Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land

by Walter R. Borneman

In addition to the Northwest Staging Route and the Alaska Highway, there was a third leg to this overall project to better access and defend Alaska. In April 1942, Harold Ickes, who was the petroleum administrator for war as well as the secretary of the interior, told a cabinet meeting that concerted efforts should be undertaken immediately to explore for oil within Alaska in order to ensure a secure source for the territory. Once again, the army was charged with implementing this goal, and, once again, the big map of northwest Canada and Alaska brought the obvious into focus. Suddenly, the Canadian oil field at Norman Wells, which had been discussed in connection with proposed Route D of the highway, swelled in importance. The solution to decreasing Alaska’s dependence on oil arriving by ship, as well as providing fuel for both aircraft on the ALSIB and trucks on the Alaska Highway, was Project CANOL.