the railroad was completed, as the Alaska Road Commission's locating engineer for highway construction.

In the late 1920s he gave lectures and made maps showing the feasibility of a highway from the western United States to Alaska. Under this plan the highway ran from Hazelton, British Columbia, north through the passage between the coastal range and the Rocky Mountains - which became known as the "A" route - and continued on to Fairbanks. A considerable amount of publicity was put forth by chambers of commerce, newspapers, magazines and lectures on the possibility of traveling to Alaska by car from the United States. Alaska delegate Dan Sutherland addressed Congress on the subject.

In 1931, MacDonald was in charge of a reconnaissance survey from McCarthy or Big Delta to Dawson, Yukon Territory. He made the trip on foot with Dan Kennedy, his pack horses and Marcel Stragier. They left the pack horses with Kennedy at Chicken. MacDonald and Stragier continued to Dawson and returned to Big Delta later that summer. They left the horses at Chicken because the animals held them back, MacDonald said later. Dan Kennedy would stop whenever they came to some wild peas and let the horses graze. The horses got so fat they could hardly carry their loads.

In the winter of 1933, MacDonald suggested to a flamboyant, tough trapper and pioneer, "Slim" Williams, that an attempt could be made to mush a dog team from Fairbanks over the planned route of the Alaska Highway to the states and end up at the World's Fair in Chicago. The trip was made, Williams installing wheels and tires on his dog sled in British Columbia when he ran out of snow. He camped at the fairgrounds in Chicago and later gave Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt a dog sled ride when she visited the fair.

MacDonald continued to publicize the Alaska Highway at every opportunity. A convincing persuader, he received the support of many influential people and groups.

In 1939, another attempt was made to bring the construction of the Alaska Highway to the attention of the public. Williams was again contacted, and he agreed to make another trip over the planned highway route. This time he would be accompanied by John Logan, and they would make the trip in the summer on two motorcycles. The trip from Fairbanks to Hazelton was completed in about four months. The motorcycles broke down occasionally, and parts were difficult to obtain in the Bush.

The following year Ed Borders, a young Alaska college student, made the trip from Fairbanks to Hazelton in the winter on skis. He was later killed in action in World War II.

By this time MacDonald had been appointed to the International Highway Commission by President Roosevelt along with Gov. Ernest Greuning, Sen. Magnuson of Washington and another engineer. After some preliminary reconnaissance and counsel, they agreed that the "A" route promoted by MacDonald was the most feasible. The alternate "B" and "C" routes were further inland and produced longer highways over rougher terrain. The secondary routes required more bridges and entailed much greater expense. With the U.S. involvement in World War II, however, these problems were cast aside and, to the dismay of the commissioner, the "C" route was chosen and constructed by the government.

A congressional investigation was later conducted on the reasons but nothing came of it. MacDonald was extremely disappointed over the location of the Alaska Highway, then called the Alcan Highway.

During the war, MacDonald worked on a railway survey from British Columbia to the Seward Peninsula. If World War II had continued, the railroad would probably have been built there.

He later proposed an oil pipeline to be constructed over the "A" route so that Alaska wouldn't have to be supplied with oil shipped in vulnerable tanker ships during time of war.

MacDonald died in 1952 without seeing the completion of the "A" route, which was built by the Canadians in the late 1970s and is called the Cassiar Highway. Thousands of people have driven to Alaska over the Alaska Highway's "A" route and have enjoyed the beautiful scenery without knowing about the sacrifice made by the promoters, engineers and construction workers.

For his work MacDonald has been known as the "Father of the Alaska Highway." He was also responsible for the location of the road from Cantwell to Valdez Creek, Nabesna Road, parts of the Steese Highway and the McKinley Park Road. He was project engineer on the Knik River Bridge, the trail from Circle to Fort Yukon, and other roads and trails in Alaska. His maps were works of art with precision lettering and drawing. The large map he made of the Steese Highway drawn in 1925 has become a collector's item. As his son, I saw much of this going on. I remember my dad smoking incessantly and rolling his own Bull Durham cigarettes. Cy MacGahan, who was on the survey crew with my father, said that if a person wanted to know where the new road was going you just following the discarded Bull Durham sacks.

MacDonald was born in Williamsport, Pa., April 18, 1880. He worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer and as a civil engineer on railroads in the Southwest and Northwestern states. He came to Alaska in 1914 on a railroad survey job from Chitina on the Copper River and Northwestern Railroad to Knik, close to where the Glennallen Highway is situated. In 1915, he was employed by the Alaska Engineering Commission on the construction of the Alaska Railroad.

MacDonald was one of the organizers of Alcoholics Anonymous in Fairbanks. He saw many of his friends become alcoholics and wanted to help them get straightened out. He was a generous, kind and humorous man.