Day 43 - Palmer, Alaska

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

by:  Roni and Bruce Wilczynski, Rig #22

It’s another beautiful day.  The sun is shining and we are off to tour Palmer. 

We are doing a ride-share to the Palmer Visitor’s Center and the 1935 Colony House. We split into two groups to visit each. The Colony house is an example of the houses that were built in 1935 as a result of the government’s New Deal to bring people from the depression areas of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota to the Matanuska region of Alaska for a new start. 202 families moved here and were given 40 acres, a house, barn, and some out buildings, and a $200 credit to Montgomery Ward Catalog for a $3,000 debt.  Most families were able to carve out a living and remain here today.

Looking inside all the rooms brought back memories of kitchen gadgets, furniture and miscellaneous pcs that we all grew up with.  Throughout the house, we could hear comments such as “I remember using one of these”, “I still have this that I got from my parent’s” etc, etc.  Nothing like the Good Ol’ Days.  Although, nobody is complaining about having computers or microwave ovens.

At the visitor’s center we were given a talk on the history of the region from the Athabascan Natives being the first inhabitants of this region.  The Russian hunters and traders started operating  trading posts here then they sold off their claim to Alaska in l867 for two cents per acre for 586,400 square miles of mostly unexplored land.  There were several displays and photographs from early settled life.  This small town is named after a rugged, pre-Klondike Alaskan pioneer named George W. Palmer.  He was quite the entrepreneur involved with many different aspects of this growing community.

Outside the visitor’s center was a beautiful garden with a wide variety of healthy and colorful flowers. There also were some vegetables growing including giant cabbage. Palmer has produced many record setting vegetables including a 64 pound cantaloupe and a 127 pound cabbage.

After the tours we all went to the Café Inn for a very good lunch. The building was originally built in 1935 to house local workers but is now a quaint inn and café with many old furnishings.

There was bit of free time before heading to a Musk Ox farm. Some people wandered downtown Palmer or drove back to the campground to let their dogs out.

We all drove to The Musk Ox Farm a few miles from town. There we were given a presentation about  a unique domestication project that began in l954 with a vision to provide an economic supplement to remote Alaska communities.  We walked into the field to view them up close. The farm currently has 65 ox including about 13 recently born calves. We were able to hand feed a couple ox through the fence and take pictures.