July 31, 1942 – “Frederick A. Delano, chairman of the National Resources Planning Board and uncle of President Roosevelt, told Seattle residents he believed the prosecution of offensive warfare in Alaska and the later commercial development of the territory required ‘five or six accesses from the United States.’

Delano was in Seattle to confer with U.S. Army engineers on the opening of another highway or possibly railroad from central British Columbia highway and railheads.

He said the development of alternate routes would serve to quiet criticism now being directed at the choice of the inner, or ‘C’, route for the Alaska highway, now being built north of Dawson City, B. C., by the Army engineers and the U. S. Public Road Administration.

It has been charged in Congress that the inside route is impossible and never will serve to open up Alaska the way a highway would through the Rocky Mountain trench north of Prince George, B.C.

Delano said he had no criticism to offer concerning the ‘C’ route and believes it is necessary to the defense of Alaska to join by road the several airports in northern British Columbia and the Yukon territory.

Delano traveled British Columbia by train and air, and said he was impressed by the so-called Rocky Mountain Trench, a natural depression which runs from Alaska to northern Montana without many breaks and which he thinks would be a natural roadbed for another railroad or highway.”

(Shamokin News-Dispatch – Shamokin, Pennsylvania)