Palmer, Alaska
Dorothyr. Boll, Editor-P^g^ncy
Published every rook at Palmer, Alaska, for the Patanuska Valley ParmersT Cooperating
Association for the purpose of giving nors of the Associations ’~ork, T'roblcns and
Accomplishments, and the dissemination of ners of a public- character.
SUBSCirTIor RATE $1.75 per year Single- Copy IO5?
in the limelight again.
At least once a year some writer comes out with a new story on the Matanuska Valley,
No project or undertaking in the united States during recent yearshas'had more publi
city pro and con. than has tlie Volley., Each time a new arJiclerappear6,hV lley resi
dents scramble for copies and thoroughly digest it from end to end. It is than’torn
apart hit hy bit, and for a week or more becomes a leading topic of'conversatiop. The
most recent one to appear came out in VTbe Form Oyorterly Magazine," a farm magazine
published at Cincinnati. Ohio, which costs 50# a copy.
The article is well illustrated with colored,and'black and white pictures, Aong
valley residents pictured are* the Balogh family; Frank McAllister, Father Snead and
his'monkey ’“F.ank", Mrs. Art Thompson ( we believe)t the Fred Hurd place, Frontier
Bar, Bill Bouwens.- JohnBugge, and a group of children on the Mcrry-go-round.
Galley proofs of the story were received in the V'lley this last fall, and were check
ed and returned to the writer* Hoover, in some cases it seems the writer must have
believed himself better informed than the proof readers, as it is noted many things
remained unchanged*. On interest in particular to the Editor was the'opening story in
which Gene King, bus driver, is ace reporter far the Valley Settler, The Editor
really ought to get acquainted with her personnel,'because it so happens she does not
know the man.- The story was refuted on the proofs, but evidently the writer did not
wish to give up his introductory story—true or fal3er To also object to the mislead
ing information on the 100 paid subscriptions, Cutside the Co-op mailing list, there
may be that many subscribers, but it is far from the actual circulation of the"Valley
Settler”..
A paragraph of particular interest to the 35*ers informs the world that since 1935—
12 years and five million dollars later only 4C o1 the 20C families are left in the
Valley,. Since that time the ones who departed ha/e been replaced by solid farm fami
lies The romartj.es, the drifters and the bright brains with the weak-backs are gone*
The writer never mentioned what happened to many of th9 "replacements", many of wham
we know have gone back,(One of tnem wrote quite a story on his experience and had it
published in the "Alaska Sportsman".,)
In all faiihess to the people of ;35, who according to most articles seem to have the
weakest constitutions, it must be said that in all groups coming into the Valley,many
have returned. Of the original settlers who came here before *35 many returned. It
would also be interesting t^, know just how many of those coming since that time have
given up. How many farm a can you recall have been taken over by a half dozen families
more or less? One woman recently said that on a farm near her so many different fami
lies had settled since 1935. that she could not remember all cf them. Yet articles
lead people to believe that the group of -35 were the only restless ones,
re also have another"bone of contention" to pick with writers. The people of ’35 vfoc
remained hero, get no credit for anything they have contributed to the development of
the Valley, Yet just off.hand one can mention a good many who have.cleared their debt
and have well developed and prosperous farms. They have given the best years of their
lives in the development of this valley, Another group that is almost forgotten by
writers is the real original group who came in here when the place wa3 really a wild
erness^ They deserve a lot of credit for what they have done„
We also note that colonists drew houses on these tracts of wilderness in *35. Most of
us well remember the fuss we had in June(after the tracts were drawn in May) when not
a house was under constructionc Finally a group of plans emerged outside the tent
dour of the .lrchtect's Office,, Not long after the women hud scanned the plans, the
Ar- hitect prompily locked his dcor and did not emerge until a compromise could be sug
gested. It was agreed that the women could rearrange the interior of the house to
suit their needs providing they did not use more material than the plan indicated*
Everyone was happy and by Thanksgiving around 170 houses were habitable although not
completely finished,
Mush accurate factual material is included in the article on climatic conditions,
soil properties crops,etc, And we must’add that it is very interesting regardless of
whether we agree with the author or not. Mr* Peters informs us that all ready in
quires are arriving as a result cf this articler Valley people who -oald like to
see a ^opy might be able to'secure one from the publishers--ATho Farm Quarterly™ at
22 East 12th Stc Cincinnati, Ohio, for 50#.,’ It would not hurt to write and find out
and you might get a copy.