Wayne Poulsen was the man who found Squaw Valley in the first place. In 1943, he and his wife Sandy bought 640 acres there from the Southern Pacific Railroad, and by 1948 he had partnered with New York lawyer Alexander Cushing to build a ski resort on the site. The partnership soured quickly, and by October 1949 Cushing had taken control of the Squaw Valley Development Corporation, pushing Poulsen out of the operation he had started. Poulsen stayed in the valley anyway, running a small beginner's ski area and continuing to acquire land with Sandy, eventually building the Squaw Valley Land and Livestock Company up to roughly 2,000 acres. When Cushing later won the bid to bring the 1960 Winter Olympics to Squaw Valley, planners set their sights on part of that same meadow, land the Poulsens still owned and had no intention of giving up without a fight. This remarkable story illustrates how personal conviction and financial sacrifice can successfully preserve natural landscapes against powerful institutional interests, leaving a lasting legacy of environmental stewardship.
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