ABSTRACT
The histories and contemporary economies of Canada’s Yukon Territory (Coates and Morrison 2005) and the American State of Alaska (Haycox 1992) are intricately connected, not least through a complex series of relationships related to war and tourism. The far Northwest, variously characterized as the “Land of the Midnight Sun” and North America’s “Last Frontier,” (Webb 1985) attracts many tourists per year. They come to hunt and fish, to view the Aurora Borealis, or to follow the historic trails of the Klondike stampeders of 1898; most of all, they cruise in luxury to the region’s coastal cities. To a degree that is little understood, however, the far Northwest’s tourism experience and industry has been profoundly shaped by war.
