Fairbanks shares a unique bond with its military neighbors born out of history and forged through years of co-dependence.
Ten years after the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, most Americans knew little more about Alaska than the Russians had known. But traders, trappers and prospectors wanted access routes to fur and mineral resources. They turned to the Army for assistance.
No one was more aware of the lack of information than Gen. Nelson A. Miles, whose responsibility it was to oversee U.S. Army activities in Alaska. Congress did not see fit to fund full-scale Army exploration in Alaska, but Miles nevertheless dispatched 1st Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka to investigate in 1883. He returned with much useful information on the inhabitants of the upper Yukon River. In 1884, Lt. William R. Abercrombie explored the Copper River region, an area prospectors had tried to penetrate. Abercrombie determined that the area was inpenetrable. In 1885, Lt. Henry T. Allen and two others set out to explore uncharted Alaskan wilderness. They traveled to the confluence of the Copper annd Chitina Rivers, then into the uncharted Tanana Valley. Following the Tanana to its junction with the Yukon River, they traveled along the Yukon to the Koyukuk River, then again followed the Yukon to St. Michael on Norton Sound. Gold prospectors and traders, encouraged by Allen's report, came soon after.
In 1900, spurred by the impact of the Gold Rush on Alaska, the Army began to build a telegraph line. The system, known as the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System, or WAMCATS, expanded and soon linked Fairbanks, a new gold rush camp on the Chena River, with the outside world.
In 1937 public lands three miles north of Fairbanks were withdrawn for a military reservation to establish a cold weather test station at the recommendation of Maj. Gen. H. H. Arnold, chief of the Army Air Corps. Construction began on what would become known as Ladd Army Air Base, named for Maj. Arthur K. Ladd, a pilot who crashed and died in South Carolina
When Canada entered World War II it authorized the construction of a number of
airfields that would eventually stretch from Alberta to Whitehorse, Yukon. By 1941, the
airfields had been completed, and would eventually expedite the movement of aircraft and
supplies north to Alaska.
In 1942, construction on the Alaska-Canadian Highway started, to complement the
already existing air route.
The impact of the military on Alaska and specifically on Fairbanks was tremendous.
1n 1940, the Fairbanks population was 3,455. Soon troops and construction workers would
greatly swell that number. Fairbanks residents went to work for the Army. Some joined
the Air Corps and others worked In a civilian capacity. All supported the war effort. As
the war raged on, the importance of a military presence in Alaska became undisputed.
Since the days of the gold rush, communication has played an important part in the
development of Alaska. Now the old Alaska Communications System was upgraded and
expanded. ACS provided support for the construction of the ALCAN and played an
important part in the Canadian Oil Project pipeline.
After World War II, the vastly improved and expanded ACS became a vital link for
Alaska's civilian populations with the southern 48 states, as well as providing connections
with bush communities throughout the territory.
The temporary drawdown of military presence in Alaska after World War II was
reversed in the 1950s as the outbreak of military hostilities once again brought new
demands to Alaska's military. The Army Air Corps had split into the Army and the Air
Force. A new base was constructed at Mile 26 Richardson Highway, to be named Eielson
Air Force Base. Both Ladd and Eielson were Air Force installations. By 1962 the Air
Force consolidated its operations at Eielson and Ladd, again under Army command, was
renamed Fort Wainwright.