Evening star., 1935-06-02
Alaska's Modern Pioneers

cry, cannery and warehouses. together
with homes for the teachers and
members of the star of the colony,
the project manager and others. 6ev-
eral stores are contemplated. to be
run on the cooperative principle as
a part of the project.
Extra Manpower Enlisted.
To get all this done in any reason
able time requires more manpower
than the settlers can muster, even
If they were not busy with their
homesteads. So 480 C. c. c. workers
and men from transient camps of
the Northwest preceded the settlers
into the valley, to start the neces-
sary clearing and construction work.
Even so, with all this Government
help, the time element will run a
close race with the weather. The
living in tents supplied by the Gov
ernment, and 1t will be nip and tuck
to get them all under adequate shelter
by the end of the brief Summer. The
beginning. of farming Is not expected
until next year, with the Government
meantime caring for the settlers out
of relief funds.
How do the settlers themselves feel
about the colony?
Roughly speaking. from personal
| interviews with number of them, the
men are enthusiastic and the women
more dubious. The almost universal
answer of men selected as potentially
good timber for the colony was that
1T couldn't be any tougher than it is
here" Their wives said: Its long
way from home, among strangers"
Take John Collier. for example. He
was living in couple of shabby rooms
in the front of rambling. ramshackle
house in Wisconsin village, with
his slender, fragile-looking wife and
four small children. The house
hadn't seen a coat Of paint for 10
years, at least. The porch sagged.
A screen door covered with tar-paper
shut out the worst of the Wintry
blasts.
Collier had been a renter" He'd
tried farming all around that district
of Wisconsin for years. In the Winter
he had worked in the woods-when
there was work to be had. A slim,
wiry, rather pleaSant-spoken and easy
going chap. he was. He was born in
Kentucky, one of that numerous con-
tingent of "KentuckS" who have
flooded into Northern Wisconsin in
the last two or three decades. They
call Forest County, Wis. Little Ken
lucky" because of the many from the
Blue Ridge Mountains who have To-
Gated there.
Farming Doesn't Pay.
| Collier was all for Alaska. 1t meant,
at least. a chance to get on his feet
Whats there here to keep man?"
he asked. This country Is skinned
out for 20 years to come. depression
or no. They've leveled of the woods
like cutting hay with scythe. Any
thing from 312 inches up. There's
hardly anything left.
Farming? Sure, I've tried it on a
half-dozen different places. If a fellow
could get work Winters in the woods
/ he could raise enough potatoes and
other stuff to get by. But now it's
done. There is no more work in the
woods to speak of. And you can't
make a living of farming. What
money you get amt enough to pay
the rent.
Now the Govment is reforesting
the land, and building up timber
again. In 40 years this country will
be as good as it used to be, but it's
going to be dead in the meantime.
There's no timber to cut any more.
And you just can't make a living
trying to farm this land between
stumps."
Did he like the Alaska venture?
well, it can't be worse than it Is
here. The Gov'ment sets you up in
business and gives you 80 years to
pay of. They are going to have
schools for the kids, nurses and doctor
service. Maybe 1t won't work out just
like they claim. but fellow amt
taking such a long chance"
Mrs. Collier was less sanguine.
What want to know Is how near
neighbors will be- she said Il got
to have somebody to talk to. It's
bad enough being all that way away
from the folks, and I'd just die if
there wasn't somebody around to talk
to. Is there a town there?"
Oil Lamps Not So Good.
Informed that the plans called for
locating no family farther than z
miles from Palmer, the center of the
colony, Mrs. Collier still was doubtful.
I'm going to miss my friends some
thing terrible she said.
And those Winters! Imagine 20
hours of darkness and no SUM- went
on this modern pioneers helpmeet.
And no lights but oil lamps. guess
I amt going to like 1t much"
well, I don't call this so much"
interrupted her husband. We amt
going to be any worse OF than we are
here. It's a chance, anyhow, and q
fellow can't get a chance around here"
Mrs. Carl F. Erickson, visited in her
small fat, had no such misgivings. A
stocky. sandy haired woman, with
pleasant. decisive features. her aggres-
sively neat home reflected her own
immaculate self.
The women are talking lot about
Lllc long winners ana Lllc QdTkueSS,
she said. "It won't be so bad. I know.
was born and brought up in Nor
way, not so far from Oslo. The Win
ters must be about the same"
The Ericksons are thoroughly IA
miliar with cut-over farming. They
homesteaded out in Minnesota when
they were first married. moved into
town when the children began to grow
up, for better school opportunities.
The husband worked In a lumber mill.
rose to be q foreman and was out of
work when the mill closed. Savings
exhausted. they we're eligible for re-
lief" according to the case-worker who
investigated, to determine their fitness
for the Alaskan colony. But they
hadn't gone on relief" although
their savings were exhausted after
more than a year of unemployment.
1T seems so sort of queer to me-"
Mrs. Erickson said. that there was q
lot of doubt whether we could get to
90 to Alaska, just because We hadn't