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| Affiliation | Alaskan Independence |
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| Name | Joe Vogler |
| Address |
Fairbanks, Alaska , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
April 14, 1913
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| Died | May 00, 1993
(80 years)
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | RBH
Dec 10, 2016 07:16pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | Joe Vogler was born on April 24, 1913, in Barnes, Kansas. One of five children raised on a Kansas farm, he learned to work hard and think for himself. In 1929, at 16 years of age, Joe Vogler attended the University of Kansas on a scholarship. He graduated in five years with a law degree and was admitted to the Kansas State Bar at the age of 21.
Vogler came to Alaska in March of 1942 and worked for the Army engineers at Ladd Air Field in Fairbanks until 1951 when he began mining on Homestake Creek. He spent fifty years "moving dirt" as a miner and real estate developer in Interior Alaska.
Vogler's hero was Thomas Jefferson who he described as the "greatest political thinker who ever lived." As he thrust out his calling card, a pocket-sized U.S. Constitution, Joe stressed in his political debates that he believed the biggest problem with the federal government was that they have overstepped the bounds of the Constitution. Vogler challenged the federal government's practice of owning land in Alaska or any other state outside the original limits of the United States Constitution. Vogler believed that federal claims of land for preserves and parks is outside of the original intent of the framers of the Constitution and that the federal government has no right to own land in the western states except for "forts, arsenals, dockyards and other needful government uses.
As an independent Alaskan who will long be remembered for his love of Alaska and politics, as well as his biting wit, Vogler was a pioneer with vision, courage and determination. Although Joe was defeated in his three gubernatorial races, he felt that the "shift back toward constitutional government" on the part of Alaska's political leaders was "a victory of sorts."
In the Alaska General Election Pamphlet for the 1982 gubernatorial election, Joe made the following statement:
"Government is not the giver of rights; only God confers these to the people. People create government, giving it certain and limited powers. Only eternal vigilance by the people will confine government to its proper role."
Joe was a powerful presence in this Great Land. As Brian Rogers reflected in Joe's eulogy,
"Where is Joe? On any clear night, we can look up to the sky and find the eight stars--the Big Dipper and the North Star--symbols of Alaska. Joe Vogler is up there."
*****
VOGLER, JOE - A miner, land developer and founder of the Alaska Independence Party, was
80 years old when he disappeared in 1993. After 16 months of investigation, his body was unearthed from a shallow grave near Fairbanks on Oct. 12 (1994). A Fairbanks man was indicted in December for his murder. Born in a sod dugout on the plains of Kansas, Vogler was 28 when he arrived in Alaska in 1942. Although armed with a law degree from the University of Kansas, he worked construction on the military bases, first at Kodiak, later in interior Alaska. He worked hard, and his estate includes extensive real estate holdings
around Fairbanks and mining claims in other parts of the Interior. Vogler was an outspoken critic of government and advocated Alaska's secession from the Union. He made war on his
neighbors, local government and the state, sometimes appearing in court as his own lawyer.
He saved his most spectacular verbal volleys for federal officials, especially those of the Park Service who imposed control on his mining and land development activities. When
his admirers looked at him, they saw John Wayne on a D-8 Cat-a no-nonsense, stand-up guy with the guts to take on the feds 24 hours a day. He was not a Bircher or even a conservative. Sometimes-when he called for local hire, job training and better house-
he even sounded like a socialist. He also was unusually tolerant of the difficulties young people face. Vogler made three unsuccessful bids for governor under the Alaskan
Independence banner. His last appearance on Alaska's political stage was in 1990, when he lent the Alaska Independence Party to former Gov. Wally Hickel so Hickel would have a
spot on the general election ballot. At his request, Vogler will be buried in Canada, beyond reach of Washington bureaucrats.
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