The Boomer Bus: 7-15-2014 Soldotna Homestead Museum

7-15-2014 Soldotna Historical Museum

Post 7-15-2014 Soldotna Homestead Museum

Today was museum day. Soldotna’s small Historical Society and Museum was quite a surprise. Carroll Knutson met us at the door and commenced telling us about Soldotna. She pointed out an iron stove standing by the door that was made of a piece of the pipe line by a man called “Cotton” Moore. “Cotton” was a Southerner who moved to Alaska to get away from the South (Texas). He exclaimed to someone one “I can’t see cotton fields anymore” so the people gave him that nick-name. Carroll said that when he passed away a few years ago, she learned that his first name was “Jesse.”

Carroll Knutson
Jesse P. “Cotton” Moore came to Alaska in 1950. He had attended art school, had a tour in the Coast Guard in 1942, later in US Navy as a Boatswain Mate, later trained as an ironworker/welder and worked the pipeline. He was a 32 degree Mason, a Shriner, Jester and shrine clown . He resided in Moose Pass and passed away in 2010. His artistically ability was evident in everything he made.

Carroll told us that Cotton made 5 or 6 stoves. He named each one and this one was "Past and Future". The stove was a work of art. The pipe was modified with a door in the front, a flat top with art work hand made and welded around it to keep pots sitting level on it. The "past" was the Native Alaskan tribal emblem (Kenai, I think) and the "future" was represented by an oil well pump. Everything cut out with a welding torch, ground down and re- welded..

Cotton's Heater/Stove

Going inside, she started telling us the history of Soldotna, and it pretty well paralleled what I already mentioned. We looked at maps and she told us of the original homesteaders that settled and started the town. There were artifacts and mounts on every available space. These Alaskan's love their

salmon.

(Picture of Guns)

A few others joined us and she took us on a tour of the buildings on the property and pointed out the different ways that they were built, especially the corners.