Alaksa History- Nicole Mendonsa By namenonsa 1648 Semyon Dezhnev lands in Diomede Islands 1725 Peter the Great commissions Vitus Bering’s first expedition 1728 Bering/Chirikov voyage Jul 13, 1728 Bering’s first voyage 1732 Mikhail Gvozdev’s first contact 1774 Voyage of Juan Perez & Esteban Martinez Jul 4, 1776 Signing of the American Declaration of Independence 1778 Captain Cook explores Alaska 1784 First permanent Russian settlement in Kodiak 1786 Discovery of the Pribilof Islands 1794 First Russian Orthodox missionaries arrive 1799 Baranov named first governor 1804 Battle of Sitka Jun 24, 1812 Napolean invades Russia 1861 Gold discovered at telegraph creek Apr 12, 1861 American Civil War begins at Ft. Sumter Mar 30, 1867 Russia sells Alaska to the U.S. 1874 First mission school at Nushugak 1885 Signing of the Anglo Russian Treaty establishing Alaska’s border Oct 15, 1966 Cathedral of St. Michael dedicated in Sitka