Presented below are historical facts for which there are written records.
Until contact with Europeans, the history of Native Alaskans was preserved
through the oral tradition. In the 250 years since Europeans found Alaska,
much of that oral history was lost, what was recorded does not correspond
to the Western manner of recording events on a calendar basis.
18th century
1725 - Peter the Great sends Vitus Bering to explore the North Pacific.
1728 - Vitus Bering sails through the Bering Strait.
1733 - Bering's second expedition, with George Wilhelm Steller aboard,
the first naturalist to visit Alaska.
1741 - Alexei Chirikof, with Bering expedition, sights land on July 15;
the Europeans had found Alaska.
1742 - First scientific report on the North Pacific fur seal.
1743 - Concentrated hunting of sea otter by Russia begins.
1774 - Juan Perez ordered by Spain to explore west coast; discovers
Prince of Wales Island, Dixon Sound.
1776 - Captain James Cook expedition to search for Northwest Passage.
1725 - Cook reaches King Island, Norton Sound, Unalaska.
1784 - Grigorii Shelikov establishes first white settlement at Three
Saints Bay, Kodiak.
1786 - Gerassin Pribilof discovers the rookeries on the islands now know
as the Pribilofs.
1791 - George Vancouver leaves England to explore the coast; Alejandro
Malaspina explores the northwest coast for Spain.
1792 - Catherine II grants a monopoly of furs in Alaska to Grigorii
Shelikov.
1794 - Baranov builds first vessel in northwestern America at
Voskres-senski on Kenai.
1795 - The first Russian Orthodox Church established in Kodiak.
1799 - Alexander Baranov establishes Russian post known today as Old
Sitka; trade charter grants exclusive trading rights to the Russian American
Company.
19th Century
1802 - Russian fort at Old Sitka destroyed by Tlingits.
1804 - Russians return to Sitka and attack Kiksadi fort on Indian River.
Russians lose the battle, but Natives are forced to flee. Baranov
re-establishes trading post.
1805 - Yurii Lisianski sails to Canton with the first Russian cargo of
furs to be sent directly to China.
1821 - No foreigners allowed in Russian-American waters, except at
regular ports of call.
1824 - Russians begin exploration of mainland that leads to discovery of
Nushagak, Kuskokwim, Yukon, and Koyokuk Rivers.
1834 - Father Veniaminov moves to Sitka; consecrated Bishop Innokenty in
1840.
1840 - Russian Orthodox Diocese formed; Bishop Innokenty Veniaminov given
permission to use Native languages in the liturgy.
1841 - Edward de Stoeckl assigned to the secretariat of the Russian
legation in the U.S.
1847 - Fort Yukon established.
1848 - Cathedral of St. Michael dedicated at New Archangel (Sitka).
1853 - Russian explorer-trappers find oil seeps in Cook Inlet.
1857 - Coal mining begins at Coal Harbor on the Kenai Peninsula.
1859 - De Stoeckl returns to U.S. from St. Petersburg with authority to
negotiate the sale of Alaska.
1861 - Gold discovered on Stikine River near Telegraph Creek.
1865 - Western Union Telegraph Company prepares to put telegraph line
across Alaska and Siberia.
Purchase from Russia
1867 - U.S. purchases Alaska from Russia; Pribilof Islands placed under
jurisdiction of Secretary of Treasury. Fur seal population, stablized
under Russian rule, declines rapidly.
1868 - Alaska designated as the Department of Alaska under Brevet Major
General Jeff C. Davis, U.S. Army.
1869 - The Sitka Times, first newspaper in Alaska, published.
1872 - Gold discovered near Sitka and in British Columbia .
1874 - George Halt said to be the first white man to cross the Chilkoot
Pass in search for gold.
1876 - Gold discovered south of Juneau at Windham Bay.
1877 - U.S. troops withdrawn from Alaska.
1878 - School opens at Sitka, to become Sheldon Jackson Junior College.
First canneries in Alaska established at Klawock and Sitka.
1880 - Richard Harris and Joseph Juneau, with the aid of local clan
leader Kowee, discover gold on Gastineau; Juneau is founded.
1881 - Parris Lode claim staked and by 1885 is the most prominent mine in
Alaska: Treadwell Mine.
1882 - First commercial herring fishing begins at Killisnoo; first two
central Alaska salmon canneries built. U.S. Navy bombs, then burns Tlingit
village of Angoon.
1884 - Congress passes Organic Act. $15,000 appropriated to educate
Indian children.
1885 - Dr. C. H. Townsend suggest introduction of reindeer into Alaska.
Sheldon Jackson appointed General Agent for Education in Alaska.
1887 - Father William Duncan and Tsimshian followers found Metlakatla on
Annette Island.
1888 - Boundary survey started by Dr. W. H. Dall of the U.S. and Dr.
George Dawson of Canada.
1890 - Large corporate salmon canneries begin to appear.
1890 - Dr. Sheldon Jackson explores Arctic Coast; brings reindeer
husbandry into Alaska.
1891 - First oil claims staked in Cook Inlet area.
1892 - Afognak Reserve established, beginning the Alaskan Forest Service
System.
1894 - Gold discovery on Mastadon Creek; founding of Circle City.
1896 - Dawson City founded at mouth of Klondike River; gold discovered on
Bonanza Creek. 1897-1900 - Klondike gold rush.
1897 - First shipment of fresh halibut sent south from Juneau.
1898 - Skagway is largest city in Alaska; work starts on White Pass and
Yukon Railroad; Congress appropriates money for telegraph from Seattle to
Sitka; Nome gold rush begins.
1899 - Local government organized in Nome.
20th century
1900 - Civil Code for Alaska divides state into three judicial districts,
with judges at Sitka, Eagle, and St. Michael; moves capital to Juneau.
White Pass railroad completed. U.S. Congress passes act to establish
Washington-Cable (WAMCATS) that later becomes the Alaska Communications
System (ACS).
1902 - President Theodore Roosevelt establishes Tongass National Forest;
E.T. Barnette and local miners name their settlement Fairbanks.
1904 - Last great Tlingit potlatch held in Sitka. Submarine cables laid
from Seattle to Sitka, and from Sitka to Valdez, linking Alaska to
"outside".
1905 - Tanana railroad built; telegraph links Fairbanks and Valdez;
Alaska Road Commission established under Army jurisdiction.
1906 - Alaska authorized to send voteless delegate to Congress.
Governor's Office moved from Sitka to Juneau.
1907 - Gold discovered at Ruby; Richardson trail established; Tongass
National Forest, largest U.S. forest, created by presidential
proclamation.
1908 - First cold storage plant built at Ketchikan.
1911 - International agreement between U.S., Great Britain, Canada,
Russia, and Japan controls fur seal fisheries; sea otters placed under complete
protection; Copper River and Northwestern Railroad begins
service to Kennecott Copper Mine.
1912 - Territorial status for Alaska provides for Legislature; Alaska
Native Brotherhood organizes in Southeast; Mount Katmai explodes, forming
Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.
1913 - First Alaska Territorial Legislature convenes. First law passed
grants women voting rights.
1914 - Surveying begins for Alaska Railroad; City of Anchorage born as
construction campsite.
1915 - Alaska Native Sisterhood holds first convention in Sitka.
1916 - First bill for Alaska statehood introduced in Congress. Alaskans
vote in favor of prohibition by a 2 to 1 margin.
1917 - Treadwell Mine complex caves in.
1918 - Congress creates Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines
as a land grant college.
1920 - Anchorage organizes city government.
1922 - Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines opens. Native
voting rights established through a court case.
1923 - President Warren G. Harding comes to Alaska to drive the last
spike in Alaska Railroad.
1924 - Congress extends citizenship to all Indians in the United States;
Tlingit William Paul, Sr. is first Native elected to Alaska Legislature.
Start of airmail delivery to Alaska.
1928 - Court case resolves right of Native children to attend public
school.
1929 - U.S. Navy begins 5-year survey to map parts of Alaska. Alaska
Native Brotherhood convention at Haines resolves to pursue land claims
Settlement in Southeast Alaska.
1932 - Radio telephone communications established in Juneau, Ketchikan,
and Nome.
1935 - Matanuska Valley Project established. Nine hundred Alaska-Juneau
Gold Mine workers go on a strike that lasts 40 days and ends in violence.
- The Jurisdictional Act of June, 1935 allows the Tlingit and Haida
Indians to pursue land claims in U.S. Court of Claims.
1936 - The Indian Reorganization Act of 1935 amended to include Alaska.
Nell Scott of Seldovia becomes the first woman elected to the Territorial
Legislature.
1940 - Fort Richardson established; construction begins on Elmendorf Air
Force Base.
1942 - Japan bombs Dutch Harbor; invades Aleutians.
1944 - Alaska-Juneau Gold Mine shuts down.
1945 - Governor Gruening signs the Anti-Discrimination Act, the first
such legislation passed in the United States and its possessions since
post-Civil War.
1946 - Boarding school for Native high school students opens at Mt.
Edgecombe.
1947 - The Alaska Command established; first unified command of the U.S.
staffed by Army, Air Force, and Navy officers. First Alaska Native land
claims suit, filed by Tlingit and Haida people, introduced in U.S. Court
of Claims.
1948 - Alaskans vote to abolish fish traps by a 10 to 1 margin.
1953 - Oil well drilled near Eureka on Glenn Highway marks the beginning
of Alaska's modern oil history; first plywood operations begin at Juneau;
first big Alaskan pulp mill opens at Ketchikan. First Alaskan television
broadcast by KENI, Anchorage.
1955 - Alaskans elect delegates to constitutional convention.
1955 - Constitutional Convention opens at University of Alaska.
1956 - Territorial voters adopt the Alaska Constitution; send two
senators and one representative to Washington under the Tennessee Plan.
1958 - Statehood measure passes; President Eisenhower signs statehood
bill.
Statehood
1959 - Statehood proclaimed; state constitution in effect; Sitka pulp
mill opens. U.S. Court of Claims issues judgement favoring Tlingit and Haida
claims to Southeast Alaska lands.
1964 - Good Friday earthquake.
1966 - Alaska Federation of Natives organized. Interior Secretary Udall
imposes a "land freeze" to protect Native use and occupancy of Alaska
lands.
1967 - Fairbanks flood.
1968 - Oil pumped from a well at Prudhoe Bay on North Slope. Governor
Hickel establishes Alaska Lands Claims Task Force that recommends a 40
million acre land settlement for Alaska Natives.
1969 - North Slope Oil lease sale brings $900 million. First live satellite
telecast in Alaska.
1971 - Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act signed into law.
1972 - Alaska Constitution amended to prohibit sexual discrimination.
1973 - Congress passes the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act;
salmon fisheries limited entry program becomes law.
1974 - Alaska voters approve capital move initiative.
1975 - Alaska Legislature appropriates funds to initiate purchase and
installation of 100 satellite earth stations for establishment of
statewide satellite communications network.
1976 - Natural gas pipeline proposals filed. Alaska voters pick Willow as
new capital site; voters approve constitutional amendment establishing
Alaska Permanent Fund to receive "at least 25 percent" of all state oil
revenues and related income.
1977 - Trans-Alaska Pipeline completed from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.
1980 - Alaska Legislature increases Permanent Fund share of oil revenues
from 25 to 50 percent; repeals Alaska personal income tax; establishes
Alaska Dividend Fund to distribute Permanent Fund earnings to Alaska
residents. Congress passes Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation
Act (ANILCA).
1982 - Alaska voters repeal law relocating capital to Willow and
establish state spending limit; first Permanent Fund dividends distributed.
1983 - Time zone shift: all Alaska. except westernmost Aleutians Islands,
move to Alaska Standard Time, one hour west of Pacific Standard time; crab
stocks so low that most commercial seasons are cancelled; the drinking age
is raised from 18 to 21 by the Legislature.
1985 - State purchases Alaska Railroad from the federal government;
declining oil prices cause budget problems.
1986 - Price of oil drops below $10 per barrel, causing Alaska oil
revenues to plummet; the legislature passes a new bill governing subsistence
hunting and fishing.
1987 - The economic doldrums from oil prices continue to affect the
state, causing many to lose their jobs and leave, banks to foreclose on property,
and businesses to go bankrupt; a new military build-up in Alaska begins
when the first troops of the new Sixth Infantry Division begin to arrive
in Fairbanks.
1988 - International efforts to rescue two whales caught by ice off Barrow
captures world-wide attention; the state's economic woes continue and
Anchorage loses 30,000 in population; the Soviets allow a one-day visit of
a group of Alaskans to the Siberian port city of Provideniya; Anchorage
loses its bid to host the 1994 Olympic Games to Lillehammer, Norway.
1989 - The Exxon Valdez, a 987' oil tanker carrying 53 million gallons of
North Slope crude grounds on Bligh Reef spilling 11 million gallons into
Prince William Sound; the Permanent Fund passes the $10 billion mark; the
Alaska Supreme Court throws out Alaska's rural preference law.
1990 - The Alaska Legislature meets in special session and struggles
unsuccessfully to resolve the subsistence issue; federal authorities take
over subsistence management on federal lands; oil prices temporarily
double after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait; Walter Hickel makes a political
comeback with lt. governor candidate Jack Coghill on Alaskan Independence
Party ticket and winning gubernatorial race; Congress sets aside more
Southeast Alaska as wilderness by passing the Tongass Reform Act.
1991 - The State of Alaska, the U.S. Justice Department and Exxon reach a
$1 billion settlement resulting form the Exxon Valdez oil spill which is
rejected by the U.S. District Court. An amended settlement earmarking more
money for restoration work in Prince William Sound wins judicial approval.
Congress effectively closes the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil
development; Bristol Bay fisherman strike over low salmon prices; Hickel
administration and the Legislature unable to resolve the subsistence
issue.
1992 - Final repercussions of Alaska's recession are felt as oil industry
retrenches with major job losses; the Anchorage Times, once Alaska's
largest newspaper folds; reapportionment challenges delay primaries by two
weeks; Spurr Volcano erupts three times, one blast dumping ash on
Anchorage; Juneau's Hillary Lindh wins Olympic Silver Medal in downhill
skiing.
1993 - Alaska Legislature passes largest capital works appropriation in
ten years; a court-mandated new reapportionment scheme re-draws boundaries of
some election districts; Greens Creek Mine near Juneau closes due to low
silver, zinc, and lead prices; Sitka Pulp Mill announces indefinites
suspension of mill operations, affecting 400 workers; Alaskan Independence
Party Chairman Joe Vogler mysteriously disappears.
1994 - Federal trial results in $5 billion dollar verdict in the Exxon
Valdez case. Alaska's Tommy Moe brings home Olympic gold in downhill ski
competitions. Joe Vogler's body is discovered buried off Chena Hot Springs
Road near Fairbanks. Voters defeat the latest proposal to move the Alaska
capital away from Juneau. The mental health lands case is decided after
years in court; the suit initiated by Vern Weiss of Nenana and several
other plaintoffs revolved around the 1977 legislature's dissolution of a
trust established in territorial days.
1995 - Canadian fisherman attack an Alaska ferry with paint and ball
bearings projected from sling shots in frustration over inconclusive
U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty talks, which hinder Southeast Alaska's
troll king salmon fishery. MarkAir faces bankruptcy while ticket holders
are stranded and employees all over the state are laid off. The $267
million dollar Healy Clean Coal Project is launched with a substantial
backing by the U.S. Department of Energy. Villagers from Alatna return to
a newly rebuilt village after being one of several Koyukuk River
communities washed out by fall floods in 1994.
1996 - A federal judge rules against the State of Alaska in a case
brought by Governor Hickel and continued by Governor Knowles over the state's
interpretation of how the Alaska Statehood Act affects the federal
government's management of federal lands in the state. U.S. Congress lifts
the ban on exportation of Alaska crude oil. One of the most devastating
fires in state history destroys homes and property in the South Central
area near Big Lake.
1997 - High winds and seas caused a Japanese refrigerator ship to go
aground near Unalaska, spilling approximately 39,000 gallons of fuel. The
Fairbanks Municipal Utilities System was sold to three private companies,
ending 50 years of public utility ownership. MAPCO, owner of Alaska's
largest oil refinery, was bought by Williams Co. Inc. Canadian fishermen
in Prince Rupert blockaded an Alaskan ferry for three days in protest of
Alaskan salmon-fishing practices; ferry service to Prince Rupert was
disrupted for 19 weeks. The issue of the safety of the 20 year old
Trans-Alaska pipeline was in the news, but both Alyeska and the Joint
Pipeline Office maintained that the pipeline is well-monitored and safe.
1998 - Statewide, 6,700 jobs were added and the unemployment rate set a
record low at 5.8%. The moose was adopted as Alaska's official state land
mammal. In May, an estimated 4,000 people marched in Anchorage to show
solidarity and to bring attention to Native Rights' issues. The new Seward
SeaLife Center is the western hemisphere's first cold-water marine
research facility, and includes two floors of public displays. The Supreme
Court of the United States in its case No.96-1577 ruled that the
approximately 1.8 million acres owned by the Native Village of Venetie
Tribal Government is not "Indian country".
1999 - Two legendary dogmushers died this year - Joe Redington, Sr.,
founder of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and Edgar Nollner, Sr., the
last surviving musher of the 1925 diptheria serum run to Nome. The state's
top two oil producers, BP and ARCO, announced their intent to merge. The
University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks received $1,000,000 from the Bill
Gates Foundation to help with their expansion project. In Anchorage, the
Alaska Native Heritage Center, a 26 acre cultural park, opened its doors;
it is expected that the Center will attract 130,000 visitors a year. In
September, a proposal to spend Alaska Permanent Fund earnings on state
government was soundly rejected by voters, 83% to 17%. The state's largest
financial institution, the National Bank of Alaska, announced it has
agreed to a buyout by Wells, Fargo & Co. Derailment of two Alaska Railroad
trains in the Susitna River Valley in November and December resulted in
jet fuel spills totalling approximately 100,000 gallons. Cleanup was
hampered by extreme weather and the remote terrain.
2000 - Along with the rest of the world, Alaskans welcomed the year 2000
with fanfare and firecrackers. Tragedy struck on January 31 when an Alaska
Airlines jet crashed near Los Angeles, killing 88 people including Morris
Thompson, Interior Alaska Native leader and former BIA director.
Snowslides stranded dozens of people in Girdwood for nearly a week;
avalanche conditions in the area were among the worst in decades. In
April, after more than a year of anti-trust investigations by the FTC, the
agreement was signed for BP to take over ARCO, with the exception of ARCO
Alaska which was purchased by Phillips Petroleum. After more than 40 years
the bodies of 133 people, mostly Native Alaskans, were returned to their
villages for burial. Patients at the Mt. Edgecumbe TB hospital when they
died, they had been buried in a nearby WWII bunker. Elmer Rasmuson,
Anchorage banker and Alaskan philanthropist, died in December. And once
again Alaska offered unique challenges to the intrepid federal census
takers. Census 2000 results show a state population of 626,932, an
increase of 14% from 1990, and Alaska moves to 47th in the state
population rankings.
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