Alaska History

During the most recent ice age, about 15,000 years ago, much of the water covering Earth's surface was in the form of ice and snow.  Great land masses, which today are under water, were then exposed. One such land mass connected Alaska to Siberia.

Anthropologists now believe that most of Alaska's native people are descended from these nomadic hunters and gatherers who crossed from Siberia to North America.

These first Alaskans developed into 3 distinct groups: Eskimos, Aleuts, and Indians. The Eskimos scattered throughout the northern and western regions of Alaska, while the Aleuts settled mainly on the islands which now bear their name--the Aleutians.

In June 1741, Russian sailors led by Danish explorer Vitus Bering sailed from Siberia in search of whatever lands lay to the east. On July 16, Bering sighted Alaska's mainland.

The Russians were soon followed by British, Spanish, and American explorers and adventurers. But it was Russians who stayed and had the greatest impact on Alaska. In 1784, they established their first permanent settlement on Kodiak Island and by 1799 expanded their reach all the way to Sitka on Alaska's southeast coast. Russia's claim to Alaska was now firmly established. Whalers and fur traders from other nations began to move into the North American territories claimed by Russia. As the profits from the fur trade declined, Russian interest in Alaska faded.

William H. Seward, Secretary of State under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, offered Russia $7,200,000 or 2 cents per acre, for Alaska at the end of the American Civil War. The offer was accepted, but many Americans scoffed at the purchase calling Alaska "Seward's Icebox," and "Seward Folly." Nevertheless on October 18, 1867 the Stars and Stripes flew for the first time over Alaska.

Throughout the following decades the distant federal government was preoccupied with a war in Europe, and a depression at home. But when America declared war on Japan in 1941, the nation was suddenly aware of Alaska's strategic position. When Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands in 1943, more than 140,000 military personnel were stationed in Alaska. The Aleutian campaign, known as the "One Thousand Mile War," was the first battle fought on American soil since the Civil War.

Since early territorial days, many Alaskans had favored statehood. But Congress was initially reluctant to act on the request of this vast, sparsely settled territory. Alaskans would not give up, however, and on June 30, 1958, Congress finally approved the Alaska Statehood Act.