How did the United States' 49th state become habitable? This insightful documentary explores Alaska's late 19th- and early 20th-century highways, railroads, bridges and trestles and the people behind them. Other topics include the region's gold and silver mines and the 1896 Klondike Gold Rush, the vast impact of North America's biggest earthquake in 1964 and Japan's World War II invasion. Former governor Sarah Palin is interviewed.