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Russia's First Contact
Mikhail Gvozdez sailed to King island where natives approached his ship. This was the first contact with the American mainland and natives. -
Captain James Cook Explorations
English explorer Captain James Cook is credited with first exploring and describing the Anchorage area in 1778 during his third voyage of discovery. -
Russian Port
Gregoril Shelikhov created the first permanent Russian post in Alaska. This allowed them to save on travel costs and work in partnership with the natives. -
First School
The first school was established by Russians in Alaska on Kodiak Island. It was designed to teach Alaska Natives Russian, Christianity, and academics. -
Russian Orthodox Missionaries
First Russian Orthodox missionaries came to Alaska. They taught the natives about Christianity. The missionaries typically defended and supported the natives. -
Mission Schools
Russians established mission schools -
Books
Veniaminov translated and published several books in the Aleut language as well as the Tlingit language -
Seminary Opens
The New Archangel Seminary opens with fifty-four students. -
Alaska Becomes Part of the U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward signs a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska for $7 million. Despite the bargain price of roughly two cents an acre, the Alaskan purchase was ridiculed in Congress and in the press as “Seward’s folly,” “Seward’s icebox,” and President Andrew Johnson’s “polar bear garden.” -
Gold Discovered near Sitka
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School In Wrangell
Sheldon Jackson sent Amanda McFarland, a Presbyterian missionary, arrived at Wrangell in 1877 to open a mission and school. The next year it became a girls school, and records show that it was open until 1889. -
Brady's Mission School
John Brady created an industrial boarding school for Native Alaskan students. -
Organic Act of 1884
This act provided for federal public education in Alaska. It was the start of many boarding schools created in Alaska under Sheldon Jackson. The education at the boarding schools focused on assimilation and western philosophy, religion and education. -
New General Superintendent
Sheldon Jackson appointed General Superintendent for Education in Alaska -
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush brought over 100,000 people to Alaska. The Gold Rush brought businesses, booze, transportation needs and many other infrastructure changes to Alaska. Some mining towns, such as Skagway and Dawson developed into long standing municipalities, while others died out at the end of the rush. -
Homestead Act
Transportation and Homestead Act of 1862 is extended to Alaska and people are allowed to homestead -
Beginning of commercial salmon canning
It was not until eleven years after the United States purchased Alaska from Russia that the first cannery was built at Klawock by the North Pacific Trading and Packing Co. in 1878. It was operated until 1929 when Libby, McNeill & Libby bought it, operated it in 1929-30 and then closed it permanently. -
The Nelson Act
In 1905, Congress passed the Nelson Act. It provided for the education of "white children and children of mixed blood who lead a civilized life" in those parts of the territory outside incorporated towns. The federal Bureau of Education was placed in charge of this program. -
Alaska becomes a territory
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Eruption of Novarupta
The Novarupta vent exploded under Mount Katmai leaving the Valley of 10,000 Smokes. Although the impact was felt by people in Juneau 750 miles away, the area was not explored until 1915 by Robert Griggs of National Geographic. No one died from the eruption. -
School system established and excluded Alaska Native children
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Alaska Railroad
The Alaska Railroad rail line from Seward to Fairbanks was constructed from 1915 to 1923. The track was created as a way to transport the mined goods from Interior Alaska to the ports in Seward. The State of Alaska purchased the Alaska Railroad from the federal government in 1985. It continues to be a main form of freight transportation and passenger transportation for Alaska. -
Indian Citizenship Act
Indian Citizenship Act granted citizenship to all Indigenous peoples of the United States -
The Great Race of Mercy
Diptheria hit Nome. The hospital in Nome had not received its order before the shipping port closed for winter. By the end of January 10,000 people were at risk for the disease in Nome and the surrounding area. The only way to deliver the medication was over land from the railroad in Nenana to Nome (674 miles). The team consisted of 20 mushers and 150 sled dogs. It took 5 1/2 days to deliver the medication in blizzard conditions. -
Native children allowed to attend public schools
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William Paul
William Paul, a Tlingit leader brought a lawsuit against the Ketchikan school board for refusing to admit Alaska Native students. He won the case -
Education and the BIA
In 1931, the Bureau of Indian Affairs took over the operation of rural schools from the Bureau of Education. Alaska's program was combined with the other programs to educate American Indians. -
The Matanuska Valley Experiment
During The Great Depression, the federal government offered cheap land to farmers from the Lower 48 in the Palmer area in hopes of developing agriculture in the area. The soil and endless daylight promised to be favorable. However the weather was not helpful and over next 5-10 years all but 40 of the original families left. However the Matsu Valley continues to be known as the agricultural center of Alaska. -
Battle of Aleutian islands
During World War II the Japanese invaded the islands of Attu and Kiska. A battle to reclaim Attu was launched on May 11, 1943 and completed following a final Japanese banzai charge on May 29. On 15 August 1943, an invasion force landed on Kiska in the wake of a sustained three-week barrage, only to discover that the Japanese had withdrawn from the island on July 29. -
Alcan Highway
The Alaska-Canadian Highway was completed during World War II by the Army Corps of Engineers. The attack on Pearl Harbor was the catalyst for the beginning construction. In nine months 16,000 workers built 1,422 miles of roadway from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Big Delta, Alaska. It was opened to tourist traffic in 1948 and has been a destination for road-trippers since. -
Alaska Statehood Act
Alaska officially becomes the 49th state, signed by President Eisenhower. -
Good Friday Earthquake
A 9.2 magnitude earthquake struck south-central Alaska, killing 139 people from the earthquake and subsequent and Tsunami. The Tsunami was 220 feet and stretched from Alaska to California. The earthquake's epicenter was 45 miles west of Valdez. The earthquake was the second largest in recorded history. It caused approximately $116 million in property damage. -
Provisions for Rural Schools
Alaska State Department of Education, 1965-66 biennium report, declared need for special provisions to accommodate conditions in rural Alaska. Established the Division of State Operated Schools, responsibility for rural and on-base military schools, created governor’s committee to explore merger of BIA and state schools. -
Alaska creates a state-operated school system
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Prudhoe Bay Oil
ARCO and Humble Oil find signficant amounts of oil from drilling off the Arctic Coast. The early estimate for the field was 9.6 billion recoverable barrels. Today, technology has increased the estimate to 13 billion. Drilling and conservation of land continue to points of political disagreements. -
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. The act transferred land titles to 13 regional Native corporations and 200 villages. This law has been consistently interpreted in courts regarding -
First iditarod to Nome
Competitive sled dog racing began in 1908, however it ended during WWI. From 1966-69, Dorothy Page and Joe Reddington organized shorter sprint races as a way to preserve mushing as a sport as snow machines became more popular. In 1973, the first 1000 mile race from Willow to Nome. Twenty-two mushers finished that year. -
State abandons state run school system and transfers control to local districts
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Alaska Permanent Fund
Created to insure long term benefits from oil revenues. -
Hootch v. Alasa
In 1972, Alaska Legal Services sued the State of Alaska on behalf of Molly Hootch, a high school student from the Western Alaska village of Emmonak, attending school in Anchorage. The suit charged that boarding schools and correspondence courses did not provide the same educational opportunities as attending high school in the student's home community. In 1976, the State of Alaska agreed with Alaska Legal Services that villages that had an elementary school should have high schools. -
Trans-Alasak Pipeline
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline was built from 1975 to 1977. The 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline system, including pumping stations, connecting pipelines, and the ice-free Valdez Marine Terminal, ended up costing billions. Tax revenues alone earned Alaskans about $50 billion by 2002. -
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) was passed by congress with the support of President Jimmy Carter. This law added 43,585,000 acres of new national parklands in Alaska; the addition of 9.8 million acres to the National Wildlife Refuge System; twenty-five wild and scenic rivers, with twelve more to be studied for that designation. It was highly controversial among Alaskans because it limited the usage of more land throughout the state. -
BIA turns over Alaskan Eduction
In late 1984, the Bureau of Indian Affairs was turning over most of its responsibilities for educating Alaska Natives to the State of Alaska. -
Exxon Valdez
The Exxon Valdez oil tanker struck a reef in Prince William Sound, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil into the water. This was the largest oil spill in US history at the time. More than 1,000 miles of coastline were damaged and hundreds of thousands of animals perished from the damage. Exxon was found negligent and charged with over $287 billion in damages, however they have appealed their way through decades of court proceedings.