TRAILG HI HLIGHTS

Ml i e 8: Most of Camp CANOL was bulldozed to the The CANOL TRAIL ground in 1977. A few derelict Quonset huts remain. The old post office that has been used recently for stabling BACKGROUND horses still stands. C A

Emgc er en y Shelter mile 22: The N OE

government built an emergency tent shelter at Twenty- N CANOL, short for Canadian Oil, was a project funded OR

five Mile Creek, but bears and weather have opened it T H M

A AR by the American military to build a pipeline from to the 4 winds. D V K E P N A T TRIC , to , mil e 36: (Cover) One of the most commonly visited U R ES during World War II as the result of a possible sites, one of the only remaining pumphouse structures. K Japanese attack on Alaska in 1942. Ml i e 42-43: Partially submerged caboose in creek bed. Two cabooses and a trailer [are] in line on the road. The pipeline was required to provide oil for machinery, P SuMP tATION # 4. Mile 108: Many buildings and vehicles remain. One Quonset hut in good vehicles and aircraft used in the construction of the condition with stove, table, {some} cots. The road at and to meet the demands of the U.S. camp 108 is used as a short, narrow airstrip.

and Canadian Troops in the far north that required a Ml i e # 170: Pump Station #5: Pump house, C A N steady supply of oil. Over 20,000 men and women were Quonsets, tanks and vehicle hulks. One building OE

partially preserved…doors and windows gone. N OR T

employed during the construction of the pipeline and H

Ml i e 217: Road camp with ruined shacks and A D V

the project took less than two years to complete. E

abandoned vehicles. This is where the North and South N T U

sections of the road met on December 31, 1943. R ES To speed up completion of the road and pipeline, construction proceeded from Camp CANOL going west across the from Norman Wells, and from Whitehorse moving east. The roadway was joined in the vicinity of the Yukon/Northwest territory border in the winter of 1943. PWNH PWNH C The CANOL pipeline and road were abandoned less C

/ N-1979-063-0146 / N-1979-063-0152 than one year after completion in 1944 as the war had ended and the pipeline was no longer required. The expenses mounted from the frequent repairs and maintenance of the pipeline along with the high cost of The four inch (10cm) pipe used was too small and it was placed A now obsolete mode of transportation used to move equipment directly on the uneven ground. During freeze and thaw cycles, the was a Cat train. A Caterpillar tractor is used to pull flat bed sleighs refined oil production in Whitehorse. G e

pipe often fractured. The pipeline carried very little oil at a great and cabooses. Capable of moving up to 50,000 tons of supplies rold expense. After the war it was abandoned. and complete buildings, crews were able to transport all the S i equipment needed to create roads, camps and haul the pipe gol / NW What remains is a relatively intact roadbed and needed for the project.

remnants of vehicles and buildings used during the T

T o u

Canol Project. Some bridge structures were left intact, r ism but most were destroyed by rushing water.

The CANOL trail is a 355km (222 mile) trail running from P WNH PWNH Norman Wells, NWT through the Mackenzie Mountains / N-1979-063-0195 PWNH C C

C to the Yukon Territory border. It is considered one of the /

n / N-1979-063-0166 - 1979-063-0095 most challenging trails due to its length, remoteness, G e and many river crossings. rold S i gol / NW

Ad posted for prospective CANOL workers to warn of the harsh Living quarters consisted of log cabins and Quonset huts that the First Nation’s people helped to navigate through the Mackenzie T

T conditions of working in the North. crews were responsible for constructing. Many of the building Mountains. Experienced aboriginal hunters were hired to lead o u r

structures are still standing. surveyors across the land from Norman Wells into the Yukon. ism

Norma n Wells Historical Society | Sarah COLBECK | T. (867) 587-2415 or (867) 587-2469 | [email protected] DOI T’OH TERRITORIAL PARK – m a c K E N Z I E M O U N T a i N S | N O r t H W E s t T e r r i t o r i e s

Norman Wells Historical Society | Sarah COLBECK | T. (867) 587-2415 or (867) 587-2469 | [email protected]