-
Inauguration of Alaskan Fur Trade
Tsar Peter wanted to know if Asia and North America were connected by land. -
Vitus Bering led first successful Russian Expedition to AK
-
Period: to
The Russian Period
-
Russian's Land in Prince William Sound
-
Steller Sea Cow
Was hunted by Russians to extinction -
Puerto de Valdes
Current day Valdez was christened -
Malaspina headed North
Malaspina was looking for a strait, but ran into the largest Glacier and is now named after him -
Alexander Baranov
Established a citadel at SItka Bay. It was destroyed by Tlingit Warriors and reestablished in 1804. -
Father Loann Veniaminov
Was transferred to Sitka AK -
Yankee Whalers
American and French ships sailed north from Hawaii looking for blubber laden whales. -
Veniaminov
Had translated and published several books in Aleut -
Father Loann Veniaminov
Became a monk and was elevated to bishop of Kamchatka, Kuvites, and Aleutian Islands. -
Bishop of Sitka and Alaska
Veniaminov was appointed -
Petropavlovksk Seminary
Seminary was relocated to Sitka and it opened with 54 students, 3 teachers and a library -
Square-rigger whaling
292 ships operated off Kodiak Island -
Apostle of Alaska: Father Ivan Veniaminov
Created the belfry clock of St. Michael's and then traveled to Unalaska -
Small Gold Deposit
Russian Mining Engineer found small gold deposit in Kenai Peninsula -
Tsars brother encouraged the sale of Alaska to the U.S.
-
Petropavlovsk Seminary was relocated
to Yakitsk -
Discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania
This made oil prices plunge. Whales were still hunted for baleen. -
Period: to
White and Native hunters slaughtered 200,000 walrus
-
Sale of the U.S.
Tsar Alexander II instructed his ambassador to Washington to sell Alaska to the US for $7.2 million. -
Modest gold finds around Sitka
-
Period: to
The Early American Era
-
Period: to
Alaska had no civil government
-
Sheldon Jackson
Christian Soldier of the Great land. Alaska mission at Wrangell -
Starting Wrangell School
Amanda R. McFarland was sent to Wrangell to start a school -
Tillie Kinnon
was a high-caste Tlingit girl from Mrs. McFarland's Home for Girl's and began working as an interpreter -
John Muir
Muir set out to check on Glacier Bay. -
Native Police Force
L. Beardslee, naval commander established a Native Police Force in Sitka. -
Canadian Joe Juneau
First major strike by Joe Juneau at site of present day Juneau. -
John Muir inaugurated Alaska tourism
by 1890 25,000 sightseers had traveled to Glacier Bay -
"First Organic Act"
This act brought civil government to the Last Frontier and provided for public education -
Policing Alaska
The armed forces reluctantly shouldered the burden of policing all of Alaska. -
Alaska Organic Act
Which allowed Natives to remain undisturbed on the land they occupied until their title was confirmed by the future legislation -
Federal Education Agent
Sheldon Jackson was named the federal education agent. -
Fur Seal Harvest
The Pribilof Islands were set as the mating grounds for seals. Alaska won the bid and got exclusive hunting there for 20 years, however this didn't prevent others from attempting to kill seals off the coast of the islands. -
Period: to
Population Increase
The year round population in Alaska went from 30,000-60,000 -
Period: to
The Gold Rush Years
-
Liquor Licensing
Alaska was introduced to a liquor licensing system -
First School Opened in Fairbanks
Fairbanks was settled by veteran minors who had wives and families. -
Juneau new state capital
Juneau replaced Sitka as Alaska's state capital -
Fairbanks went up in flames
-
Margaret Murie
at age 9, Murie moved to Fairbanks with her mother. Later she became the University of Alaska's first woman graduate. -
Reform
This made Alaska a U.S. Territory with its own legislature -
"Home Rule"
Won territorial status for Alaska. Both men and women were allowed to vote and elect a territorial legislature -
Period: to
The Territorial Period
-
Birth of Anchorage
A wilderness construction camp, overnight a tent city of 2,000 sprang up -
Period: to
Alaska Railroad
400 miles of Alaska railroad had begun. In 1923 President Warren Harding drove in the golden spike at Nenana -
First Bill for Statehood
was drafted by Judge James Wickersham -
Copper over gold
Alaska yielded over $29 million in copper compared to $19 million in gold -
Orthodox Church School
US government closed the orthodox church school on St. Paul Island -
Roy Jones
made the first flight up the inside passage from Seattle to Ketchikan -
Wien Airways
Wien Brothers of Minnesota came to Alaska in 1924 making Fairbanks the hub of Alaska Aviation -
Women Eligible to be Church Elders
Presbyterian General Assembly declared women could be church elders and Tillie Paul Tamaree was made an elder in Wrangell. (First woman in US to hold such a position.) -
White Population became the permanent majority
Pioneer Alaskans refused natives the right to vote and had segregated churches and schools. -
Joe Crosson
First person to land on a glacier in a bush plane -
Indian Reorganization Act
IRA recognized legitimacy of Indian self-determination: Indian land titles, limited power of self government to Indian reservation. Originally no tribes were recognized -
Alaska Reorganization Act
A new bill that recognizes Tlingit and Haida Indians to protect Native Land titles. Some southeast villages did vote to create small reservations but were declared invalid and detrimental to statehood. -
Alaska Reindeer Act
Was passed placing reindeer under native control -
Ernest Greuning became Governor
Greuning wanted to end "whites only" areas of Alaska -
Alcan HIghway
Construction began on the Alcan highway. -
Forced Evacuation of Aleut's
900 Aleuts were forced to evacuate the island. The military did such a horrible job with the evacuation that many natives died and those who didn't later returned home to villages that had been looted and burnt by soldiers. -
Japanese attack on Alaska
-
Japanese landed on Attu & Kiska
1,200 Japanese troops built an air base. Americans lost many aircraft due to violent gales and low visibility. -
Two Tlingit Natives were voted into office by overwhelming support
-
Battle of Attu
11,000 troops landed on Attu. 549 combat deaths, 1,148 wounded with 3,829 casualties -
Alberta Schenck
11 years before Rosa Parks, Alberta Schenck sat in the "white only" section of the local theater in Nome, Alaska. -
Alaska Ended Racial Discrimination in public places
Alaska Territorial legislature ending racial discrimination in public places. Nearly a decade before the national legislature -
Equal Rights
legislature passed and was signed into law -
Harold L. Ickes obtained 80% of Land Claims
Hydaburg 101,000 acres
Klawack 95,000 acres
Kake 77,000 acres
In January of 1946 they were awarded an additional 800 acres each -
Period: to
World War II
This helped create great racial advances in Alaska -
Period: to
The Period Since Statehood
-
Earthquake
caused $27 million in damage to the Alaska Railroad -
Oil Discovery
ARCO discovered oil in Prudhoe Bay -
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
-
First Day oil flowed through Alaska pipeline
-
Alaska Legislature Increased Permanent Fund
Oil revenues increased from 25-50% -
Oil Peaked at $34 a barrel
-
Alaska Time Zone Created
All of Alaska is included with the exception of Western Aleutians -
Commercial Crab Season Cancelled
Crab stocks were so low that most of the commercial seasons were cancelled -
Drinking Age Raised
from 19-21 -
Alaska Purchased AK Railroad from Government
-
Oil Price Drops
Price of oil drops below $10 a barrel -
Subsistence Hunting and Fishing
New bill passed -
Oil Dropped-A Depression Began
Anchorage lost 30,000 people -
New Military Build Up
This begins as a first troops of the new 6th infantry division arrive in Fairbanks -
Permanent Fund passes $10 billion mark
-
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Exxon spilled 11 million gallons into Prince William Sound -
Tongass Reform Act
This reform designates more wilderness land in South East Alaska -
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Congress effectively closed this to oil development -
Alaska population reaches 550,000
-
Permanent Fund makes first investments outside the U.S.
-
Bristol Bay Strike
Fisherman strike over low salmon prices -
Repercussions of the Alaska Recession
Oil industry with major job losses: Anchorage Times folds -
Greens Creek Mines Close
Mine near Juneau closes due to low silver, zinc and lead prices. -
Re-drawing of Election Boundaries
Court mandated new reapportionment scheme redrew the boundaries of some of the election districts. -
Proposal defeated to move the capitol from Juneau
-
MarkAir Faces Bankruptcy
Ticket holders are stranded, employees laid off. -
Villagers from Alatna return
Villagers return to newly built village from the fall flood of 1994 -
Healy Clean Coal Project
$267 million dollar project with backing by US Department of Energy -
US Congress lifts ban on Exportation
US Congress lifts the ban on exportation of Alaska crude oil. -
Fairbanks Municipal Utilities System
was sold to 3 private companies after being owned by public utility by 50 years. -
MAPCO bought by William's Co.
-
High School Exit Exams
Legislature passed a bill requiring all students to pass exit exams to earn high school diplomas. Became effective 2002. -
English as Alaska's Official Language
Lieutenant Governor Fran Ulmer certified an initiative petition making English Alaska's official language. -
US Supreme Court
ruled that 1.9 million acres of ancestral land owned by Venetie Tribe of Neetsaii Gwich'in Indians are no longer under the governmental jurisdiction of the tribe. -
Alaska Board of Education
Adopted standards for math, reading and writing -
Kasayulie VS State of Alaska
Court ruled Alaska had failed to provide adequate school facilities for Bush students, which is a violation of Alaska constitution and federal civil law. -
First State Educational Standards Tests
Tests implemented for 3rd, 6th, 8th, 10th grades -
Kenai Peninsula designated at "rural'
Making its residents eligible for subsistence fish and game on federal land and water -
Phillips Petroleum buys Arco Alaska Inc.
-
State Study shows glaciers melting at higher rate
-
Federal Judge ordered Exxon
to pay $6.75 million for 1989 oil spill -
Sarah Palin Governor
Palin takes office as Alaska's first women governor. -
British Petrolum
Spilled 267,000 gallons of oil at Prudhoe Bay -
Minimum Wage Jumps
$5.65 to $7.15. Alaska with the highest minimum wage on the west coast. -
Sarah Palin Resigns as Governor
unspecified reasons -
50th Anniversary of Alaska's Statehood
-
Alaska ranks 49th in US Education
Anchorage school district to focus on preschool after study ranks Alaska 49th in US education. -
Alaska is in "a reading achievement crisis"
Alaska school superintendents say the state is in a crisis. They're pushing for statewide effort to fix it. -
Unveiling of Alaska Reads Act
K-3 reading program. Focuses on enhancing interventions for struggling readers and offering targeted school improvement. There will be statewide teacher training on reading instruction, focus on existing stare and federal funds, early literacy screening tool, monitored student progress and multiple pathways to demonstrate reading proficiency. -
Alaska Reads Act
Alaska is working on a new program to focus on early identification of struggling students. It will work on reading interventions and early education programs.