Palmer Origin
Being Compiled
By M. D. Snodgrass
1
PALMER. ALASKA ,
INCORPORATED, U. S. A. (
How Come PALMER, Anyway? ]
The following is a coniinua
lion of an article by M. D. Snod
grass on the History of Palmer's
Origin: !
I had urged the formation of a
colony such as the Matanuska
Valley, by Col. O- F. Ohlson, gen
eral manager in charge of the j
Alaska Railroad, with whom I j
served three and one half years!
as Agricultural Development
Agent and had brought 55 famil- j
ies from the states to settle in
the Matanuska Valley. I had out
lined and set up a project for this
locale and also one for Fairbanks
in 1933. when the Subsistence
Homestead Appropriation of 25
million dollars was made by Con
gress, and again in August. 1934
when Jacob Baker of the Federal
Emergency Relief Administration
of Washington, D. C., came to ex
amine the Fairbanks and Matan
uska Valley areas. Baker turned
down the proposed Tanana Val
~-ley project, but did approve the
Matanuska Valley project. I was
called in to work out this pro
ject in detail and spent the last
three days of my thirty-one and
one half years in Cvil Service,
doing this work.
When the final draft was fin
ished, my retirement papers
which weer in preparation, were
withdrawn and held awaiting my
acceptance as manager of the pro
ject.
The prospect of the Colony Pro
ject awakened political repercus
sions throughout Alaska. Visions
of political plumbs flashed
through the minds of business
men in Anchorage and some of
the more agressive went to Wash
ington to help work up the pro
ject under F.E.R.A. W.P.A. funds
were being spent in Alaska, and
even at Matanuska. Men were
cutting green brush about the
Railroad yards at Anchorage,
quite a gang of men were cutting
the willow and small birch, and j
a few men were piling and trying
to burn the wet green piles. An
chorage was rebuildng and re
modeling our Western Alaska
Fair building with W.P.A. funds.
Wasilla and Palmer WPA work
ers were building the second Ma
tanuska River Bridge that winter,
and roads the in Valley were
being planned.
Late in November I began to
wonder how the Colony Project
was coming along in Washington.
Upon information from Alaska j
Railroad headquarters I learned j
that it was still in the formative !
period, but progressing. I re-1
quested that my retirement pap-,
ers be forwarded to Washington.
I had learned that the farm peo- ;
pie could live in Alaska, no mat- j
ter what came.
Within a weeks time word came
that Don Irwin, then in charge
of the Matanuska Experment
Station, had been called to Wash
ington to take the job. Hastening
over to see Don, I learned that
the offer came as a surprise. “No,”
he said, “I have never talked the
matter over with Col. Ohlson.” j
I gave him my original working
draft for the set-up. It was short
I
Even
Squirrels
Knew...
It’s Wise
to Store Food
With a frozen food locker
you can be well stocked
with all kinds of delicious
food at all times. You can
save money by buying in
larger quantities when the
quality is high and the
price is low or process
your own produce. Be ec- .
onomical and save on the
food budget with the ad
vantages of a frozen food
locker.
Palmer Gold Storage
and Looker
CONSERVATION
NOTES
By Lew Hanks
Mr. John Weisgerber. forestei
!rom the Admiralty Division oi
he Tongass National Forest, vis
ted the Soil Conservation Service
>ffice this week. He was here tc
eview the forestry practice:
ecommended in our local conser
vation program.
While checking wind erosior
ireas, we inspected the wind
jreak on the Irwin farm or
3ailey Hill. This windbreak wa<
Wanted last spring at a demon
.tration meeting. The local 4-F
md Homemaker groups partic
pated in the planting. Surviva
>n this planting is excellent. Loca
Dirch and white spruce seedling;
,vere used. A couple of furrow:
,vere plowed for each row and th<
rees planted. Over two hunarec
.rees were planted in an hour o:
io. It doesn't take long to plan
i windbreak. The secret is to us<
small stock, they’re easy to dij
md to plant. Survival is a lo
setter.
We’re going to get some bac
slows this winter. When the wine
starts howling and your drive
way and road drifts shut, taki
i look at it. Look at the place:
:he snow drifted from. How bac
iid the wind start cutting int(
she open soil? You can soon sei
she places where you should hav<
olaeed some brush rows for snov
catchers. Those are the places yoi
can mark out for windbreal
plantings next spring.
It's not too late even now t<
string out that brush and maki
a snow break yet this season. I
vou line out that brush snow
break now and leave it there fo
a few years, nature will do a goo<
part of the planting for you. Ob
serve the present brush along th<
fence rows that drift up our road;
so nicely. You can do somethin;
about that too.
md simple. It proved employmen
for the proposed Colonists, ii
Hearing land with payment fo
cutting and clearing timber a
work progressed, Aving logs an<
all useful timber cut off the lam
mder cultivation, building al
necessary farm buildings, digginj
wells and improving the farms
At the same time allowing a mas
full employment and necessar;
oans for a thirty year period, a
a very low rate of interest. Pro
visions were made for power ma
chinery to facilitate rapid devel
apment of the project and plan
for a cooperative farmers associa
Lion, for both producers and con
sumers, to do all things necessar;
lo make the project a success.
The Matanuska Bridge stee
arrived by train early in 1934, an<
:hus assured the early construe
don of the Anchorage-Palme
nighway. The first home built oi
this road was that of Frank Clark
an the comer now occupied b;
Hartley Bros. Garage. Bruce Gra
nam’s garage and home wen
next. Felton’s store, now a liquo
store, followed. School was hel<
in the Duncklee 2-room log hous
with Harold Thuma as principa
and Janet Borgas as Primar
teacher. The 1930:33 settlers fam
ilies included the Monaghan:
Lamps. Brazells, Harrisons am
John Howard.
To be Continued
FOR
HOME ATMOSPHERE
and
QUALITY FOOD
White Spot
JOHN VAN RYN
PROPRIETOR
Motor-in-Service
GENERAL REPAIRS - WELDING
GAS & OIL
Harry Duff Phone 65J11 Bert Duff
FIRST CONFERENCE
GAME WON BY
ANCHORAGE FIVE
Palmer High School basketball
team was defeated by the An-1
chorage Eagles in the first garqe
of the Railbelt Conference Sat
urday night at Anchorage.
A closely matched first quarter
saw the teams tie the score three j
! times with the Eagles pulling
.: ahead for a 14-10 lead at the end
of the quarter. Anchorage center,
. Phil Kahler was high scorer for
i his team and the game with 18 |
points, ten gained from field goals j
! | and the rest from free throws, j
Brown’s 11 points were high for
. the Palmer Moose.
Threatening to tie the game up
; again in the third quarter, the
; Palmer five worked the score up ;
1 to 24-26 but a final spurt by the ,
1 Eagles in the last few minutes of
the game saw them the victors
; with the final score of 45-32.
! Palmer will meet the Seward |
! Seahawks in a two game series j
: December 19 and 20 on the Pal- >
mer court. The Seahawks will
I come here following a two game
l series with Fairbanks this week, j
)
l
l
■ I
t
PALMER
Players FG FT TP
Geiwitz, f .2 1 5
McKechnie. f .1 4 6
Winegarner, c .1 0 2
Larsh, g .2 3 *7
Ross, g .0 1 1:
Ingall, g .0 0 0
rlemmer, c.0 0 0 !
Brown, c .4 3 11 i
Totals .10 12 32
ANCHORAGE
Players FG FT TP
Beck, f .3 6 12 ;
Putzel, f.0 4 4 i
Kahler, c .5 8 18 j
Reynolds, g .3 1 7|
Edal, g .0 1 1
Carmody, f .1 1 3
Burkher, g.0 0 0
Totals .12 21 45
Officials were Stanch and Silber
nail.
.1 CLUB TO MEET
j I The Matanuska Valley Republi
[ can club will hold a meeting
j Thursday, December 11 at 8 p.m.
1 n the Co-Op Club Room, it was
, announced this week by A1 Ha
gen, club president.
*__
1 WHY NOT JOIN YOUR CREDIT
UNION TODAY. CALL 79
t _
James B. Beam Distilling Co.
Clermont, Kentucky
NOTES FROM YOUR
EXTENSION SERVICE
By Richard Blue
The Certified Seed Growers As
sociation members are being ask
?d to attend a meeting next Mon
day, December 15, at 8 p.rrt. Place
Df meeting is the Matanuska Ex
periment Station.
There are two objectives to the
meeting. One, to hold election of
officers for the Wasilla and Pal
mer districts. Two, to discuss the
distribution of the increased pota
to variety “Knik” which has been
increased to approximately 20 ton
by association members and selec
ted growers.
If you are not presently a mem
ber of the Certified Seed Grow
ers Association and are interested
in the production of superior seed
varieties, you are welcome to at
tend the meeting and be consider
ed for membership.
U. P. Church to Observe
Universal Bible Sunday
Universal Bible Sunday w'ill be
observed with special services at
the United Protestant Church,
Sunday, December 14, it was an
nounced by Rev. Brian Cleworth
this week.
The day is set aside by the ma
jority of Protestant churches to
consider the work of the Ameri
can Bible Society which was
founded in 1816. In the 136 years
of the Society’s work in translat
ing, publishing and distributing
the Scriptures, it has supplied
more than 430 million copies, in
over 250 languages.
The motion picture, “At Work
With the Word” will be shown
during the Sunday School hour
beginning at 10 a.m.
During the morning worship
Let BROWN'S ec
onomical and expert
laundry and dry
cleaning service take
the burden off your
wife.
It's worth the price.
RROWN’S SHOP
CIVIL DEFENSE PROVIDED
FOR BY LEGISLATURE
The Territorial Legislature
passed the Territorial Civil De
fense Act (Chapter 131 SLA 1951),
which provides in part:
Section 9 (a). Each District
of this Territory is hereby auth
orized and directed to establish
a local organization for Civil
Defense in accordance with the
Territorial Civil Defense Plan
and program.
Each local organization for
Civil Defense shall perform
Civil Defense functions within
the Territorial limits of the
District within which it is or
ganized.
For CD purposes, Alaska was
divided into four CD Divisions,
j corresponding with the four Judi
cial Divisions: into 42 CD Dis
tricts. corresponding with the Re
cording Precincts; and local CD
organizations, corresponding with
the town and community jurisdic
tions.
The mission of the local CD or
ganization is: a. To safeguard life
hour at 11 a.m. Rev. Cleworth
| will preach on the topic, “The
' Eternal Light.”
and property in the community,
b. To minimize loss and damage
from enemy attack, sabotage, or
natural disaster, c. To prepare
plans to assist other communities,
d. To care for refugees from other
areas, e. To make plans for eva
cuation in case of necessity.
Next week the organization of
the local Civil Defense group will
be outlined.
*********************-»HH*
* *
We have a lovely selection of
corduroy jackets with quilted
linnings now, for that necessary
extra jacket for the Snowsuit set.
And still a few separate sno
pants.
Do you need a new shirt with
oomph to it for that Special oc
casion? We received a very few in
sizes 10 to 14 and there are black
velvet halters just for them.
There are new styles in nylon
slips, half slips and gowns as
well as nylon PJs and robes to
match. Perfect gift for every gal
on your Christmas list.
See you soon
BETTY
*£> rfio rfZ.> rfi> rfO <l> ji \ ^ _«->
SECURITY
Your savings account is the key that makes
it possible for you to open the door to op
portunity in the future. It paves the way to
education, business adventure, vacations
and even retirement.
Make saving a part of your every day living
and the future will be a brighter and happier
one for you.
MATANUSKA VALLEY BANK
Palmer, Alaska
OPEN FRIDAY EVENINGS 6—8 P.M.
DAILY 10 A.M. — 3 P.M.
5&
*
SS
3&
3£
*rZ
+ rf.
*rZ
+ r.\
+ r;.
Vftk
Ari
«h
NOTICE
After two months waitmg telephone service has been
restored to the KUT ‘N’ KURL Beauty Shop
tf-oA, IjoMSi GUsUitmaA
A regular $25.00 (State Side Price) GOLD WAVE until
6:00 P.M. December 24h $17.50
Kuf ¥ Kurl Beauty Shop
COMPLETE BEAUTY SERVICE
Ward Building For Appointment Phone 33
ANNE REHARD - operator
Graduate Reno’s -University of Beauty,
Cosmetology and Hair Styling
*df?d
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