One of the last of the pioneering blood was Harry Ash, who on several
  occasions aided in the settling of the wild frontier of Alaska. In the
  late twenties the lur of Alaska proved too great to the redblodded man
  who helped establish numerous airfiels. Not even the beauty and serenity
  of his native Barber County could hold this pioneering spirit long when
  he again returned to Alaska to help clear the fabulous Matanuska Valley
  near Anchorage. He was one of the first colonist; but considering the
  living conditions insufficient, he returned to the United States.
     The first settlers into the valley wintered in tents and were amazed
  in the spring at the crops the ground produced - heads of cabbages as big
  as a man's head, strawberries about the size of a woman's fist. The
  pioneers learned, however, that due to the moistness of the permafrost, 
  their hay had to be put on forks, much as they do in the Scandanavian
  countries.
     He couldnt remain away from Alaska, as the pull was still there; and
  for his final sojourn in the wilds, he worked for a gold mining company.
     On a break in his duties, his life took a fairy book turn when he met 
  and in a few days married the girl of his dreams, Lyla Mason Cook. To
  doubly bless this union was her daughter from a former marriage, Jeannette
  Cook, and a daughter of their own, Lyla.
     Harry Joseph Ash was born a native son of Barber County on April 14, 
  1892, son of Amos and Belle (Wiley) Ash. He attended the Pleasant Hill 
  School, which had been previously attended by his mother and her sisters.
  As was customary in the family, his education did not end at the formal
  level, but continued throught the eighty years of his life.
     He served his country well, being a volunteer in the War to End all Wars.
     He, his wife and daughter returned to Barber County in 1945, where later
  she, the daughter, also attended Pleasant Hill. In 1948 they moved to Jewell
  County, but remained in Kansas most of the rest of his life, the only
  exception being when his wife taught in Oregon. As he was a retired farmer,
  he went with her. On the 23rd of July, 1972, he passed from this life and
  was placed for his everleasting rest near the tomb of his beloved parents.
  The County can well be proud of this man who carried on the pioneering spirit
  of their forebearers, and the young can take heed that, in truth, those days
  will never end.
               
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 89