Creating The Alcan Highway

The Alcan Highway, also known as the Alaska Highway, has long had a reputation among roads. It is famous for being one of the most remote and rugged major highways in North America. 

The Alaska Highway begins in Dawson Creek, British Columbia.  It runs 1387 miles (2232 km) through the British Columbian Canadian Rockies. It goes through Whitehorse, and Yukon Territories. Ending in Delta Junction, Alaska, outside of Fairbanks.

In early 1942, America was mobilizing after Japan had recently attacked Pearl Harbor. Japans was active off of the US West Coast. Threats to the Aleutian Islands were obvious. The was a need for an inland route to Alaska from the lower 48. A highway could transport supplies, men and equipment to Alaska.

In the 1920's a proposal were made for a highway. It would connect Central British Columbia with the Yukon Territory and Alaska. Cost and lack of serviced communities had prevented its construction. The plan was introduced several times without success. The war caused the highway to be approved.

Alaska Highway Proposed Route 1938

The United States was anxious to address the supply chain issues. They offered to build pay and provide labor to build the highway. America would use it during the war. After the war, Canada was then to take over. The segment of the highway that passed through Canada was to be Canadian. Operations and maintenance expenses belonging to Canada. The Canadians agreed. Construction began in March 9, 1942.

The route connected airports found along the Northwest Staging Route. This was a network of airstrips built at the same time as the highway. The air bases were to transport planes to the Soviet Union, our ally at the time. The Staging Route never was used to supply the Soviets. It did provide stations for equipment to be flown in. This was helpful when  building the highway.

Conditions were extreme. It was difficult for road building. There was Sub Arctic weather and heavy forests. Water was everywhere. Many lakes and rivers needed a bypass or forging. Large areas of permafrost created unique challenges. There was plenty of wildlife, especially bears. 

Building The Highway

Building was in a dangerous environment. The job was almost always menial labor using shovels and axes. There is an obvious example of Army racism tied to the highway. The Army sent three of its new formed "Negro Regiments" to weather the extreme conditions. The heavy lifting of the remote and challenging project done by them.

When construction began that winter in 1942, the ground was frozen hard. The troops made fast progress. They worked with hand tools and light bulldozers. Slowly the troops scratched a path through the wilderness. At river crossings, pontoon bridges served until more permanent structures were built.

The troops had no experience building on permafrost. Some of the early road failed. As warmer weather hit the road exposed now thawing frozen areas. The sunlight was actually melting the ground the highway was built on. The roadbed in places sank into a swampy murk.

Solving this problem, a technique was adopted. New felled trees were placed down across the roadbed. They made a sort of corrugated cover to the permafrost. Several layers would be added. The logs to sank into the swampy earth. More layers would settle into a surface solid enough to overlay with gravel.

The workers had no pipeline to supply fuel for the heavy equipment. Fuel was airlifted to the site in 55 gallon oil cans. Many empty cans littered the construction sites. The road was jokingly called the Oilcan Highway by some.

An amazing display of urgency, the highway was completed in only 9 months. It was almost 1400 miles of rough, yet passable roadway. Teams from both working from both ends of the highway project met at Soldiers Summit on October 28th. A November 21 radio program aired of the grand opening ceremony. It was not until 1943 that the Alaska Highway was usable for general vehicles.

Cpl. Refines Sims Jr., left, and Pvt. Alfred Jalufkamet from the US Army Corps of Engineers meeting in the middle after completing construction of the Alaska Highway

After the Allies won World War II, the Canadian Segment of highway returned to Canada in 1946.  It wasn't until 1960 that the US portions were paved. The Canadian government took longer. They determined that the area served by the highway was too remote. It would cost to much to pave the gravel highway. It was not until the late 1980s that Canada completed paving of their part of highway.

Annual construction projects continue to this day. The highway requires constant repaving. Damage from winter storms and frost heaving take their toll every year. Bridges wash out. Things get damaged. Realignments are constant. Improving on the original quick, and sometimes poorly chosen routes.

The highways reputation for rugged scenic beauty has made it a bucket list drive for many RVers. On the Alcan, the guidebook of choice is an annual called The MILEPOST®. The guide lists the current status of services and general highway conditions. Even in a digital era, this paper guidebook is a must for those making the trip.

Alcan Highway Construction Map

Videos

1.Building The Alaskan Highway - National Geographic (The Alcan) Documentary and Film 44:47
2.Alaskan Highway documentary Sherway Academy of Music 58:18
3.The ALASKA HIGHWAY - Yukon Travel Documentary Lucas T. Jahn 9:24
4.Road Religion: Yukon and the Alaska/Alcan Highway Documentary Linescrew1 39:51
5.THE ALASKA HIGHWAY (IN 4K!) & Solving Keep Your Daydream's Riddle TIM and FIN 12:41
6.10 TIPS for traveling the Alaska Canada Highway (Alcan) Wild Faith 14:49
7.RVING THE ALASKA HIGHWAY (EASIER THAN WE THOUGHT) Keep Your Daydream 22:33
8.The Alaska Highway // 8 Things to do on the Drive to Alaska Nomads with a Purpose: Adventure Travel Family 15:02
9.THE ALASKA HIGHWAY // Hasta Alaska // S04E13 Kombi Life 21:24
10.??"Secrets of the Alaska Highway" (or How to Take Your RV to Alaska and Live to Tell the Tale!) ?? Long Long Honeymoon 13:43

Mileage Stats

Route 66: 1/4 Mile/1 State/1097 Tracks/394 Videos/43 Posts

Highway 101: 25 Miles/2 Countries/1 State/702 Tracks/418 Videos/33 Posts

Interstate 95: 219 Miles/1 State/149 Tracks/201 Videos/20 Posts

Pan American Highway: 184 Miles/1 Nation/1 State/21 Videos/1 Post

Trans-Canadian Highway: 14 Miles/1 Province/1 District/35 Videos/1 Post

Lincoln Highway: 0 Miles/0 States/0 Counties/33 Videos/1 Post

Alcan Highway: 0 Miles/0 States/0 Counties/10 Videos/1 Post

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Lincoln Highway Notes 1914-1940

It was 1914. Cars had been around for a few years. Lately they had become a national craze. Henry Ford began producing the Model T in 1908. This made car ownership a reality for hundreds of thousands of Americans.

People loved the new cars, but there was a problem. The roads were awful. Larger cities had paved sections. A few early paved connector roads between cities existed. People wanted to use there cars to explore the country outside of the cities. That became difficult when the pavement ended.

Motorists in those early days in rural areas had to contend with muddy roads and deep wagon ruts. Railroad bridges were sometimes the only available river crossings. Horses still using the old dirt roads would get spooked by the automobiles. It was a difficult and often dangerous situation. Something needed to change.

1909 New York to Seattle Road Race Britannica

Groups of early automotive boosters organized themselves. Their goal: establishing a paved road linking the east and west coast of the United States. They urged Congress to oppropriate funding for a national highway. They argued benefits to shipping. More important, the mobility of US troops within the nation would improve. The benefits to the average citizen were also stressed. Congress approved the Lincoln Highway. Construction began.

Opening in 1914, the highway was not one paved route throughout the country. It was a network of existing paved roads. New paving now connected these pre-existing roads. Together they would form one long, paved Lincoln Highway.

Lincoln Highway near Pennsylvania Tunnel-September 1922 Wikipedia

The Lincoln Highway was America's first national highway. The road was legendary long before Route 66 gained its infamy.  This highway was at the birth of our modern road trip culture. It saw the rise of motor touring and the development of the car camp. Those old car camps sometimes added cabins and the motel was born.

Old Highway Notes asks you to join us. We will explore the Lincoln Highway in our usual style. A handpicked blend of YouTube video clips and music with a touch of history and tourism.

Flickr (Lydia Darnell)

Before we hit the road here are some songs about cars from the Golden age of the highway 1914-1940.

1 In My Merry Oldsmobile Billy Murray 3:01
2 He'd Have To Get Out And Get Under (To Fix Up His Automobile) Billy Murray 3:19
3 The Little Ford Rambled Right Along Billy Murray 2:21
4 Uncle Josh Buys An Automobile Cal Stewart 3:17
5 I'm Wild About Horns On Automobiles Jack Dalton and The 7 Blue Babies 5:09
6 Steppin' On The Gas Sam Morgan's Jazz Band 3:23
7 Get 'Em In A Rumble Seat Billy Jones & Ernest Hare 3:28
8 Henry's Made A Lady Out Of Lizzie Clicquot Club Eskimos 2:40
9 The Chevrolet Six Frank Hutchison 3:10
10 A Race Between a Ford and a Chevrolet Oscar Ford 3:20
11 Henry Ford Blues Roosevelt Sykes 3:11
12 Chevrolet Car Sam McGee 3:11
13 Car Song Woody Guthrie 1:53
14 Hard Travelin' Woody Guthrie 2:40
15 This Land Is Your Land Woody Guthrie 4:31
16 Lost Highway Hank Williams 3:13
17 Terraplane Blues Robert Johnson 3:02
18 My Little Machine Sonny Boy Williamson I 3:03
19 Mean Old Highway Sonny Boy Williamson I 3:25
20 Hard Driving Blues Amos Milburn 2:43

Here is a bonus I found.

An American Songline: A Musical Journey Along the Lincoln Highway
Cecelia Otto

1 It's a Long Way to California 3:49
2 Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life 1:22
3 Second Hand Rose 0:42
4 Beautiful Ohio 2:30
5 [Preparing for The] Lincoln Way 5:40
6 Along the Way 6:34
7 Goin' Home 5:03
8 In My Merry Oldsmobile 3:10
9 Let Me Stray 3:02
10 I Always Wear My Amber Shades (Even On a Cloudy Day) 3:23
11 Out Where the West Begins 1:49
12 I'm Always Chasing Rainbows 3:13
13 Land Of Lincoln 2:53

Mileage Stats

Route 66: 1/4 Mile/1 State/1097 Tracks/394 Videos/43 Posts

Highway 101: 25 Miles/2 Countries/1 State/702 Tracks/418 Videos/33 Posts

Interstate 95: 219 Miles/1 State/149 Tracks/201 Videos/20 Posts

Pan American Highway: 184 Miles/1 Nation/1 State/21 Videos/1 Post

Trans-Canadian Highway: 14 Miles/1 Province/1 District/35 Videos/1 Post

Lincoln Highway: 0 Miles/0 States/0 Counties/33 Videos/1 Post

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Crystal Pier and Eddie Vedder

Pacific Beach at the intersection of Garnet and Cass is where we left off on our last post from the remains of Highway 101 in San Diego. From here the old highway continues North on Cass. Before we continue our drive North lets takes in some Southern California tourism and local beach culture with a trip to stroll on the beach.



A few blocks further west of the intersection brings us to the water and the foot of the Crystal Pier.  From there to the right a boardwalk skirts the edge of Pacific Beach, Left, to the South of the pier the boardwalk runs along the edge of the sand and Mission Beach. If front of us Crystal Pier juts out into the rolling surf of the Pacific Ocean.  The pier itself is pretty noteworthy,

Crystal Pier
(Wikipedia)

In 1885 a railroad link was established between San Diego and the East Coast. Almost immediately, large numbers took the train West to start a new life in  Southern California. Early settlers at Pacific Beach found the beach side climate was perfect for growing lemons.It seemed that part of San Diego would be an agricultural center.

In  1889 a rail line was opened that extended from downtown San Diego to La Jolla with a station at Pacific Beach. Some farm acreage were carved into lots that became a neighborhood. The loss of farmland also meant a loss for a source of income for the community. Being San Diego, tourism was looked to as replacement revenue source,

Crystal Pier Hotel Entry Arch
(Flickr user Chris Lee/CC)

By the 1920's the are was developing enough to have its own school and over 500 residents. Earl Taylor, a local businessman, worked to develop the street grid that had been laid out and named in 1900. Alphabet streets ran North to South were named after early San Diego officials.streets. The East/West streets were named after precious minerals (hence Garnet, which we traveled down in our last post).

Earl Taylor  wanted the area to draw visitors and was interested in building some sort of amusement pier. Piers had been successfully operating in Los Angeles for years and Taylor thought it would be a good draw for  tourists to the area,

Meanwhile, up the coast at Santa Monica, near Los Angeles A successful pier called the Pickering's Pleasure Pier had burned down in 1924 leaving it's builder/operator Ernest Pickering facing rebuilding. Taylor reached out to Pickering for a partnership. In 1925 the San Diego Union ran an ad announcing the development of a pier in Pacific Beach.

On The Pier Looking At The Shore
(Flickr user Theron Trowbridge/CC)

By 1926 the pier was opened, It was a fabulous looking structure with a dance hall that sat above the water. The pavilion had a vaguely Aztec art deco theme.  Right away there were troubles.

The crowded dance pavilion was full of partiers celebrated the opening of the pier. Some of the guests noted that the building was swaying in the surf. It was assumed the structure was settling. The sawaying fixtures were wired in place to avoid seasickness in the pavilions customers.

The pier was NOT just settling. A contractor who was involved in supplying the pylons for the bridge was contracted to coat the supports with creosote.This would prevent damage to supports that could be caused by by a small sea creature called a marine borer. Marine borers love to eat wood and have traditionally been the scourge of wooden ships by literally eating away their hulls.

Is This A Pier Or A Hotel Parking Lot?
(Flickr user Herb Neufeld/CC)

The contractor reportedly used a less expensive alternative called creosol to coat the wooden pilings. It was a bad decision. Creosol does not have the same repellent effects to marine borers. The pier was being eaten by the sea. Within a year the first Crystal Pier collapsed.

The idea of a pier was proven though. By 1936 the pier had been rebuild. Instead of dance pavilion at its tip, it instead featured cottages that you could drive right up to!. The cottages were little houses with kitchens and patios. As the cottages reached their edge over the rolling surf a fishing pier extended further out over the ocean.

Today the cottages are still their and are a hard room to get and a popular tourist destination. The pier itself is open to the public and gets thousands of visitors daily to enjoy the view, take a stroll, or go fishing.

Fishing on Crystal Pier
(Flickr user Bill Morrow/CC)

Playlist Additions

Amazon Store

The 1990's were an important time in the San Diego alternative music scene. After grunge exploded on the music world from Seattle, many other cities that had also been cultivating local alternative rock scenes in the 1980's began to get noticed. Alternative bands from those other scenes began to chart as well, with both radio and MTV success.

San Diego had a small alternative music scene centered that around a rock club called the Casbah. Within a few years bands such as Blink-182, Stone Temple Pilots, Slightly Stoopid, Rocket from the Crypt, and Drive Like Jehu all emerged from the San Diego area and began achieving some success.

What many people don't know was that one of the most famous stars in the Seattle scene had a lot to do with the development of the scene in San Diego.

Eddie Vedder was born in the suburbs of Chicago in 1965. The product of a broken home, his parents divorced in infancy. His mother quickly remarried and Eddie lived in Chicago until he was 12 years old.

In the mid-70's the family moved from Chicago to the San Diego, where Vedder was given a guitar to help occupy him in a new environment where he did not have any friends yet. The move to San Diego began what must have been a traumatic period in young Vedder's life.

Late in his high school career his parents divorced. His mother moved back to Chicago, while Vedder decided to stay in San Diego with his father to complete high school. It wasn't long after his mother left that Vedder found out the truth that he was not the biological son of the man he knew as his father.

His real father he never got to meet, having died of multiple sclerosis before Eddie knew he existed. Eddie Vedder moved into his own apartment and supported himself working the night shift at an Encinitas drug store. It was too much and he dropped out of high school and moved to Chicago to rejoin his mother.

While in Chicago, he got his GED and attended some community college. In 1984 he and moved with his girlfriend back to San Diego. He worked at several odd jobs, including hotel security guard, to suuport himself while he began working towards a career as a musician. During this time Vedder played in casually several San Diego bands including Surf and Destroy and The Butts.

One of these bands he played with was a group called Indian Style. That band also featured drummer Brad Wilk who would go on to great success with the bands Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave.

Modest success came in 1988 when he joined the San Diego progressive funk band Bad Radio, a band who styled themselves along the lines of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The band gained a record contract, and was drawing attention.

Bad Radio achieved some success but it was a short stint for Vedder. He left he band working in the late 1980's as an attendant at a gas station. Still hanging around the local music scene, Eddie Vedder was friends and played basketball with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons.

Jack Irons told Vedder about a band in Seattle band that was looking for a singer. The story was that the locally successful Seattle band Mother Love Bone, had recently lost their singer, Andrew Wood,  to overdose. Guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament were in need a replacement singer.

Irons gave Vedder a demo tape to see if he was interested in contacting them. Eddie Vedder listened to the tape before a day of surfing. (Could it have been in Pacific Beach? Possibly, accounts are unclear.)

Eddie Vedder tackled the surf as inspiration struck and he conceived of the lyrics to a three song suite he called Mamma-Son. The songs tell a story with many parallels to Vedder's own. In it, a young man finds out the truth about his paternity after his birth father is dead. From there he becomes a serial killer before being caught sentenced and executed. Vedder recorded his verses onto the instrumental demo and sent them tape North to Seattle.

Impressed with Vedders unique vocals they responded by asking him to come up to Seattle for an audition. At the time a new project was being conceived by Soundgarden  singer and  rhythm Guitarist Chris Cornell. Eddie Vedder was asked to join.

The band was a Seattle supergroup composed of  Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, and drummer Matt Cameron,  and Stone Goddard and Jeff Ament from  Mother Love Bone. The would be joined by newcomers Mike McCready on guitar and vocalist Eddie Vedder from San Diego. The band was named Temple of the Dog and was intended to be a tribute to deceased mother Love Bone singer, Andrew Wood. It was also a bit of a benefit for Goddard and Ament who were suddenly without work.

The self titled album broke just before the the Seattle music scene was to explode across America. Though it was well received, Soundgarden's obligations meant it could not be more than a side project for Goddard and Cameron.

It did achieve one of Cornell's original goals for the group. That would be keeping Goddart and Ament playing music in the Seattle scene. With revived inspiration, Goddart and Ament along with recruited drummer Dave Krusen formed the band Pearl Jam. The rest is history.

Released in 1991 just before  Nirvana's explosive breakthrough Nevermind, Pearl Jams debut Ten took off slowly but by late 1992 the album had peaked on the Billboard hot 200 at number 2. The sales of the album were driven by the success of three singes, Alive, Evenflow and Jeremy, all of which had successful videos on MTV.

• Alive   Ten  Pearl Jam 5:41
• Evenflow  Ten  Pearl Jam 4:53
• Jeremy  Ten  Pearl Jam 5:19

Ten's tracks Alive, Once, as well as the rarity b-side to the Jeremy single, Footstep, were the same songs Eddie Vedder wrote surfing that day in San Diego. It is where the biggest San Diego connections to Eddie Vedder end. His story would be Seattle's after this, including long time rock star fame and legendary legal  battles with Ticketmaster. But that is a story for another day

• Once  Ten  Pearl Jam 3:51
• Alive  Ten  Pearl Jam 5:41

Mileage Stats

Route 66: 1/4 Mile/1 State/1097 Tracks/394 Videos/43 Posts

Highway 101: 25 Miles/2 Countries/1 State/702 Tracks/418 Videos/33 Posts

Interstate 95: 200 Miles/1 State/121 Tracks/183 Videos/18 Posts

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Chicago Loop and Songs Inspired By The 1968 Democratic National Convention

(Flickr user Tony Hisgett/CC)

For most of its life, Route 66 began at the Buckingham Fountain, as we looked at in our last post. These days, due to one way street alignments in the central city, the route West now starts at a block or so away from the fountain on Adams Street between Michigan Avenue and Wabash Streets.

Going West on Adams on the left we have the 274 foot tall Borg-Warner Building and to the right we pass the Mid-Continental Plaza on the right. It is a 583 ft tall high rise that is the 52nd highest tower in the city.

The Elevated Train
(Flickr user theycallmetelly/CC)

The intersection of Adams and Wabash is a station stop on the famous El Train that makes a loop around the core of the city thus gaining the downtown's nickname of The Loop. In front of the station we find a street musician jamming on his clarinet.

Chicago is known for many things, not the least of which are trains and skyscrapers. Modern steel frame skyscraper architecture was born here and for many years the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) reigned supreme as the tallest building in the world.

Looking Up Adams
(Flickr user (vincent desjardins)/CC)

Trains also figure hugely in the development of the city. Located between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, Chicago was destined to be a transportation hub. When the railroads were being built it was a logical choice to build to an already busy trade corridor. As more train lines converged on Chicago, it drew more lines to build to there as well.

As the city grew the rail lines built depots at the edge of the city center. In cosmopolitan late 19th century style a cable driven trolley system had a large pulley in the downtown area that was nicknamed The Loop. In 1897, when a an elevated train was build in a loop around the downtown core to connect the various terminals, the name The Loop began to be applied to the train.

The center of one of Americas largest cities, The Loop is packed with skyscrapers, public art, plazas, and government buildings. One of the plazas in the loop is as well known for its mention in the film The Blues Brothers as it is for the Picasso sculpture that graces it. That is the Richard J. Daley plaza, named after one of Chicago's most known mayors, He presided over the city for 21 years from 1955-1976 and his name will come up again in the Playlist Additions for this post a little later on.

 Chicago Picasso at the Richard J. Daley Plaza
(Flickr user Jaysin Trevino/CC)

Here are several short videos that explore the Loop.

Playlist Additions
The 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention Riots And The Songs That Followed
Amazon Store

As promised, Richard J Daley will play a role in our playlist addition this week. The year was 1968 and one of the most divisive and bitterly fought presidential primaries was underway. The Democratic National Convention where the president  would be named was due to take place in Chicago during the last week in August.

This is a complicated story and the music is the point. Please forgive any lapses in the narrative, as well as the lack of discussion of events happening inside the convention. Here is a nutshell version of the lead up and the scene on the streets that week. If you find it interesting, I urge you to explore the many other reports that have been made about the events in Chicago at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

1968 would have been a spirited primary season in a normal election year because the incumbent president Lyndon Johnson was stepping down from the presidency, leaving a contestable candidacy.

This was no ordinary year. 1968 was the most turbulent year of the decade in many ways. In fact, it was one of the most turbulent years in the second half of the 20th century, The youth counterculture had been driving a mighty wedge between older and younger Americans. The Anti-War movement was gaining more and more strength. And there were other societal issues challenging the nation. This led to the heated convention atmosphere,

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. The murder angered the nation but especially the black communities in cities around the country. While peaceful memorials occurred in some places, many cities black communities exploded into rioting to express the outrage against the racism in America that led to the death of such a peaceful man.

In over 100 cities rioting occurred, with damage in excess of 50 million dollars. Hardest hit were Baltimore, Maryland, Washington D.C., and Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, the riots continued for 48 hours a 28 square block area was that looted, vandalized and burned, Between 4 and 10 pm on the night the rioting began, over 36 fires were reported in the area burning.

In the end, it took over 20,00 combined police, National Guard and Army troops to restore order. By then 11 Chicagoans were dead and 48 were wounded by police gunfire. The police received 90 injuries and 2150 people were arrested. Two miles of Madison Street were reduced to rubble. 

Other events helped to drive up tensions leading to the Chicago convention. In June of that year the Democrats front running candidate, one with tremendous youth appeal, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated at a fund raising dinner in Los Angeles. 

After the death of Robert Kennedy, his older brother President John F Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr all  killed by assassins bullets, concern for the safety of the convention delegates was in the forefront of the minds of Chicago's leadership. Richard J. Daley had hoped to use the press from the convention to make a leap from city politics to the national political stage. 

Meanwhile, college students who had been mobilized by the civil rights and anti-war movements wanted to go to Chicago to make a statement to the delegates about their issues. Abbie Hoffman, on of the founders of the Yippies, the radical hippy political party, called for a "Festival of Life" to be held in Chicago in Lincoln Park near the Convention Center.

 "Join us in Chicago in August for an international festival of youth, music, and theater. Rise up and abandon the creeping meatball. Come all you rebels, youth spirits, rock minstrels, truth-seekers, peacock-freaks, poets, barricade-jumpers, dancers, lovers and artists! . . . Bring blankets, tents, draft-cards, body-paint, Mr Leary's Cow, food to share, music, eager skin, and happiness. The threats of LBJ, Mayor Daley, and J Edgar Freako will not stop us. We are coming! We are coming from all over the world!"

The youth movement had been becoming more political for a few years. During that long hot summer major rock festivals were held across the country which produced a fairly large nomadic hippy population. A lot of them headed to Chicago to speak out for peace and to just groove on the scene and the free festival.

During the first day of the convention the Yippies, including folksinger Phil Ochs, protested. Marching and chanting, they caused a scene and brought a pig into the Loop area of the city. The pig was named "Pigasus the Immortal" and he was offered as the Yippie presidential candidate.

From City Hall, Daley wanted to make sure that the crowds were kept in line. He did not want this to open up into a reprise of the rioting the city experienced earlier in the year. Daley instructed his police to act with authority and shut down any protest gathering.was worried that the protesters who were expected to arrive would turn to rioting. 

The Yippies had announced an occupation of Lincoln Park camping out for the duration of the convention. However, Mayor Daley's office denied permits stating that the police would enforce the parks closing time of 11p.

During that first day of the festival Phil Ochs performed. His song I Won't Go Marching Anymore was requested by Yippie founder Jerry Rubin. The crowd was in a militant mood, many of the having attended civil disobedience training earlier in the day hosted by the anti-war group Mobe.

The police were tasked with dispersing the crowd, by force if necessary. As protesters chanted anti-police slogans, the police swept in with billy clubs and in riot formations. Soon tear gas was fired on the protesters. All of it happened live on the network news.

The riot would continue for four days, yet the festival continued featuring most notable the MC5 later in the week. Inside the convention, things were heated and contentious as well, The American public seemed to feel shock, concern, and rage over the events inside and outside of the convention.

From the website Chicago '68:

The arrest count for Convention Week disturbances stands at 668. An undetermined number of demonstrators sustained injuries, with hospitals reporting that they treated 111 demonstrators. The on-the-street medical teams from the Medical Committee for Human Rights estimated that their medics treated over 1,000 demonstrators at the scene. The police department reported that 192 officers were injured, with 49 officers seeking hospital treatment.

Public opinions were decidedly mixed. Some felt the protesters to be Un-American communist sympathizers. Others saw the police as jack booted storm trooper thugs.

The film Conventions-The Land Around Us was created shortly after the incidents of the convention \ for The University of Chicago. It is is long but has many amazing images from the Convention and the surrounding chaos. as well as a certain late 60's hippy vibe that is undeniable.
Conventions-The Land Around Us from Jerry Swatez on Vimeo.
Yippies! against the system. The Chicago 1968 Democratic Convention demonstrations. With music.

Information documents about this video can be found at http://ge.tt/1JBWTAU?c
The excerpted Phil Ochs music from the film is in this clip:

An audio report from the Festival of Life exists as well:

After the convention was over a trial was held for Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner, known as The Chicago 7. Originally it was the Conspiracy 8 on the Chicago 8, but the 8th defendant Bobby Seales, was severed from the group charges, ultimate being charged with 4 years in prison for contempt of court.

Wikipedia

The Chicago 7  was charged with conspiracy, inciting a riot and an assortment of minor charges. During their trial a number of celebrities testified, including Phil Ochs, who was given a fine for his role in bringing the pig into the city without a livestock license. During his questioning it was implied that Jerry Rubin requesting his performance of I Won't Go Marching Anymore was a deliberate move to incite the crowd.

Here is Hollywood's version in a trailer from the 2011 film Chicago Eight:

To start our playlist additions this week, we have Phil Ochs in the studio performing I Won't Go Marching Anymore. It appears that he also performed Power and The Glory that day as well. We'll add it to our playlist.

A song written after the events by Ochs, describes the events in Chicago.William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park And Escapes Unscathed. The song is a poetic description of the festival. A young couple fall in love only to get separated in the riots where she is killed. the song closes with a reprise that radically changes the tempo to a festive campaign tune that mocks those who claimed to be in Chicago but were not.

After plenty of searching, I could not find out who Ochs was referring to when he sings "I was in Detroit".It is obvious that this is a punch line, Perhaps he was referring to the race rioting in Detroit after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, which also occurred in Chicago. If you get the joke, please explain in the comments.

The reprise is strong enough  that the band Kind Of Like Spitting chose to cover it under the titel Where Were You In Chicago for an indie tribute compilation dedicated to Phil Ochs that came out in 2010 called Learn: The Songs Of Phil Ochs.

To be fair, it seems right to include the police officers opinion. WFMU on their 365 Day Project featured a minor label record Chicago Policeman by Harry Burgess The song has a mock sincerity, I think. In the song, the policeman celebrates the departments actions during the rioting and how it helped keep the city safe from hippies and communists,

We conclude our playlist additions with a song that inspired me to start writing this post, before I got caught up in the Phil Ochs story. The song is Graham Nash's Chicago. We are adding the version from the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young live album Four Way Street. 

Chicago calls out his fellow band members, and ultimately much of the rock community, for not appearing in Chicago. The song also holds many references to the Chicago 7 trial. and the injustice that Nash felt the trial was,

• I Ain't Marching Anymore The Early Years Phil Ochs  2:37
• Power And The Glory There But For Fortune Phil Ochs  2:17
• William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park And Escapes Unscathed Farewells & Fantasies Phil Ochs  3:31
• Where Were You In Chicago Learn: The Songs Of Phil Ochs Kind Of Like Spitting 0:43
• Chicago Policeman WFMU The 365 Days Project 2003 Harry Burgess 3:33
• Chicago Four Way Street  Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 3:12

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