Evening star., 1936-04-19
Bolt Due After Harvest

pected to do that which in the past
has been impossible?"
The new pioneers spent most Of
their time last Summer in fishing and
grumbling their discomfort of life in
the valley. They refused to listen
to the old-time Alaskan warning to
build their cabins before Winter set in.
500 c. c. c. Men Imported.
Finally, 500 C. c. C. men were
imported from the West Coast These
men. under the able direction of
Don L. Irwin, member of the fac
ulty of the University of Alaska, and
the first director of the colony, COM
pleted the building of the cabins be-
fore the wintry blasts swept down
from the North Country.
The arrival of these relief workers
, caused trouble. Alaskan carpenters
had been hired prior to the arrival
of the C. c. c. men and were paid
81 an hour, whereas the C. c. c.
carpenters received the proverbial
$50 a month, the most of which is
allotted to their next of kin.
These men could not see why they
should work for $50 a month beside
an Alaskan doing the same work,
who was drawing down ST an hour
In the midst Of this trouble Don
Irwin resigned and was replaced by
| Lieut.. Col. LIE Roy P Hunt of the
United States Marine Corps.
Col. Hunt, in true military style,
and mixture of human kindness,
soon established order out of chaos.
When the colonists first arrived in
MatanuSka thousands of dollars worth
of material had been dumped at the
terminal of the Alaska Railroad at
Palmer, the main camp, and left to
the exposure of the elements. There
were school desks, writing material
pens, pencils, ink, paper, erasers chalk
blackboards-but there was no school
house-nor any place in which to
store these supplies
Much Property Stolen.
Thousands Of dollars worth of Gov
ernment property was stolen.
The first thing Col. Hunt did was
to organize a colonial police force
Drastic measures were taken against
those found guilty of theft.
The second thing this veteran oi
the Nicaraugan campaigns did wa.
to issue an order, Get to work Oh
get out"
For the first time since their arriva
In the territory the colonists did just
that-they went to work. With the
result that when Winter set in theil
cabins had been completed, a schoo
house had been built, hospital estab.
lished, wells dug, and the colony
settled down to routine living.
During the Summer the new
pioneers experienced the fight which
grim Mother Nature gives to al
who come seeking fortune in the lane
OF the eternal SHOWS.
The dreaded Alaskan influenza brok,
out in the colony. Men, women ant
; children by the score were stricken
DR.. E. E. Ostrom, the only physician
In the valley, and a man in his SOS
worked day and night with on,
trained nurse, until he dropped from
sheer exhaustion.
DR.. Ostrom appealed time and tim
again to the authorities in Anchorage
the nearest city to the colony, ant
only IS miles away on the Govern
ment-owned railroad, but relief wa
not sent until seven little whit,
crosses marked the graves of Mata
nuska's first permanent residents
, on the hillside, a thousand ward
from the main camp.
The first funeral service in Mata
nuska was both tragic and dramati
event In the short-lived history o
the new pioneers.
Little Donald Hoenin, aged 4, wa
! one of the happiest youngsters il
the colony; he was favorite of al
I And 1t was Donald who was tn
first to die.