Alaska Pioneers: a Living Memory

75 years ago, FDR tried a grand experiment: he arranged for over 200 farming families, affected by the Dust Bowl, to relocate to the area north of Anchorage. There are wide, glacial flats around Palmer ... well, read an excerpt from one who was there:

Q. How old were you, and how much of the trip do you remember?

A. I was 5. We came up through Seattle and I remember sitting on the stone lions at Volunteer Park in Seattle. I remember the ship, the Saint Mihiel. We ate off metal plates. The men and women were separated on the ship, the men in steerage.

(After arriving at Palmer) I had the measles. They cooped me up in a corner (of the tent) curtained off with quilts.

Q. Why did your family move?

A. There were just too many hardships. Though if it were up to my dad alone, I think we'd have still been here.

Q. What made it difficult?

A. Many things. Washing clothes on the board and hanging them out in winter. She (her mother) didn't have gloves. The clothes would freeze dry.

Once, during the winter, we were in the kitchen, bedroom and pantry only -- everything else was blocked off because we didn't have a heater. The dog ... was outside. She had just had puppies and was howling. Dad opened the door and a pack of wolves went shooting past.

One of the things I find most fascinating about life in Alaska is that the pioneer days were only 100 years ago; we've only been a state for 50 years. Our history is not a dusty tale of long-ago; many of the pioneers are still with us.

Click the link to read the story.

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There are dark clouds to the west of Anchorage; meanwhile, the sun has risen over the mountains (several hours ago) and light is streaming across town from the east. It looks to be another normal June day; 49 degrees, high in the upper 50s, and a chance of showers.