jan 1, 1934 - The Matanuska Valley Experiment

Description:

During the New Deal, FDR sent around 200 colonists to become farmers in Matanuska Valley near Anchorage. Within a two months 25 of the colonists had a left and a telegraph had been sent to the president describing the deplorable conditions. The project experienced frequent turnovers in administration and many of the settlers were not prepared for live in the wildness. The weather was also not conducive to farming and most of families left within a few years. Nevertheless, this had a lasting impact in that the town of Palmer "decended" from these settlers.

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