QUESTIONS
— AND
ANSWERS
ABOUT THE
MATANUSKA
COLONIZATION PROJECT
IN ALASKA
ALASKA RURAL REHABILITATION
CORPORATION
PALMER
ALASKA
(Text of Radio Broadcast by Colonel Lawrence Westbrook as
interviewed by Molly Steinberg over WABC,
New York City, September I, 1936)
MATANUSKA BROADCAST
question: Colonel Westbrook, there hare been
many stories written about the Gov¬
ernment's colonization project in the
Matanuska Valley in Alaska, and I
am wondering if you, as the Govern¬
ment official directly responsible for
the establishment of this colony and
for its administration since its estab¬
lishment, will be good enough to give
us the real facts about it so the public
can better understand it? I would
like to ask you a few questions that I
am not clear about.
Col. Westbrook: I shall be very happy, Miss
Steinberg, to attempt to answer any questions
about Matanuska that you care to ask. In
the years to come, this enterprise will speak
for itself. It will be regarded as one of the
most important and constructive measures
ever undertaken by the Government, but I
realize that today many people have been
confused by the large number of stories and
articles written by persons who either did not
know anything about the project, or who de¬
liberately sought to discredit it. I welcome
the opportunity to clear up such confusion.
Question : First, Colonel Westbrook, will you tell
us why the Government decided to es¬
tablish this colony ?
Col. Westbrook: The primary purpose was to
show by actual example that Alaska is a suit¬
able place for colonization. Information al¬
ready assembled by the Government indicated
that soil and climatic conditions in Alaska
were very favorable, but due to the fact that
nearly everyone in this country has tradi¬
tionally thought of Alaska as a land of ex¬
treme cold, perpetually ice covered, and
suitable only for Eskimo, reindeer, polar bear,
and hard-boiled gold miners, few people
thought seriously of going up there and try¬
ing to make a home. The Government con¬
sidered that if this colony should turn out to
IU
be a success, then the general public of
America would know that Alaska was suitable
for colonization. Many people lacking the
opportunity to make a living in some parts of
the United States would then go up there of
their own accord, and try their fortunes on
our last great physical frontier.
Question : You say, Colonel, that the Government
had information on soil and climatic
conditions which convinced it that
Alaska was a suitable place to live and
to make a living. Just what was this
information ?
Col. Westbrook : Well, in the first place, we knew
that the general belief that Alaska was intol¬
erably cold was incorrect. As a matter of
fact, the cold is not nearly so severe there as
it is in the northern tier of the American
States from which the settlers of Matanuska
were drawn. For example, the coldest
weather recorded in Matanuska last year
was 19 degrees below zero, whereas in several
of our Northern States the temperature
reached more than 40 degrees below zero.
Just as the Gulf Stream moderates tempera¬
tures in England and the Scandinavian coun¬
tries, so the Japan current moderates temper¬
atures in Alaska. Norway, Denmark, Swe¬
den and Finland are just as far north as
Alaska, and, while they are known to be cold
countries, the average person does not con¬
sider them anything like as cold as Alaska.
Actually, on an average, they are somewhat
colder.
Question : What about the soil, Colonel ?
Col. Westbrook: The total area of Alaska is
nearly 400,000 square miles, or about one-fifth
of that of the United States. A complete soil
survey has never yet been made, but the Gov¬
ernment has surveyed 94,000 square miles of
land in Alaska classified as suitable for farm¬
ing and grazing. This compares with a total
of 9,500 square miles of agricultural land for
Finland and 24,300 for Sweden. There is un¬
questionably a large additional amount of suit-
[2]
able agricultural land in Alaska which has not
yet been surveyed, but what has been sur¬
veyed is nearly three times as great as that of
Finland and Sweden combined.
Question: What about other resources; that is,
those for industrial development?
Col. Westbrook : Opportunities for industrial de¬
velopment in Alaska are almost boundless.
There are unmeasured mineral resources in
the form of gold, copper, iron, platinum, tin,
chromite, antimony, mercury, sulphur, coal,
and petroleum. It is estimated that more
than 2,800,000 horsepower may be developed
from the mountain streams. Over 2,000
square miles of coal-bearing land have al¬
ready been surveyed. In short, Alaska has
boundless natural resources, many times
greater than do the Scandinavian countries,
and there is ample power to convert these nat¬
ural resources into manufactured goods.
Question: Colonel Westbrook, you have com¬
pared the climate, soil, and area of
Alaska with that of Finland and
Sweden. How does the population
compare ?
Col. Westbrook: Well, Alaska has only 54,890
people, whereas Finland has 3,330,000 and
Sweden 5,885,000. There are nearly 200
times as many people in Finland and Sweden
as there are in Alaska. Yet the area of Fin¬
land and Sweden put together is only one-half
as great as that of Alaska.
question: Colonel Westbrook, do you mean to
say that you think Alaska could even¬
tually support as many as 10,000,000
people at the high standard of living
enjoyed by those who live in Finland
and Sweden?
Col. Westbrook : I am absolutely certain of it. Of
course, Finland and Sweden have had a great
many years to reach their present population
status, and it will take a long time for Alaska
to grow to have this many people. Once,
131
however, the people of the United States real¬
ize the opportunities afforded by Alaska, I am
convinced they will go there in large numbers.
The pioneer strain is still strong in the
American people. We have received more
than 100,000 letters asking about Alaska
since we started in the Matanuska project.
I would say that when the stream of immi¬
gration into Alaska really starts, its growth
will be even faster than that of our Western
States, which were opened up 40 or 50 years
ago.
Question : But, Colonel Westbrook, if so many
people went to Alaska, how could they
make a living up there ?
Col. Westbrook : Well, they would make a living
up there much the same way as the people in
Norway, Sweden and Finland are making a
living, and the same way the people who set¬
tled in our Western States made their living
when they first went out there. Their agri¬
cultural production will furnish their basic
wealth and enable them to take care of their
subsistence needs. After that, industries
will develop just as they have in other coun¬
tries. As I have pointed out, there are plenty
of natural resources and power available for
really important industrial development. All
the requirements now needed for this devel¬
opment'are capital and people.
Question: What about the cost of the project,
Colonel Westbrook? I have heard
that it cost as much as $10,000 per
family.
Col. Westbrook : That is ridiculous. The cost of
everything for the average family, including
all improvements and equipment, will be
somewhere around $4,000. The interest on
$4,000 at the present cost of money is about
$120 per year. It was costing the Govern¬
ment very close to $500 a year to maintain
the families we sent to Matanuska on a relief
status, and there was no hope for them to
get off of relief where they were located. Of
141
course, we built a lot of roads and facilities
up there because everything had to be built
new, and these things cost money, but they
will be used for the general development of
the entire country and cannot be charged up
against the families we took off relief.
Question : How have the people in the Matanuska
colony started out to make their
living?
Col. Westbrook : Well, in the first place, they pro¬
duce each for himself, or one another, about
60 percent of everything that they require.
In addition to this, they will sell dairy and
poultry products and vegetables to the miners
and fishermen, who, at present, have to im¬
port these food products. There is already
a local demand for four or five times as much
as this community can produce, and of course,
as the country settles up this demand will
increase.
Question: What about these stories of allegedly
broken promises made to the colo¬
nists ?
Col. Westbrook : Any story of broken promises
on the part of the Government is false. In the
first place, the Government made no promises
of any kind except to give the colonists the
opportunity to work out their own destinies.
Naturally, those in immediate charge of the
project planned many things for the settlers
and discussed these plans with the settlers.
Some of the things planned were impracti¬
cable and could not be carried out, and when
such plans were abandoned some of the set¬
tlers professed the belief that they had been
induced to join the colony under false pre¬
tenses. These settlers were told that they
would not have to stay unless they wanted to,
and out of the 200 families, some thirty-odd
have given up and gone home in the year and
a half since the colony first started. The
great majority, however, recognized the won¬
derful opportunity they have to get them¬
selves firmly established, and could not under
any circumstances be induced to give it up.
15!
Question : What about the future colonization of
Alaska, Colonel Westbrook? How
will that come about ?
Col. Westbrook: So far no definite plans have
been made by the Government covering ad¬
ditional colonization enterprises. The terri¬
tory of Alaska comes under the jurisdiction
of the Department of the Interior, which co¬
operated most effectively in the setting up of
the Matanuska colony. I do not think it is
likely that the Government itself will estab¬
lish any additional colonies in Alaska, but
having pointed the way through the Mata¬
nuska project, it will depend upon private en¬
terprise for additional development. If the
Matanuska colonists succeed, and even in the
short time they have been there it is perfectly
evident that they will, private capital and
private initiative may be counted upon to
take advantage of the experimental work
done by the Government, and this is as it
should be.
116}
"The population of the world is steadily increas¬
ing at about the rate of 20 million people a year.
In years to come new areas will have to be opened
up for human habitation. Can we ever fill the vast
Arctic regions with human beings who have lived
for centuries in the tropic, semitropic, or temperate
region?
"The climate of the Arctic is healthful. The
Tropics with its intense heat debilitates; the Arctic,
with its varying degrees of cold, invigorates.
"Generally speaking, we may state that the white
man living in the Arctic is heir to the same ills and
dies of the same diseases as his brother in the Tem¬
perate Zones, and lives to the same old age. The
average span of life of the white men and women
in the Arctic, calculated together is 58.5 years, the
same as in the United States.
"The vast expanse of the Arctic can and will in
the future be occupied by millions of white people
living in health and in comfort."
—Statement oI Victor E. Levine, M. D„ Professor of Bio¬
logical Chemistry and Nutrition, Creighton University, Omaha,
Nebr., who has made three trips to the Arctic to collect re¬
search material on medical and biological problems.
171
CHRONOLOGY
OF MATANUSKA COLONY
1035
May 6.—120 construction workers (not colonists
but single men from California transient
camps) arrive at Matanuska to set up tent city
for colonists and begin building of homes.
May 10.—First group of colonist families arrive.
May 24.—Second group of colonist families ar¬
rive. Land and home sites are selected by
drawing.
May 30.—Third group of colonist families arrive.
June 21.—Home Demonstration Club formed to
trade food preserving and home crafts. Com¬
plaints from colonists reach Washington, and
Senate orders investigation.
June 24.—Report to Senate is submitted by Ad¬
ministrator Harry L. Hopkins.
June 27.—Lutheran church established.
July 3.—First families return to States.
July 6.—Colonists start building roads and trad¬
ing post.
July 13.—Start building warehouses.
July 16.—Organize fire and police forces. 275
men working on road building.
July 17.—Start building community garage.
July 19.—85 local Alaska workers employed to
supervise building homes.
July 20.—Start building power plant.
July 27.—Start building hospital. 16 homes and
14 wells completed. 39 more homes being
built.
Aug. 3.—150 construction workers (single men
from California transient camps) arrive to
speed up home building. 910 workers avail¬
able in all.
18}
Aug. 13.—Over 1,000 men ^^ in vauey.
Aug. 14.—Will Rogers and Wiley Post visit
colony.
Aug. 31.—36 homes and 42 wells completed. 141
more homes under way. 3,500 cans of salmon
put up.
Sept. 21.—Start building bakery.
Sept. 28.—88 homes and 70 wells completed. 174
more homes under way.
Oct. 11.—First group of construction workers
(single men not colonists) leave.
Oct. 18.—Second group leaves.
Oct. 19.—Radios arrive.
Oct. 25.—Third group leaves.
Oct. 26.—153 homes and 101 wells completed.
170 homes (new) under way.
Nov. 10.—All families comfortably housed. Ga¬
rage, barber shop, cobbler shop, bakery and 77
barns completed. Transformers installed in
power plant.
Nov. 16.—Power plant and power distribution
system completed.
Nov. 23.—Laying of all sewer pipes completed.
Dec. 14.—All homes, 101 barns, 137 wells, and
sewer system completed.
Dec. 28.—24 children born in colony during half
year.
1936
Jan. 25.—Weather reports:
Matanuska: "Warm all week, today about 50
above zero."
(New York City and Michigan: 4 to 20 above
zero.)
(Wisconsin and Minnesota: 6 above to 22
below zero.)
191
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