A Brief History Of Alaska
For some, the story of Alaska begins in 1959, when Alaska became the 49th state of America. For others, their ties with the land dates back more than 11,000 years. One thing is clear, as you look out over the diverse Alaskan landscape and towns; the history of Alaska is very much with the locals today. Whether you’re visiting an Aleutian village where bead-making, totem pole sculpting and painting are still their livelihoods, or you’re taking a ride through glacial canyons that overlook abandoned mine shafts, or you’re riding a bus through Denali National Park to catch a glimpse of grizzlies and bald eagles, you will discover that Alaska remains a source of intrigue for anyone who has the spirit of adventure in their heart.
The first Alaskans were thought to have crossed the Bering Strait between 60,000 and 50,000 BC. By the mid 1700s, there were 60-80,000 Indians, Aleuts and Eskimos living in Alaska. The Indians of Alaska included the Tlingits and Haidas in the Southeast, and the Athabaskans of the Interior Passage; together, they numbered about 20,000 strong. The 15,000 Aleuts inhabited the Aleutian Islands and a Southwest portion of the Alaska Peninsula. Lastly, 30,000 Eskimos lived along the Alaskan coast from the Arctic Ocean to Yakutat, stretching to the Kodiak Island, the Alaska Peninsula and Prince William Sound. The early inhabitants of the state of Alaska lived in a hunter-gatherer society and used every part of the beasts they hunted, making long houses, tools, igloos, weapons, clothing, blankets, jewelry, dishes and canoes. Shamans battled for good and evil, with some providing spiritual healing, while others cast curses. Wealth was shared through ceremonies, like Tlingit potlatches, Athabaskan festivals, Eskimo messenger feasts, and Aleut theatrical performances. For thousands of years, these indigenous groups would be the only population on the Alaskan frontier, but that changed and the Alaska native became just 15% of the total population.
Despite small European encounters, it was the Russian and Scandinavian influences that dominated much of the Alaskan territories. Peter the Great’s empire sent Captain Vitus Bering to acquire the lands in 1725, just before Tsar Peter’s death. However, the Tlingit Indians fought hard to hold onto the original Russian settlement of Sitka and the Yakutat Peninsula, decimating early Russian expatriates. The Aleuts waged similar attacks on early Russian settlements in the Kodiak region. Despite the bloody battles, there are still many Russian Orthodox churches, people and cultural influences in places like Petersburg, Sitka and Kodiak.
Once gold was found in the Canadian Yukon and Alaska’s Nome in 1896, the future of Alaska was set. Henceforth, it would become a land of opportunity and prosperity. Fairbanks Alaska wasn’t even on the map until gold was discovered in 1902. Thousands of settlers made their way to the territory, which the locals could no longer stop. They set up ambitious ports and mine shafts, built highways, towns and railroads, and found their fortunes in gold panning, fur trading, whaling, fishing and lumber-jacking. Later, oil was discovered in the 1960s, furthering Alaska’s reputation as a profitable region. Today, tourists on their Alaskan vacation can see evidence of the gold rush/oil craze era in places like Skagway, the White Pass & Yukon Railroad, the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic site and the Gold Rush village in Fairbanks Alaska.
By Travel Editor
