30,000 BC - Migratory hunters move across land bridge from Asia to settle North America. There are seven distinct Native cultures in Alaska, and dozens of sub-cultures. The primary Native cultures are the Inupiat and Yupik Eskimos of the Far North, the Aleuts of the Southwest, the Athabascan Indians of the Interior, and the Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian Indians of the Inside Passage. 8,000 BC - Ice Age ending - rising waters cover land bridge. 1725-1729 - First Arctic expedition of Vitas Bering. 1725 - Peter the Great sends Vitus Bering to explore the North Pacific. 1728 - Vitus Bering sails through the Bering Strait. 1733 - Bering's second expedition, with George Wilhelm Steller aboard, the first naturalist to visit Alaska. 1741 - Russians Vitus Bering and Aleksi Cherikov 'discover' Alaska and bring back fur skins (Bering shipwrecked on return and died); the Fur Rush is on. The lives of early Alaskans remained basically unchanged for thousands of years, until Russian sailors, led by Danish explorer Vitus Bering, sighted Alaska's mainland in 1741. The Russians were soon followed by British, Spanish, and American adventurers. But it was the Russians who stayed to trade for the pelts of sea otters and other fur-bearing animals, interjecting their own culture and staking a strong claim on Alaska. Once the fur trade declined, however, the Russians lost interest in this beautiful though largely unexplored land. 1741 - Alexei Chirikof, with Bering expedition, sights land on July 15; the Europeans had found Alaska. 1742 - First scientific report on the North Pacific fur seal. 1743 - Concentrated hunting of sea otter by Russia begins. 1774 - Juan Perez ordered by Spain to explore west coast; discovers Prince of Wales Island, Dixon Sound. 1776 - Captain James Cook expedition to search for Northwest Passage. 1775 - Cook reaches King Island, Norton Sound, Unalaska. 1778 - British Captain James Cook explores Alaskan coast, seeking Northwest Passage back to the Atlantic. On the way back to England his crew almost mutinied, wanting to go back to Alaska, after stopping in China and discovering how much sea otter pelts were worth. 1784 - Grigorii Shelikov establishes first white settlement at Three Saints Bay, Kodiak. 1786 - Gerassin Pribilof discovers the rookeries on the islands now know as the Pribilofs. 1791-95 - British Captain George Vancouver explores Northwest Coast exhaustively with two ships, but finds no Northwest Passage. 1791 - George Vancouver leaves England to explore the coast; Alejandro Malaspina explores the northwest coast for Spain. 1792 - Catherine II grants a monopoly of furs in Alaska to Grigorii Shelikov. 1794 - Baranov builds first vessel in northwestern America at Voskres-senski on Kenai. 1795 - The first Russian Orthodox Church established in Kodiak. 1799 - Alexander Baranov establishes Russian post known today as Old Sitka; trade charter grants exclusive trading rights to the Russian American Company. 1799 - Aleksandr Baranov consolidates Russian possession of Alaska with fort and trading base at Sitka. 1802 - Indians massacre Russians at Old Sitka; only a few survive. 1804 - Russians return to Sitka and attack Kiksadi fort on Indian River. Russians lose the battle, but Natives are forced to flee. Baranov re-establishes trading post. 1805 - Yurii Lisianski sails to Canton with the first Russian cargo of furs to be sent directly to China. 1821 - No foreigners allowed in Russian-American waters, except at regular ports of call. 1824 - Russians begin exploration of mainland that leads to discovery of Nushagak, Kuskokwim, Yukon, and Koyokuk Rivers. 1834 - Father Veniaminov moves to Sitka; consecrated Bishop Innokenty in 1840. 1840 - Russian Orthodox Diocese formed; Bishop Innokenty Veniaminov given permission to use Native languages in the liturgy. 1841 - Edward de Stoeckl assigned to the secretariat of the Russian legation in the U.S. 1847 - Fort Yukon established. 1848 - Cathedral of St. Michael dedicated at New Archangel (Sitka). 1853 - Russian explorer-trappers find oil seeps in Cook Inlet. 1857 - Coal mining begins at Coal Harbor on the Kenai Peninsula. 1858 - Second Anglo-Chinese War 1859 - De Stoeckl returns to U.S. from St. Petersburg with authority to negotiate the sale of Alaska. 1861 - Gold discovered on Stikine River near Telegraph Creek. 1865 - Western Union Telegraph Company prepares to put telegraph line across Alaska and Siberia. 1867 - Secretary of State Wilkiam Seward buys Alaska from Czarist Russian for 2 cents an acre or 7.2 millon dollars. But fur resource is totally depleted and purchase hailed as 'Seward's Folly." "Neither culture impressed America when U. S. Secretary of State Seward made a deal with Russia to buy Alaska. The year was 1867 and the purchase was facetiously called Seward's Folly and Seward's Icebox. Most people felt we'd wasted the 7.2 million dollar purchase price on a frozen wasteland." Russia, which is only 51 miles from the Alaskan mainland, sold the U.S. in 1867 for the price of $7,200,000 or about 2 1/2 cents an acre. Great Britain was not interested in buying it. William H. Seward was then U.S. Secretary of State, his offer was agreed to buy Russia. The U.S. Congress approved the purchase, and on October 18, 1867, the American Flag was first raised at Sitka. In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward offered Russia $7.2 million for Alaska, or approximately 2 cents per acre. At the time, some Americans scoffed at the purchase, calling Alaska "Seward's Folly" or "Seward's Icebox." The official transfer of Alaska to the United States occurred on October 18, 1867, in ceremonies at the Russian capital of Sitka. 1867 - U.S. purchases Alaska from Russia; Pribilof Islands placed under jurisdiction of Secretary of Treasury. Fur seal population, stablized under Russian rule, declines rapidly. 1868 - Alaska designated as the Department of Alaska under Brevet Major General Jeff C. Davis, U.S. Army. 1869 - The Sitka Times, first newspaper in Alaska, published. 1872 - Gold discovered near Sitka and in British Columbia . 1874 - George Halt said to be the first white man to cross the Chilkoot Pass in search for gold. 1876 - Gold discovered south of Juneau at Windham Bay. 1877 - U.S. troops withdrawn from Alaska. 1878 - School opens at Sitka, to become Sheldon Jackson Junior College. First canneries in Alaska established at Klawock and Sitka. 1879 - Naturalist John Muir canoes throughout Southeast Alaska and discovers Glacier Bay. (When Vancouver passed 80 years earlier the bay was still totally full of ice.) Muir's reports inaugurate tourism to the territory. "A Tlingit leader led two white men to the single largest gold deposit in the world .. right here in Juneau. Almost as good as winning the lottery." 1880 - Richard Harris and Joseph Juneau, with the aid of local clan leader Kowee, discover gold on Gastineau; Juneau is founded. Gold was discovered in Alaska as early as 1880. 1881 - Parris Lode claim staked and by 1885 is the most prominent mine in Alaska: Treadwell Mine. 1882 - First commercial herring fishing begins at Killisnoo; first two central Alaska salmon canneries built. U.S. Navy bombs, then burns Tlingit village of Angoon. 1884 - Congress passes Organic Act. $15,000 appropriated to educate Indian children. 1885 - Dr. C. H. Townsend suggest introduction of reindeer into Alaska. Sheldon Jackson appointed General Agent for Education in Alaska. 1887 - Father William Duncan and Tsimshian followers found Metlakatla on Annette Island. 1888 - Boundary survey started by Dr. W. H. Dall of the U.S. and Dr. George Dawson of Canada. 1890 - Large corporate salmon canneries begin to appear. 1890 - Dr. Sheldon Jackson explores Arctic Coast; brings reindeer husbandry into Alaska. 1891 - First oil claims staked in Cook Inlet area. 1892 Afognak Reserve established, beginning the Alaskan Forest Service System. 1894 - Gold discovery on Mastadon Creek; founding of Circle City. 1896-1900 - Discovery of Gold on a Yukon River tributary brings 100,000 people to Alaska and the Yukon Territory 1896 - Dawson City founded at mouth of Klondike River; gold discovered on Bonanza Creek. But the big gold rush came in 1897, when the cry of "Gold!" screamed across newspaper headlines worldwide, and more than 100,000 fortune hunters swarmed to the Klondike gold fields in Canada's Yukon. Wild with "gold fever," prospectors braved raging winter storms as they struggled to cross the Chilkoot Pass - the best known route from the Inside Passage to the river systems and gold fields of Canada and Alaska. As gold was discovered in Nome, Fairbanks, and other locations, tales of rowdy frontier mining towns spread. While exaggerated, the stories helped Alaskans bring law and order to the wild territory - the first step in a long journey that ultimately led to statehood. 1897-1900 - Klondike gold rush. 1897 First shipment of fresh halibut sent south from Juneau. 1898 - Skagway is largest city in Alaska; work starts on White Pass and Yukon Railroad; Congress appropriates money for telegraph from Seattle to Sitka; Nome gold rush begins. 1899 - Local government organized in Nome. 1900 - Civil Code for Alaska divides state into three judicial districts, with judges at Sitka, Eagle, and St. Michael; moves capital to Juneau. White Pass railroad completed. U.S. Congress passes act to establish Washington-Cable (WAMCATS) that later becomes the Alaska Communications System 1902 - President Theodore Roosevelt establishes Tongass National Forest; E.T. Barnette and local miners name their settlement Fairbanks. 1904 - Last great Tlingit potlatch held in Sitka. Submarine cables laid from Seattle to Sitka, and from Sitka to Valdez, linking Alaska to "outside". 1905 - Tanana railroad built; telegraph links Fairbanks and Valdez; Alaska Road Commission established under Army jurisdiction. 1906 - Alaska authorized to send voteless delegate to Congress. Governor's Office moved from Sitka to Juneau. 1907 - Gold discovered at Ruby; Richardson trail established; Tongass National Forest, largest U.S. forest, created by presidential proclamation. 1908 - First cold storage plant built at Ketchikan. 1911 - International agreement between U.S., Great Britain, Canada, Russia, and Japan controls fur seal fisheries; sea otters placed under complete protection; Copper River and Northwestern Railroad begins service to Kennecott Copper Mine. 1912 - Territorial status for Alaska provides for Legislature; Alaska Native Brotherhood organizes in Southeast; Mount Katmai explodes, forming Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. 1913 - First Alaska Territorial Legislature convenes. First law passed grants women voting rights. 1914 - Surveying begins for Alaska Railroad; City of Anchorage born as construction campsite. 1915 - Alaska Native Sisterhood holds first convention in Sitka. 1916 - First bill for Alaska statehood introduced in Congress. Alaskans vote in favor of prohibition by a 2 to 1 margin. 1917 - Treadwell Mine complex caves in. 1918 - Congress creates Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines as a land grant college. 1920 - Anchorage organizes city government. 1922 - Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines opens. Native voting rights established through a court case. 1922 - Roy Jones makes the first floatplane trip up the Inside Passage; such small aircraft revolutionize travel in the bush. 1922 - A 674 mile dogsled relay brings diphtheria vaccine to Nome 1923 - President Warren G. Harding comes to Alaska to drive the last spike in Alaska Railroad. 1924 - Congress extends citizenship to all Indians in the United States; Tlingit William Paul, Sr. is first Native elected to Alaska Legislature. Start of airmail delivery to Alaska. 1928 - Court case resolves right of Native children to attend public school. 1929 - U.S. Navy begins 5-year survey to map parts of Alaska. Alaska Native Brotherhood convention at Haines resolves to pursue land claims settlement in Southeast Alaska. 1932 - Radio telephone communications established in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Nome. 1935 - Matanuska Valley Project established. Nine hundred Alaska-Juneau Gold Mine workers go on a strike that lasts 40 days and ends in violence. - The Jurisdictional Act of June, 1935 allows the Tlingit and Haida Indians to pursue land claims in U.S. Court of Claims. 1936 - The Indian Reorganization Act of 1935 amended to include Alaska. Nell Scott of Seldovia becomes the first woman elected to the Territorial Legislature. 1940 - Fort Richardson established; construction begins on Elmendorf Air Force Base. 1942 - Japan bombs Dutch Harbor; invades Aleutians. 1942 - Japan invades the Aleutian Islands. The Alaska Highway project is begun to move defense supplies. 1944 - Alaska-Juneau Gold Mine shuts down. 1945 - Governor Gruening signs the Anti-Discrimination Act, the first such legislation passed in the United States and its possessions since post-Civil War. 1946 - Boarding school for Native high school students opens at Mt. Edgecombe. 1947 - The Alaska Command established; first unified command of the U.S. staffed by Army, Air Force, and Navy officers. First Alaska Native land claims suit, filed by Tlingit and Haida people, introduced in U.S. Court of Claims. 1948 - Alaskans vote to abolish fish traps by a 10 to 1 margin. 1953 - Oil well drilled near Eureka on Glenn Highway marks the beginning of Alaska's modern oil history; first plywood operations begin at Juneau; first big Alaskan pulp mill opens at Ketchikan. First Alaskan television broadcast by KENI, Anchorage. 1955 - Alaskans elect delegates to constitutional convention. 1955 - Constitutional Convention opens at University of Alaska. 1956 - Territorial voters adopt the Alaska Constitution; send two senators and one representative to Washington under the Tennessee Plan. 1958 - Statehood measure passes; President Eisenhower signs statehood bill. 1959 - Alaska becomes the 49th state. 1959 - Statehood proclaimed; state constitution in effect; Sitka pulp mill opens. U.S. Court of Claims issues judgement favoring Tlingit and Haida claims to Southeast Alaska lands. 1964 - Good Friday Earthquake. 1966 - Alaska Federation of Natives organized. Interior Secretary Udall imposes a "land freeze" to protect Native use and occupancy of Alaska lands. 1967 - Fairbanks flood. 1968 - Oil pumped from a well at Prudhoe Bay on North Slope. Governor Hickel establishes Alaska Lands Claims Task Force that recommends a 40 million acre land settlement for Alaska Natives. 1968 - 10 billion barrels of oil are discovered at Prudhoe Bay. 1969 - North Slope Oil lease sale brings $900 million. First live satellite telecast in Alaska. 1971 - Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act signed into law. 1972 - Alaska Constitution amended to prohibit sexual discrimination. 1973 - Congress passes the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act; salmon fisheries limited entry program becomes law. 1974 - Alaska voters approve capital move initiative. 1975 - Alaska Legislature appropriates funds to initiate purchase and installation of 100 satellite earth stations for establishment of statewide satellite communications network. 1976 - Natural gas pipeline proposals filed. Alaska voters pick Willow as new capital site; voters approve constitutional amendment establishing Alaska Permanent Fund to receive "at least 25 percent" od all state oil revenues and related income. 1977 - Trans-Alaska Pipeline completed from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. 1977 - First oil through flows through an 800 mile engineering feat - the Alaska Pipeline 1980 - Alaska National Interest Lands and Conservation Act (ANILCA) is passed, establishing new parks and settling Alaska Native land claims. 1980 - Alaska Legislature increases Permanent Fund share of oil revenues from 25 to 50 percent; repeals Alaska personal income tax; establishes Alaska Dividend Fund to distribute Permanent Fund earnings to Alaska residents. Congress passes Alaska National Interests Lands Act 1982 - Alaska voters repeal law relocating capital to Willow and establish state spending limit; first Permanent Fund dividends distributed. 1983 - Time zone shift: all Alaska. except westernmost Aleutians Islands, move to Alaska Standard Time, one hour west of Pacific Standard time; crab stocks so low that most commercial seasons are cancelled; the drinking age is raised from 18 to 21 by the Legislature. 1985 - State purchases Alaska Railroad from the federal government; declining oil prices cause budget problems. 1986 - Price of oil drops below $10 per barrel, causing Alaska oil revenues to plummet; the legislature passes a new bill governing subsistence hunting and fishing. 1987 - The economic doldrums from oil prices continue to affect the state, causing many to lose their jobs and leave, banks to foreclose on property, and businesses to go bankrupt; a new military build-up in Alaska begins when the first troops of the new Sixth Infantry Division begin to arrive in Fairbanks. 1988 - International efforts to rescue two whales caught by ice off Barrow captures world-wide attention; the state's economic woes continue and Anchorage loses 30,000 in population; the Soviets allow a one-day visit of a group of Alaskans to the Siberian port city of Provideniya; Anchorage loses its bid to host the 1994 Olympic Games to Lillehammer, Norway. 1989 - The Exxon Valdez, a 987' oil tanker carrying 53 million gallons of North Slope crude grounds on Bligh Reef spilling 11 million gallons into Prince William Sound; the Permanent Fund passes the $10 billion mark; the Alaska Supreme Court throws out Alaska's rural preference law. 1989 - Tanker Exxon Valdez rams Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, creating a massive oil spill and years of work for hundreds of lawyers. 1990 - The Alaska Legislature meets in special session and struggles unsuccessfully to resolve the subsistence issue; federal authorities take over subsistence management on federal lands; oil prices temporarily double after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait; Walter Hickel makes a political comeback with lt. governor candidate Jack Coghill on Alaskan Independence Party ticket and winning gubernatorial race; Congress sets aside more Southeast Alaska as wilderness by passing the Tongass Reform Act. 1991 - The State of Alaska, the U.S. Justice Department and Exxon reach a $1 billion settlement resulting form the Exxon Valdez oil spill which is rejected by the U.S. District Court. An amended settlement earmarking more money for restoration work in Prince William Sound wins judicial approval. Congress effectively closes the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development; Bristol Bay fisherman strike over low salmon prices; Hickel administration and the Legislature unable to resolve the subsistence issue. 1992 - Final repercussions of Alaska's recession are felt as oil industry retrenches with major job losses; the Anchorage Times, once Alaska's largest newspaper folds; reapportionment challenges delay primaries by two weeks; Spurr Volcano erupts three times, one blast dumping ash on Anchorage; Juneau's Hillary Lindh wins Olympic Silver Medal in downhill skiing. 1993 - Alaska Legislature passes largest capital works appropriation in ten years; a court-mandated new reapportionment scheme re-draws boundaries of some election districts; Greens Creek Mine near Juneau closes due to low silver, zinc, and lead prices; Sitka Pulp Mill announces indefinites suspension of mill operations, affecting 400 workers; Alaskan Independence Party Chairman Joe Vogler mysteriously disappears. 1994 - Federal trial results in $5 billion dollar verdict in the Exxon Valdez case. Alaska's Tommy Moe brings home Olympic gold in downhill ski competitions. Joe Vogler's body is discovered buried off Chena Hot Springs Road near Fairbanks. Voters defeat the latest proposal to move the Alaska capital away from Juneau. The mental health lands case is decided after years in court; the suit initiated by Vern Weiss of Nenana and several other plaintoffs revolved around the 1977 legislature's dissolution of a trust established in territorial days. 1995 - Canadian fisherman attack an Alaska ferry with paint and ball bearings projected from sling shots in frustration over inconclusive U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty talks, which hinder Southeast Alaska's troll king salmon fishery. MarkAir faces bankruptcy while ticket holders are stranded and employees all over the state are laid off. The $267 million dollar Healy Clean Coal Project is launched with a substantial backing by the U.S. Department of Energy. Villagers from Alatna return to a newly rebuilt village after being one of several Koyukuk River communities washed out by fall floods in 1994. 1996 - A federal judge rules against the State of Alaska in a case brought by Governor Hickel and continued by Governor Knowles over the state's interpretation of how the Alaska Statehood Act affects the federal government's management of federal lands in the state. U.S. Congress lifts the ban on exportation of Alaska crude oil. One of the most devastating fires in state history destroys homes and property in the South Central area near Big Lake. ----- Alaska is often called the Frontier State or the Last Frontier because much of Alaska remains unexplored, and many of its resources remained untapped. Gold and the discovery of oil make it one of the richest and wealthiest in the world. A relatively large part of Alaska's population is made up of Eskimo, Indians, and Aleuts. These people's ancestors were in Alaska when the first white settlers arrived there. The Aleuts are closely related to the Eskimo. Vitus Bering, a Danish explorer hired by Russia, was the first European to land in Alaska in 1741. The Bering Strait is named after him. It was not until 1912 that the U.S. took firm steps to recognize Alaska as a real part of the nation. In that year, President William Howard Taft signed a bill incorporating Alaska as a territory. In 1942 American territory was actually invaded by the enemy when the Japanese forces seized the Aleutian island of Kiska and Atty. The U.S. rushed forces to the area and recaptured the islands the following year. The Japanese threat remained, and the U.S. aided by Canada, constructed the Alcan highway to enable the military forces and supplies to be transported from the U.S. across Canada to Alaska. When WW II ended the highway was expanded and improved. In the spring of 1742, the Russian survivors of an Alaska exploring party staggered ashore in Kamchatka (Russia). Their captain, Vitus Bering, and many of their shipmates had died of scurvy after their ship had been wrecked off the Siberian coast. Those who were left spent a hard winter eating fish and seals, and built a 40 footer from the wreckage of their ship to continue their journey. About all they managed to bring back from Alaska were some sea otter skins or pelts. To the sailor's amazement, these pelts turned out to be immensely valuable to the Chinese - a single pelt could be worth three times the yearly pay of a sailor! And the 'fur rush' was on! It was fur that the Russian Empire in Alaska was built on. Only after the fur seas had been hunted almost to extinction did the Russian government sell Alaska to the US in 1867. Next was the Gold Rush starting in 1897. The Salmon Rush started about the same time,as stateside fishing interests discovered Alaska's huge fishery resource. Copper and coal were the hot minerals in the 1920's and 30's as thousands flocked to the Copper River area. World War II brought roads, airports, and harbors to Alaska, providing easy access to once-remote outposts. In the next 50 years, fledgling timber, fishing, and mining industries began to flourish. In 1958, the Alaska Statehood measure was finally passed by Congress, granting Alaska official status as the 49th state on January 3, 1959. The Oil Rush began around 1974, and the King Crab Rush a few years later, followed most recently by what some had called the The Pollock Rush in the late 1980's to the Bering Sea. Today a gentler activity descends over the state each summer - the Tourist Rush. No forests are clearcut, nor mountains bulldozed, fortunately, for this one, but all the same, it is another of the resource rushes that shaped the state's history.