Yukon First Nations were aware of the War. They heard the reports on the radio and read about it in magazines.They truly had no idea how great an impact WWII would have on their lives after this great world event. In 1942 the Americans built the Alaska Highway connecting Alaska to the rest of the Continental United States. Our Grandfathers were hired as guides to show the soldiers the best routes. Much of the highway exists on those old trails used by our people to travel by foot or by dogteam. The highway brought twelve thousand American soldiers with their heavy equipment and tent cities into our villages and the town of Whitehorse. The sudden changes were shocking and difficult to adjust to because of the hastiness of their arrival. The soldiers brought diseases which soon evolved into epidemics; influenza, whooping cough, dysentery, and Tuberculosis wiped out an estimated 50 percent of the population from the time of initial contact to the time of the highway. New, permanent towns sprung up along the highway and the old way of nomadism was gone forever. The people left their trap lines because shortly after the war the price of furs dropped drastically and this vital economic base line was gone. At this time, the Government allowed First Nation people to enter alcohol establishments and so began a tempestuous battle with alcoholism as the people had no tolerance to its devastating effects