This Month in Alaskan History, Collected from our Newsletters
JANUARY: On January 3, 1959, by an act of Congress and the signature of President Eisenhower, the Territory of Alaska became the State of Alaska.
FEBRUARY: February 2, 1925: The dog team of Gunner Kaassen arrived in Nome with diphtheria serum, completing the heroic run that has since been honored annually by the running of the Iditarod Race along part of the same route.
... And on February 11, 1942: President Roosevelt gives final approval to begin construction of the Alaska-Canada Military Highway which has since come to be called simply The Alcan.
... And on February 26, 1917: Denali National Park (then called Mount McKinley National Park) was established. Oddly, the original boundaries of the park did not include most of the mountain but this was later rectified.
MARCH: March 30, 1867: US Secretary of State William Seward purchased Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000. This is the equivalent of $101,000,000 in 2008 dollars. Seward was ridiculed for wasting money on a big ice cube, but when gold was discovered 30 years later, everyone quickly changed their minds.
APRIL: April 23, 1868: The Alaska Times, the first newspaper known to be printed in Alaska, begins a two and a half year run in Sitka before moving to Seattle, changing its name several times, and eventually merging with another paper in 1878. (Two years earlier another newspaper, the Esguimaux, came out of Libbysville on the Seward Peninsula but they produced just a few hand-written copies that were bound with bent pins.)
MAY: On May 2, 1927, the Alaska Legislature adopted 13-year-old Benny Benson, Jr's design of 8 gold stars on a blue background as the flag of Alaska. After winning the contest to design the flag he used his prize money to enroll in trade school and eventually became an airplane mechanic. A memorial to Benny can be found just outside the town of Seward.
JUNE: On June 3, 1942, the Japanese began an attack on Alaska. A largely ineffective bombing campaign on Unalaska was followed by landing an invasion force on the lightly populated islands of Kiska and Attu. Because of the remoteness and extreme weather, it took over a year before the islands were in Allied hands again. Nearly 4000 US troops were killed retaking Attu. Oddly, 313 Americans were killed retaking Kiska even though the Japanese had secretly abandoned it a week earlier.
JULY: July 15, 1741 is an amazing date we should all know by heart. That's when the Dutch and Russian explorers Vitus Bering and Aleksei Chirikov were the first Europeans to spot Alaska. Some say they "discovered" Alaska but of course the Native Americans had already been living here for thousands of years. But this was still a momentous day and geography bears tribute to Vitus through the Bering Sea, Bering Straight, Bering Glacier, Bering Island, and the Bering Land Bridge. Chirikov isn't so well remembered.
AUGUST: Coming soon.
SEPTEMBER: Coming soon.
OCTOBER: Coming soon.
NOVEMBER: On November 22, 1942 the Alcan Highway was officially opened. The 1500-mile roadway connected Dawson Creek BC (home of the Klondike Gold Rush) with Fairbanks and brought a new sense of security to the people of Alaska during World War II.
DECEMBER: On December 18, 1971 the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act returned 44 million acres of Alaskan land and paid $963 million to native-owned corporations to conclude many long-standing legal claims and open the way for oil extraction in Alaska.
... And on December 20, 1980 the Alaska National Interest Lands Act more than doubled the size of the National Wilderness Preservation System by adding 55 million acres of protected lands.
... And Alaska Prohibition goes into effect years before the rest of the U.S. All saloons close at midnight on New Year's Eve, 1917.
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Dog Team Running the Iditarod
