James Gordon Steese, 1882-1958, was a West Point graduate and a member of the Army Corps of Engineers when he was tapped to work on the Panama Canal and later the Alaska Railroad. In 1923, he was named president of the Alaska Road Commission. That year he escorted President and Mrs. Warren G. Harding on a tour of Alaska. Col. Steese is pictured here with First Lady Florence Harding. Alaska State Library.

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