WASILLA

ALASKA

Glacial ice sheets covered most of the northern hemisphere until they disappeared between 10,000 and about 7,000 years ago. Early humans moved through the area and left evidence of their passage. The Matanuska-Susitna valley was eventually settled by the Dena'ina Alaska natives who utilized the fertile lands and fishing opportunities of Cook Inlet. The Dena'ina are one of the eleven sub-groups comprising the indigenous Athabaskan Indian groups extending down Canada's western coast. Russians occupied Alaska from 1741, including strategic trading posts in Lower Cook Inlet, until Alaska's sale to the United States in 1867. Near the mouth of the Matanuska River, the town of Knik was settled about 1880. In 1900, the Willow Creek Mining District was established to the north and Knik thrived as a mining settlement.

In 1917, the U.S. government planned the Alaska Railroad to intersect the Carle Wagon Road (present Wasilla-Fishhook Road) which connected Knik and the mines. Knik businesses and residents rushed to purchase plattes and the town declined. Wasilla Station was named for the nearby Wasilla Creek. Local miners used the name "Wassila Creek", referring to Wassila, a chief of the Dena'ina. There are two sources cited for the name, one being derived from a Dena'ina word meaning "breath of air" while another stating Dena'ina derived it from the Russian name "Vasili." As Knik declined into a ghost town, Wasilla served early fur trappers and miners working the gold fields at Cache Creek and Willow Creek. More than 200 farm families from the Upper Midwest were moved into the Matanuska and Susitna valleys in 1935 as part of a U.S. government program to start a new farming community to counteract this trend; their linguistic influence is still audible in the region.

The area was a supply base for gold mines near Hatcher Pass through World War II. Until construction of the George Parks Highway around 1970, nearby Palmer was the leading city in the Matanuska Valley. Wasilla was at the end of the Palmer-Wasilla highway and the road to Big Lake provided access to land west of Wasilla. The Parks Highway put Wasilla at mile 40-42 of what became the major highway and railroad transportation corridor linking Southcentral Alaska to Interior Alaska. As a result, population growth and community development shifted from the area around Palmer to Wasilla and the surrounding area. Wasilla was incorporated as a city in 1974. All non-borough municipalities throughout Alaska are designated cities.

In 1994, a statewide ballot initiative to move the capital of Alaska to Wasilla was defeated by a vote of about 116,000 to 96,000. About that time, the Matanuska Valley began to recover from an economic collapse, beginning a sustained boom that involved dramatic population growth, increased local employment, and a boom in residential and commercial real estate development. The local real estate market slowed in 2006. In 2008, suburban growth and dwindling snow forced organizers of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to bypass Wasilla permanently. The race had its start in Wasilla from 1973 to 2002, the year when reduced snow cover forced a "temporary" change to Willow.

Famous people from Wasilla include Sarah Palin and Bristol Palin.

Sarah Palin was the Mayor of Wasilla before her bid to be the Governor of Alaska which she readily won. While she was Governor she was recruited by the GOP to run as Vice President of The United States of America along with Senator John McCain from Arizona in the 2008 election however, their bid was defeated by the Democratic Party.

Bristol Palin was a star on television where she stared on Dancing With The Stars against some tough competition and ended with third place. A very good appearance and finish as she was loved by the Judges and the world-wide viewing audience.

Of course, there are many military veterans who deserve recognition and who also live in Wasilla. And, Wasilla has a Veterans Administration Office and a VA Clinic.

This information from Wikipedia: For more info. go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorage,_Alaska

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Anchorage, Homer, Valdez, Palmer, Fairbanks, Tok, Glennallen, Chitina, Slana, Fox, Delta Junction, Paxon, Willow, Talkeetna, Sutton, Huston, Eagle River, Kenai, North Slope, Yukon, Chicken, Dawson, Juneau, Platinum, Mt. McKinley, Montana Creek, Seward, Nome, Wales, Prudhoe Bay and other Alaska cities. What can you do in Alaska? You may: Relax in your room; swim in the pool or soak in the Jacuzzi; have a five course dinner; go gold mining or gold prospecting or find gold and stake your own gold mining claim; go hunting or fishing; camp along the thousands of creeks or lakes or miles of beaches; go hiking, bicycling, ATV riding, trail riding or even horse back riding; go on a cruise on one of the hundreds of tour boats or sightseeing from a bush plane; go on a tour of the Wrangle, St. Elias National Park and Preserve - the largest in North America; visit abandoned villages and gold mining camps; see the Yukon River, the midnight sun, cross the Arctic Circle or visit Alaska Native Villages and Eskimo Igloos; see moose, caribou, grizzle and brown bears, black bear, fox, ptarmigan, salmon, wolverines, coyotes, lynx, mink, otters, seals, walrus, geese, ducks and hundreds of other birds including the Bald Eagle, the Raven and the infamous Camp Robber; go on sled dog rides or see Musk Ox and Reindeer; rent 4x4 ATV’s for trail rides or canoes for a ride down the river; see Mt. McKinley, the largest mountain in North America or visit places that have been here since before Alaska became a state such as Duffy’s Roadhouse at mile 63 on the Tok Cutoff Highway or you may visit the hundreds of other historic places that are on the maps; and you could go to museums, plays, theatres, shopping, antique stores and pawn shops or visit Russian Orthodox Churches built over a hundred years ago or visit fishing villages where the villagers have fished for hundreds of years; and, you could even learn the meaning of the words such as “cheechako”, “sourdough”, “muktuk”, “oogarook” or “cuspuck”.

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