Here are early official government photos from the ARRC of the first hard
days of the Colonists from the Middle States who came to the Malanuska Valley
or. the first government experiment in colonization.
Left to right: Newly arrived in a strange land for a great adventure in living
are Colonists stalking determinedly up the main street of a tent city.
Mothers, babes in arms, arrive at the new project to face the future the Mel
anuska Valley may offer.
Early street scene is ihis farmer leading his cow, forecast of a promising
dairying industry.
Right: Colonists draw for homesiles. From tents to tracts, to be carved the
hard way. Now those acres are the foundation of the prosperous Malanuska
Valley—the finest (and only) real agricultural region in Alaska.
FIRST BABY: Officially recorded as the first baby born in the colony at
Palmer, Mrs. Howard Van Wormer cradles her wee daughter, Laura Norena. The
baby was born July 11. 1935. (Official Photo ARRC—WTG).
FIRST LAW ENFORCEMENT: In a tent, law and order arrived with the
Colonists.
BIG CROPS: From the soil, Don L. Irwin, a 6-fooier, finds the hard-tilled
Matanuska Valley yields a bumper crop of peas and oats. Irwin came to the
Valley in 1934 as superintendent of the Malanuska Experiment Station, University
cf Alaska, and found it "the right place to live". He now is director of the Station.
FIRST-AID STATION: Dr. Earl Ostrom, holding the flag, former medical
officer, obtains the signatures of his colleagues before he leaves Matanuska. Signing
is Alan Perkins, director of construction, while Dr. A. Brown awaits his turn on
the humanitarian emblem. —Photos Courtesy of ARRC