A Creek, a Hill & a Forty book just published
My newest book, A Creek, a Hill & a Forty: The early years of Alaska’s Matanuska Colony, seen through a colonist’s letter home—Margaret Miller’s story, has just been published. The book is a firsthand...
Tagged: Matanuska Colony
Palmer train depot served as a link between Matanuska Colony and the rest of Alaska
Prior to construction of the Alaska Railroad through the Matanuska Valley, there was little development in the area that would one day be Palmer. One of the first white men in the valley was...
Newly constructed Palmer Highway linked Anchorage to Matanuska Valley in 1936
Kink River Bridge as it looked in 2017. This views is from the south side of the bridge looking north towards Palmer. When a New Deal agricultural resettlement project was established in the...
Palmer’s United Protestant Church dates from early days of Matanuska Colony
Palmer UPC as it looked in the 1980s. The church is also called the “church of a thousand trees.” The federal government finalized plans in the spring of 1935 to relocate families from Wisconsin,...
Education one of first priorities of fledgling town of Wasilla
Before the Federal government began construction of the Alaska Railroad in 1914, there were only scattered homesteads in the Matanuska and Susitna valleys. However, even before the Alaska Engineering Commission (AEC), the federal agency...
First house built in Alaska’s Matanuska Colony still stands today
The Puhl house as it looked in about 1990. The house and the barn behind it were built in 1935 The log cabin shown in the drawing is the house where my wife, Betsy,...
