Allen Arthur Wright (1916 - 1983)
Allen Wright was born in Toronto, Ontario. He served six years with the Royal Canadian Engineers during the Second World War and was involved in highway construction and surveying projects. In 1958, he settled in Dawson, working for the federal Department. He married Glenna Robinson of Hartland, New Brunswick and they raised three children.1)
Oil and gas exploration was expanding in the NWT and the federal government decided to build a road to Aklavik.2) In July 1958, Wright and two surveyors flew to Fort McPherson in a Bell helicopter looking for a suitable route for what became the Dempster Highway. They began by surveying the Stoney Creek area and then moved southwest. Many in Fort McPherson wanted the road finished as soon as possible.3) In 1962, 115km of the road was built but construction stopped until 1970 after the Americans discovered oil and gas deposits at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in 1968.4)
Wright and his family moved to Whitehorse in 1973 and took up a contract to coordinate all activities associated with running a pipeline through the southern Yukon. During this time, he served two years as a City of Whitehorse alderman. He wrote as a columnist for the Whitehorse Star and researched a book on early Yukon history. Prelude to Bonanza was published in 1976.5) He also researched the history of Kluane National Park and that material is at the Yukon Archives. At the time of his death he was working on a manuscript on the history of the territorial council.6)
Wright Pass at the Yukon/NWT border on the Dempster Highway was named for Allen Wright and a plaque was mounted in his honour in 1985.7)