First school at Swift River. Matthew Thom is at the extreme left and Marlene Stady is at the right, ca. 1940s. In 1945 when Alaska Highway maintenance camps were established, the U.S. Army started hiring men with families to work. If there was a sufficient number of school-age children at the camp, the Yukon Government would provide a teacher and school supplies and the U.S. Army would provide a building and facilities. Those early public schools are the predecessors of existing schools in communities such as Watson Lake, Teslin and Destruction Bay.