Post #9 On To The Camps...Being Unforgotten

When Tony and Alys arrived at tract 7 some 8 miles west of their tent city, they went about locating a site for the home soon to be built. Of the five basic plans to choose from, Alys had selected one with total frame structure, “no logs with cracks between them allowed”.

It would have an upstairs with two bed rooms. The first floor showed a mud room entry, with door into the eat-in kitchen. Next was a door entry to a dining room large enough to hold a table for six and some other furniture.

There was an entry to the main bedroom from the dining room. An arched wall led to the living room with windows on two sides, and another entry door from outside to provide an exit in case of fire near the kitchen.

Another door opened to the 4Th bedroom which had an exit door back into the kitchen area so one could go around the home in a circle! This had many safety concerns in mind, with the extra bedroom to be used as a nursery, an isolating sick room, as a guest room, and a sewing room. The children would be able to play inside in bad weather and be near the “control center”, the kitchen, which had enough space for a table to sit everyone for daily meals. There was a large closet between the staircase for an “in door” toilet with entry from the living room.

Tony began clearing some small trees and brush to locate the home out of the wind while facing the barn area and the best view of Pioneer Peak and the sweeping river valley below. Dreams. Reality. Big difference.

They returned to the tent city and prepared to move out to their assigned camp on Tract #3 of the Metz property on a field that he had cleared. The tents were about 12 in number, so they became friends with several families. There was a group garden and other efforts to share the labor. It soon became obvious that not everyone was on the "planners" wave length!

Tony and Harold Boice were already off earning wages in construction and fishing. Alys and Lona were learning anew how to be "fish and labor" widows. All responsibility for chores and child care fell upon them for many summers to come. Other families were of mixed feelings with some men gone from the work crews. Friction was palpable.

Alys began looking for a "home" for the winter. She was well known in the Colony "office" in Tent City by now as she went there often to get the results she thought was fair. The young secretary, Miss Virginia Berg, who was pretty enough to be selected that year as the first Miss Alaska in a contest held in Fairbanks, was very helpful and kind to Alys. She still lived with her parents on the homestead near Four Corners where Trunk Road intersected the Wasilla Road about half way between the towns. Mr. Berg was the salesman for Minnesota Woolens Co. He had met with Alys before. When she approached him about using a storage cabin for the winter, he made her a deal: "Rent in trade for domestic services for as long as they chose to live there." Done! She would move her family there if her home was not going to be completed before the cold weather set in.

It was not long before snow, "termination dust", was moving down the mountains in the distance after each rain storm. The freezing level was lowering with each passing day.
Tony had returned with his "fish money", used to pay for a Sears Catalog order placed in July, to the site work at hand, and they participated in all manner of group projects and social events. Dancing was a favorite, with community parties held in Wasilla, Finger Lake, and Four Corners. The homesteaders and the colonists were mixing nicely. There was going to be "Peace in the Valley" after all!