M.D. Snodgrass: The Founder Of The Alaska State Fair Item Type Thesis Authors Colberg, Talis James Download date 24/09/2021 23:24:48 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/8947 M.D. SNODGRASS: THE FOUNDER OF THE ALASKA STATE FAIR By Talis James Colberg RECOMMENDED: 1 0 4 Advisory Committee Chaip' CoAUiair, Northern Studies Program APPROVED: ft C.CPfiJ^K '% )n u ^ Dean, College of Liberal Arts /C Dean of the Graduate School Date M.D. SNODGRASS: THE FOUNDER OF THE ALASKA STATE FAIR A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Talis James Colberg, B.A., J.D. Fairbanks, Alaska May 2008 UMI Number: 3322392 Copyright 2008 by Colberg, Talis James All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3322392 Copyright 2008 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway PO Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract This dissertation presents the life of M.D. Snodgrass as an example of how the Alaskan frontier transformed an unremarkable middle aged migrant into a socially prominent civic leader. The life of M.D. Snodgrass exemplifies how American frontier society provides ordinary people with exceptional opportunities to flourish and prosper. One of the end results of Snodgrass’s taking advantage of Alaskan frontier opportunity was the Alaska State Fair. The dissertation divides the life of Snodgrass into four phases with the following findings: 1) The first thirty-one years of Snodgrass’s life was spent outside of Alaska. His early life in Kansas demonstrates: the forces which formed Snodgrass, the absence of noteworthy activities and the habits he embraced that would remain constant in his long life. 2) The second thesis section documents: how upon arrival in Alaska he was immediately confronted with challenges and opportunities in the wilderness that built his self-confidence, and how he devoted most of the last six decades of his life to advancement of agriculture in Alaska. 3) The third part addresses his political career, with the following observations: the unsettled frontier society had no established upper class and he became socially mobile; being present at the creation of a political system allowed him to attain extraordinary prominence rapidly; and he learned to take risks, to lose and yet keep trying. 4) The final phase demonstrates that by definition a frontier society lacks institutions, and Snodgrass seized the opportunity to be a participant in the creation of two colleges and became the founding figure of the Alaska State Fair. The author concludes that had M.D. Snodgrass never left Kansas he probably would never have been a representative, senator, college trustee, founder of experiment stations, state presidential elector, or the founder of a state fair. A normal individual can accomplish exceptional feats in a frontier setting where the open environment encourages the development of human potential. V Table of Contents Signature Page................................................................................................................................. i Title Page....................................................................................................................................... ii Abstract..........................................................................................................................................iii Table of Contents ...........................................................................................................................v List of Figures............................................................................................................................ viii Chapter 1 Introduction M.D. Snodgrass: The Founder of the Alaska State Fair ...................1 Chapter 2 M.D. Snodgrass Life Outside Alaska - Unremarkable Stability .......................... 10 2.1 Indiana, Kansas and Snodgrass’s First Fair ..................................... 12 2.2 College and Early Adulthood ....................................................................................15 2.3 Always a Farmer in Sentiment ..................................................................................19 Chapter 3 Frontier Missionary for Agriculture ....................................................................... 27 3.1 Into the Frontier Wilderness .................................................................................... 29 3.2 Kodiak and Kalsin Bay ............................................................................................. 33 3.3 Isolation and Frontier Opportunity for Finding Solutions .....................................43 3.4 Katmai Volcano Eruption ........................................................................................45 3.5 The Matanuska Valley for the First Time ...............................................................49 3.6 Fairbanks ..................................................................................................................... 54 3.7 Comfort and Discontent ............................................................................................ 58 3.8 Private Farming and Failure ......................................................................................64 3.9 Return to the Matanuska Valley ............................................................................... 66 3.10 The Alaska Railroad .................... .70 3.11 The New Deal Colony ................................................................................................72 3.12 The Pig Chain.............................................................................................................74 3.13 The Old M an ............................................................................................................... 75 3.14 The Matanuska College .............................................................................................77 Chapter 4 Snodgrass the Politician ........................................................................................... 86 4.1 Frontier Setting - Adventure or Destination? ..........................................................86 4.2 Present at the Creation ...............................................................................................91 4.3 A Wickersham M an ................................................................................................... 97 4.4 The First Attempt to be President of the Agricultural College and School of Mines ..........................................................................................................................101 4.5 The Second Attempt to become College President .............................................. 104 4.6 Senator Snodgrass .....................................................................................................105 4.7 Juneau ........................................................................................................................ 107 4.8 The Matanuska Valley ............................................................................................. 113 4.9 End of Service to the Alaska College of Agriculture and School of Mines ..115 4.10 The New Deal and Republican Snodgrass Work Together ................................117 4.11 Snodgrass, a Bridge between Settlers and Colonists ........................................... 120 4.12 Ike’s Man from Palmer and the Birth of another College ................................... 124 4.13 The First Electoral Vote........................................................................................... 126 Chapter 5 M.D. Snodgrass and the Creation of the Alaska State Fair .............................. 136 5.1 The Historical Roots of Fairs.................................................................................. 137 vii 5.2 American Fairs and Expositions .............................................................................139 5.3 Circuses and Museums in the American Fair Experience ..................................143 5.4 Early Alaskan Fairs ...................................................................................................145 5.5 Early Alaska Cultural Influences on the First Palmer Fair ..................................147 5.6 Snodgrass’s Vision for the Palmer Fair ................................................................. 148 5.7 The Cultural Setting for the First Palmer Fair ......................................................151 5.8 The American Fair Tradition ...................................................................................156 5.9 The Founding of the Fair in Palmer ........................................................................160 5.10 Organizing the Palmer Fair......................................................................................165 5.11 The First Fair in Palm