1921-1929 Milton Snodgrass

1921-1929 Milton Snodgrass

Fairbanks

Portrait of Senator Milton D Snodgrass in the Sixth Alaska Legislature. UAF Archives
Portrait of Senator Milton D Snodgrass in the Sixth Alaska Legislature. UAF Archives
Milton D. Snodgrass was born March 14, 1876 in Jasper County, Indiana. In 1881 he moved with his family to Little River, Kansas where he attended school. He fought in the Spanish-American war between 1898-1899. After taking courses in the Kansas Agricultural College he graduates with a B.S. degree in animal husbandry in 1906. After graduation he served as assistant in Crop Production in the Kansas Experiment station.
On June 1907 he marries Margaret and move to Kodiak, Alaska to accept the superintendence position on the Kodiak Experimental Station for the Federal Department of Agriculture to investigate cattle-raising on the island. They remained on Kodiak from 1907 to 1917, during which time Milton Snodgrass establish the Matanuska Valley Experiment Station at the request of the U.S. Agricultural Department in Palmer. He was later transferred to Seward and then transferred to the Fairbanks Agriculture Experiment Station, until August 1921, when he was assigned to Palmer. He was in charge of the Matanuska Valley Experiment Station until 1929. Mr. Snodgrass became a colonization agent for the Alaska Railroad and brought 55 families to settle in the Matanuska Valley. Mr. Snodgrass resigned his post to engage in farming on his homestead in the Matanuska Valley.
M.D. Snodgrass, regent and presidential aspirant, among the sunflowers at the Fairbanks Experiment Station. University of Alaska Fairbanks Archives, Agricultural Experiment Station Albums.
M.D. Snodgrass, regent and presidential aspirant, among the sunflowers at the Fairbanks Experiment Station. University of Alaska Fairbanks Archives, Agricultural Experiment Station Albums.

He became a member of the Board of Regents on 1921 to 1929. Andrew Nerland was appointed to take his place on the Board. Mr. Snodgrass was elected to a term as Senator in November 1922-1925. He was a member of the territorial House of Representatives from 1953 to 1954. Received an honorary degree from the University of Alaska in 1961. He was presented with the “Citizen-of-the-Year” Award from the Kiwanis club of Palmer in 1964.

On December 1, 1967 he died at the Pioneers’ Home in Fairbanks. He was 91 years old.

The couple had two sons, Roland and William and three daughters: Mrs. Margaret McCartney, Mrs. Agnes Reed, and Mrs. Mary Verrall.

 

 


Milton Snodgrass is also mentioned in this article

Honorary Degree Recipient 1961

Link

Agricultural Possiblities - Anchorage Region 1929 from Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom

Source

BOR file