Departures of note

In 1933, Clyde Charles “Slim” Williams set out from Alaska on a dogsled to prove that a road connecting the territory to the lower 48 was feasible. He followed the proposed route using only crude maps through unmapped territory. When the spring thaw made sledding impossible, he fitted his sled with Model-T wheels and continued across the muddy Canadian plains, eventually reaching the Century of Progress World’s Fair in Chicago. By the time he arrived in Seattle, he had become a minor celebrity. After the fair closed for the season, he and his team of half-wolf dogs traveled to Washington, D.C., where he camped in a city park and spent the winter discussing Alaskan concerns with legislators, including a meeting with President Franklin Roosevelt.

Williams had first arrived in Alaska in 1900 at age 19, seeking adventure. Over the next three decades, he trapped, hunted, bred dogs, and blazed trails across the frontier. In 1939, he made a second trip down the proposed highway route, this time with John Logan, traveling in summer on a 300-pound motorbike. Williams claimed he never missed a meal, though he sometimes fell a few days behind. Logan documented the journey on video, showing how they cooked over campfires, built boats, and crossed rivers, including using a hand-powered tram to haul their motorcycles across one river.

Williams was a strong proponent of the Alaska Highway before World War II, but officials initially saw no need for it. When the highway was finally built in 1942, it followed a route east of the trail Williams had blazed, chosen for its greater economic growth potential. Later in life, Williams became a popular lecturer, traveling the country to entertain audiences with stories of surviving the frozen northern wilderness. He and his wife Gladys lived in Chicago’s Old Town, and he died at Ravenswood Hospital at age 93, buried in Mitchell, Indiana.