1960 Winter Olympics which made its selection to host the 1960 Winter Olympics a surprise. Wayne Poulsen and Alexander Cushing, who were inspired to an Olympic bid by a newspaper article mentioning that Reno, Nevada, and Anchorage, Alaska, had expressed interest in the Games. Poulsen, president of the Squaw Valley Development Company, petitioned California Governor Goodwin Knight to support a bid to host the Olympic Games. Knight's administration agreed and recommended that the California Legislature appropriate $1,000,000 to the effort. Based on the financial support received from the State of California, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) approved the bid on January 7,
1960 Winter Olympics for an intimate Games in which athletes and spectators could walk between venues. This was accomplished with the exception of the cross-country events, which were held at McKinney Creek, a drive from Squaw Valley. In prior Winter Olympics the athletes were housed in hotels or billeted with local families. Since no such facilities existed in Squaw Valley, the organizers decided to build the first Olympic Village at the Winter Games. Competitors slept in one of four dormitories and ate together in a dining room. The complex was located centrally, with access to all the sporting facilities. The peaks surrounding Squaw