A part of a seamless weekly sequence on Alaska historical past by native historian David Reamer. Have a query about Anchorage or Alaska historical past or an thought for a future article? Go to the shape on the backside of this story.

As soon as upon a time, there was an Alaska governor who liked to lie. The April 18, 1913 banner headline for the Alaska Day by day Empire learn, “Main Robust to be Governor.” The article acknowledged, “The announcement final evening of the appointment of Main J.F.A. Robust to be Governor of Alaska, has precipitated a lot elation among the many Alaskans on this metropolis.” Robust had established the Empire in 1912 and was nonetheless its editor as of that date. He could have even written the article that went to nice lengths to reward him. If liable for the plaudits, he was additionally responsible of a number of included lies, some specific and a few by omission.

First, he was not an precise main in any military. Army titles had been usually used then as nicknames for individuals of authority no matter any earlier service, however Robust claimed he had served in some vague South American military. This was a whole fabrication. Second, the “J.F.A.” had been initials for John Franklin Alexander. Nevertheless, that was not precisely his actual title. The Franklin half was faux, one thing he added a long time after his beginning, maybe so as to add a higher sense of dignity to his title.

Third, Robust was not, because the article acknowledged, from Kentucky, not to mention the son of a Kentucky colonel, as he typically claimed. That is crucial of the specific lies within the article. He was not even American, although he went to nice lengths to faux as such. He could have added Franklin to his title with the intention to sound extra American.

John Alexander Robust was born in Queen’s County, New Brunswick, Canada on Oct. 15, 1856. Little is understood of his early years. On Dec. 31, 1879, he married Elizabeth Aitkens (1851-1925) in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Their first youngster was born the subsequent 12 months, a daughter named Janie. One other daughter, Elizabeth, adopted in 1884. Their first son, Robert, was born in 1886.

By the late Eighteen Eighties, after some enterprise failures in New Brunswick, he moved to Washington state, the place he labored in newspapers. In 1896, Robust married the American Annie Corridor (1870-1947). His first spouse was nonetheless alive, and so they had not divorced. Elizabeth by no means remarried and, in a 1911 census, described herself as widowed. Robust not solely deserted his Canadian household however was a bigamist, a somewhat extreme lie of omission.

Whereas in Washington, Robust started telling individuals he was an American. There isn’t a proof that Robust ever tried to develop into naturalized. He was undoubtedly not an American citizen as of his tenure as governor. Nor was Kentucky his solely false birthplace. For the 1900 Census, he mentioned he was born in Georgia. In 1923, 5 years after the tip of his run as governor, he was a passenger on a ship sure for New York Metropolis. On arrival, he described himself as a British citizen born in Canada.

Like 1000’s of different fortune hunters, he caught the Klondike Gold Rush fever. In 1897, he departed for Skagway, although he arrived too late within the season to make the journey inland to Dawson. Roughly trapped in Alaska, he reverted to his established occupation and labored for the Skagway Information, the place he was a devoted enemy of native crime lord Jefferson “Soapy” Smith.

Robust spent the subsequent 15 years as an itinerant journalist, bouncing from one growth city to a different. In 1899, he and his spouse lastly made it to Dawson, the place he briefly labored for the Dawson Day by day Information earlier than shifting on to Nome earlier than the 12 months was out. There, he purchased the Nome Chronicle and rechristened it the Nome Nugget. Over the subsequent decade, he labored at newspapers in Iditarod, Katalla, and Greenwater, California. In 1912, he based the Alaska Day by day Empire, with the primary difficulty revealed on November 2. That newspaper continues to be going, at the moment often called the Juneau Empire.

Supported by his newspaper connections, Robust turned more and more political throughout his time in Alaska. In 1912, he was an Alaska delegate to the Democratic Nationwide Conference, the place he supported nominee and eventual president Woodrow Wilson. By all appearances, Robust made a very good impression on the conference, and in 1913, President Wilson appointed him as governor of Alaska.

Endorsements from throughout Alaska had poured into Washington, D.C. for Robust. Because the admittedly biased Empire declared, “the Territorial Legislature, the Delegate to Congress, the Democratic organizations, Democratic golf equipment, industrial organizations, and residents typically in unofficial place and in unofficial capability — miners, fishermen, businessmen {and professional} males, employers and toilers all over the place, had joined in a single unanimous demand for his choice.”

A number of notable occasions marked his five-year tenure as governor, together with the 1915 founding of Anchorage. He disliked the brand new city’s title, preferring one thing with “extra significance and native associations,” not that he had the facility to power a change. But, he did recommend another: Matanuska. Some residents advocated the city be named Strongov in honor of the governor.

The Alaska Agricultural Faculty and College of Mines, now the College of Alaska Fairbanks, was based in 1917, although the primary courses didn’t occur till 1922. Prohibition in Alaska handed by referendum in 1916, was authorized by Congress in 1917, and took impact firstly of 1918. Whereas beneath his editorial management, the Nome Nugget had known as for “disgraceful enterprises” like dancehalls, saloons, and brothels on Entrance Road to be moved farther from the city middle in order that “moms, wives, daughters and people close to, expensive, and consequently revered” may keep away from the “many repellant and sometimes disgraceful scenes.”

In 1916, the Portland Oregonian, in an article reprinted throughout a lot of Alaska, revealed Robust’s secret Canadian origin, stating “That although he asserts he was born in Franklin County, Kentucky, no document him is obtainable there, and that in actuality he’s a local of New Brunswick.” The transfer was politically motivated. Robust, an avowed Democrat, had employed or appointed a number of Republicans to well-compensated positions. He additionally backed the Republican James Wickersham because the Alaska delegate to Congress.

Whereas the Democratic and Republican events of the 1910s bear no resemblance to their 2023 counterparts, politics then may very well be familiarly partisan. A lot of his allies had identified the circumstances of his beginning for years however assumed he had been naturalized. Robust’s assist for Republicans turned fellow Democrats towards him, not his years of lies.

Maybe the foremost buddy turned enemy was John Troy, who adopted Robust on the Alaska Day by day Empire and later was governor himself within the Thirties. Troy employed a detective company to analyze Robust’s background. Witnesses from throughout the US and Canada, together with Robust’s brother, had been interviewed, and the outcomes had been first revealed within the April 13, 1918 Empire. Robust’s Canadian citizenship was confirmed together with the general public reveal of his bigamy.

The article was primarily a celebratory dance on Robust’s grave. By then, the governor’s political profession was already over. Earlier than printing his findings, Troy traveled to Washington, D.C., the place he provided his proof to anybody and everybody with affect to forestall a reappointment. His efforts paid off. That March, President Wilson appointed Thomas Riggs as governor. Congress confirmed Riggs earlier than the scathing article was revealed. Robust quietly and shortly exited the general public sphere.

The facility of lies is everlasting. Individuals, together with politicians, lie as a result of it’s an efficient ploy. A repeated falsehood, particularly when acknowledged by a supposed authority, successfully tips many individuals into accepting a fraudulent declare. The extra somebody hears a specific lie, the extra acquainted the message turns into. The extra acquainted a message turns into, the extra it overrides logic and data on the way in which to acceptance. This tendency is called the illusory reality impact.

When Robust died of a coronary heart assault in 1929, the Fairbanks Day by day Information-Miner described him as “born in Kentucky” with out mentioning Canada or his first spouse. The Seward Day by day Gateway likewise mentioned he was “born in Kentucky.” The Anchorage Day by day Occasions prevented the problem of his birthplace and bigamy however mentioned he resigned as governor solely after “his political enemies launched an assault upon him,” transferring blame away from Robust and onto his correct critics. Generally the previous appears very totally different from at the moment. Different instances it feels tragically comparable.

Key sources:

Gates, Michael. “A Canadian Poser Ruled Alaska for 5 Years.” Yukon Information, July 17, 2009.

“Demise Claims Main Robust; Coronary heart Assault.” Anchorage Day by day Occasions, July 29, 1929, 1.

“Details Regarding Robust’s Citizenship.” Alaska Day by day Empire, April 13, 1918, 1, 5.

“Former Alaska Governor Dies Seattle House.” Fairbanks Day by day Information-Miner, July 29, 1929, 1.

“Former Governor Robust, Alaska, Passes, Seattle.” Seward Day by day Gateway, July 29, 1929, 1.

“Main Robust to be Governor.” [Juneau] Alaska Day by day Empire, April 19, 1913, 1.

“Extra In regards to the Costs In opposition to Governor Robust.” Iditarod Pioneer, February 12, 1916, 3.

“Sourdough Suggests ‘Strongov’ for New City.” Seward Gateway, August 23, 1915, 2.