Unofficial views: Elmer Harp
Elmer Harp is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. His 35 year career at Dartmouth started in 1946 and included numerous expeditions to the Central and Eastern Arctic, Alaska and the Yukon. In 1948, Professor Harp and several colleagues drove to the Yukon via the Alaska Highway to conduct archaeological research. His publication "North to the Yukon Territory via the Alcan Highway in 1948: Field Notes of the Andover-Harvard Expedition" documents his journey north and his work that summer. He also took slides documenting the experience which have been donated to Yukon Archives. The following is a selection of Professor Harp’s photographs from the 1948 field trip showing scenes along the Alaska Highway.
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Car traveling the Alaska Highway beside Tetsa River near Summit Pass, Mile 390. 1948.
Car traveling the Alaska Highway beside Tetsa River near Summit Pass, Mile 390. 1948.
Yukon Archives. Elmer Harp Jr. fonds, 2006/2 #21, PHO 622

Elmer Harp

Car traveling the Alaska Highway beside Tetsa River near Summit Pass, Mile 390. 1948.Milepost 394 near Big Summit Lake. 1948. Bridge crossing at the Liard River, Mile 522. 1948.Crane lifting last bridge span at Rancheria River Bridge washout, Mile 687.Temporary camp set up along the highway while drivers wait days for crews to repair the Rancheria River Bridge. 1948.Traffic line of vehicles waiting to cross bridge at Rancheria River. 1948.Washout of Alaska Highway at Mile 760.Main Street in Whitehorse Mile 918. Car parked outside café. 1948.Sternwheelers on the Yukon River in Whitehorse. 1948. Pine Creek camp at Mile 1019 near Haines Junction. White canvas tents with snow-covered mountains in background. 1948Two cars on the Alaska Highway at Mile 1017 near Haines Junction. 1948.Burwash Landing, Kluane Lake with cars and log buildings visible. 1948.
http://www.alaskahighwayarchives.ca/en/chap2/7harp.php