Early inhabitants of what is now Alaska entered the New World
from Asia via the Bering Land Bridge, which was a thousand miles
long, stretching from the Gulf of Anadyr in Siberia to the western
end of Umnak Island. Archeologists have found evidence that man
was on the Seward Peninsula by at least 11,000 B.C. and on the
upper Yukon River more than 25,000 to 30,000 years ago. While
these people were in all probability not ancestors of present
Alaska Native groups, there is evidence that today's Aleuts lived
continuously in the eastern Aleutians for over 8,000 years and
that Indian tribes may have been present in Alaska since before
9000 B.C.
When Europeans first visited the area in the early 18th century, it was inhabited by Eskimos, Aleuts, Athabascans, Tlingits, and Haidas. The Danish explorer Vitus Bering, sailing for the Russian Government, made two voyages to Alaska in the first half of the 1700s. When word spread that Bering's crew had garnered a high price for sea otter pelts from the Aleutians, hundreds of men came to hunt in the wholesale slaughter of sea otters. The adventurers inflicted violence and bloodshed on the Aleut people, sometimes holding families hostage to force the men to help with the slaughter.
Under Alexander Baranov, who led the Russian American Co. in the early 1800s, the fur harvest increased and several settlements were established, including New Archangel, later Sitka, the capital of Russian America.
In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million, about two cents an acre, a purchase negotiated by Secretary of State William H. Seward. Fishing grew in importance, and in 1878 the first salmon cannery opened. Still, the wholesale slaughter of fur seals, whales, sea otters and walruses continued.
Russians discovered gold and coal on the Kenai Peninsula in 1849. In the late 1890s, with the rush to the Klondike gold fields, gold also was found on the beaches of Nome, even as exploration for oil was in progress in southwestern Alaska. By mid-1900 the population of Nome swelled to about 10,000 gold prospectors. On Feb. 22, 1900, an intrepid young man, Ed Jesson, left Dawson on a bicycle he had learned to ride the week before. He arrived in Nome, 1,000 miles away, on March 29, tired and nearly snow-blind, but reported that he never had a puncture or broke a spoke the entire trip!
World War II also brought changes to Alaska. The Japanese bombed Dutch Harbor in 1942 and briefly occupied Attu and Kiska islands in the Aleutians. The attacks prompted building of a supply route, the Alaska Highway, and establishment of several military bases in the territory. The population swelled from 72,524 people in 1939 to 128,643 residents in 1950.
On Jan. 3, 1959, William A. Egan, born and raised in Valdez, became Alaska's first governor. One of Alaska's first U.S. senators, Ernest Gruening, also was an influential leader in the drive for statehood, as was Robert B. Atwood, publisher of the Anchorage Times.
When an earthquake measured at 9.2 on the Richter scale struck southcentral Alaska in March 1964, residents rallied to rebuild damaged communities from Kodiak Island to the Kenai Peninsula to the Anchorage area. The quake was so strong it was felt in Kotzebue, hundreds of miles to the north. One Kotzebue woman, feeling the sensation of the earth moving beneath her, said she thought it was morning sickness, but learned later that what she felt was the strongest recorded earthquake in North American history. In Seward, a tidal wave rolled over an Alaska Railroad locomotive. Four years later, oil was discovered on Alaska's North Slope, forever changing the course of economic development and lifestyles of Alaskans. Although the economy is diversifying, oil and gas continue to play a major role in the state. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority encourages, through grants and loans, development of industry in the state.
In the decades that followed, the state's population has grown extensively both in numbers and diversity, particularly with the influx of Asians, Pacific Islanders and Hispanics. Spanish and Japanese immersion language programs are part of the state's public schools curriculum today, as are classes in Alaska Native languages.
When Europeans first visited the area in the early 18th century, it was inhabited by Eskimos, Aleuts, Athabascans, Tlingits, and Haidas. The Danish explorer Vitus Bering, sailing for the Russian Government, made two voyages to Alaska in the first half of the 1700s. When word spread that Bering's crew had garnered a high price for sea otter pelts from the Aleutians, hundreds of men came to hunt in the wholesale slaughter of sea otters. The adventurers inflicted violence and bloodshed on the Aleut people, sometimes holding families hostage to force the men to help with the slaughter.
Under Alexander Baranov, who led the Russian American Co. in the early 1800s, the fur harvest increased and several settlements were established, including New Archangel, later Sitka, the capital of Russian America.
In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million, about two cents an acre, a purchase negotiated by Secretary of State William H. Seward. Fishing grew in importance, and in 1878 the first salmon cannery opened. Still, the wholesale slaughter of fur seals, whales, sea otters and walruses continued.
Russians discovered gold and coal on the Kenai Peninsula in 1849. In the late 1890s, with the rush to the Klondike gold fields, gold also was found on the beaches of Nome, even as exploration for oil was in progress in southwestern Alaska. By mid-1900 the population of Nome swelled to about 10,000 gold prospectors. On Feb. 22, 1900, an intrepid young man, Ed Jesson, left Dawson on a bicycle he had learned to ride the week before. He arrived in Nome, 1,000 miles away, on March 29, tired and nearly snow-blind, but reported that he never had a puncture or broke a spoke the entire trip!
World War II also brought changes to Alaska. The Japanese bombed Dutch Harbor in 1942 and briefly occupied Attu and Kiska islands in the Aleutians. The attacks prompted building of a supply route, the Alaska Highway, and establishment of several military bases in the territory. The population swelled from 72,524 people in 1939 to 128,643 residents in 1950.
On Jan. 3, 1959, William A. Egan, born and raised in Valdez, became Alaska's first governor. One of Alaska's first U.S. senators, Ernest Gruening, also was an influential leader in the drive for statehood, as was Robert B. Atwood, publisher of the Anchorage Times.
When an earthquake measured at 9.2 on the Richter scale struck southcentral Alaska in March 1964, residents rallied to rebuild damaged communities from Kodiak Island to the Kenai Peninsula to the Anchorage area. The quake was so strong it was felt in Kotzebue, hundreds of miles to the north. One Kotzebue woman, feeling the sensation of the earth moving beneath her, said she thought it was morning sickness, but learned later that what she felt was the strongest recorded earthquake in North American history. In Seward, a tidal wave rolled over an Alaska Railroad locomotive. Four years later, oil was discovered on Alaska's North Slope, forever changing the course of economic development and lifestyles of Alaskans. Although the economy is diversifying, oil and gas continue to play a major role in the state. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority encourages, through grants and loans, development of industry in the state.
In the decades that followed, the state's population has grown extensively both in numbers and diversity, particularly with the influx of Asians, Pacific Islanders and Hispanics. Spanish and Japanese immersion language programs are part of the state's public schools curriculum today, as are classes in Alaska Native languages.
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