Alaska History Timeline By larobinson Period: 1725 to 1732 First Russian Contact in Alaska 1741 Danish explorer Vitus Bering makes first European landing in Alaska Period: 1750 to 1780 Unangan/Aleuts have contact with Europeans and Americans Period: 1760 to 1790 Pacific Eskimos have contact with Europeans and Americans 1768 Steller’s sea cow became extinct 1778 Captain James Cook reaches Cook Inlet Period: 1780 to 1840 Yupiit have contact with Europeans and Americans Period: 1780 to 1800 Tlingit and Haida have contact with Europeans and Americans 1784 Russians began colonizing Koniag Alutiiq 1794 Russian Orthodox priests arrived in Kodiak to minister to residents 1799 Russian Alexander Baranov establishes post in Sitka Bay Period: 1800 to 1870 Athabascans have contact with Europeans and Americans 1820 Sea otters hunted to near extinction 1824 Russian missionary Ivan Veniaminov teaches skills to Natives, prepares Aleut dictionary 1825 Anglo-Russian treaty establishing AK’s borders 1835 American & French ships sail for Alaska in search of whales 1835 First mission school for Eskimos at Nushagak 1845 New Archangel Seminary opened by John Veniaminov Period: 1850 to 1870 Inupiat have contact with Europeans and Americans 1865 Right whale population reaches near extinction 1867 Alaska purchased from Russia by U.S. Period: 1867 to 1884 Sheldon Jackson establishes missionary schools 1878 Girls’ School opened in Fort Wrangell 1878 First salmon canneries built in Alaska at Klawock and Sitka 1879 John Muir explores Glacier Bay 1880 First major strike of gold at Gold Creek (Juneau) 1883 Cruises bring tourists to Glacier Bay 1884 The First Organic Act- civil government brought to Alaska (provide education for children of all races) 1884 Sitka Industrial Training School established 1891 Reindeer introduced to Alaska 1894 Congress allows whites to obtain title to lands 1896 Klondike gold strike 1898 Homestead Act extended to Alaska 1898 White Pass & Yukon Railroad built during Klondike Gold rush 1899 Alaska introduced a liquor licensing system 1900 Copper discovered in Alaska 1900 Capital established in Juneau 1903 Adjudication of Alaska-Canada border in southeast Alaska 1905 Nelson Act- segregated schooling 1906 Alaskan Indians and Eskimos granted homesteads 1907 Tongass & Chugach National Forests established 1911 Copper River and Northwestern Railway completed 1912 Alaska Native Brotherhood founded to achieve citizenship for Natives 1912 Alaska becomes U.S. territory with an elected legislature 1912 Mr. Katmai erupts 1913 Alaskan women can vote 1915 City of Anchorage is born 1915 Territorial Board of Education created 1917 Mount McKinley (Denali) National Park established 1917 Agricultural College and School of Mines in Fairbanks (now U of A) established 1917 United States enters World War, salmon industry booms 1922 Alaska introduced to aviation 1923 Alaska Railroad from Seward to Fairbanks completed 1924 All Native Americans were granted U.S. citizenship 1925 Alaskan literacy law designed to limit Native voting 1928 Court case resolves the right of Native children to attend public school. 1931 Bureau of Education transferred to Bureau of Indian Affairs 1934 Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) 1935 Great Depression spurs colonization of farmers in Matanuska Valley 1936 Alaska Reorganization Act- IRA extended to Alaska Period: 1939 to 1945 World War II 1942 Japanese attack Dutch Harbor 1942 Construction of Alaska Canada Military Highway (Alcan) 1944 Two Tlingit Indians brought into office to serve in legislature 1945 Equal rights bill passed- abolishing legal segregation in AK 1948 Alcan Highway opened to public, binding Alaska to rest of the nation 1953 Community colleges established 1956 Constitution of Alaska written and approved 1958 Alaska Statehood Act gives state right to select 108 million acres 1959 Alaska becomes 49th state in America 1960 Alaska Methodist University (APU) opened 1962 Tundra Times established to represent Native views 1964 Great Alaskan Earthquake 1966 Alaska Federation of Natives formed to pursue land claims with federal government 1968 Prudhoe Bay oil strike 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 1972 Alaska puts restrictions on commercial salmon fishing 1976 Congress adopted Magnuson Act 1976 Alaska Permanent Fund Established 1976 Molly Hootch case settled- government agrees to build schools for local education 1977 Trans-Alaskan Pipeline completed 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act 1980 Wrangell-St. Elias National Park created 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound 1992 Alaska Inter-Tribal Council established 1994 Congressional legislation approved the Bureau of Indian Affairs listing of Alaska Native villages with corporations as tribes 1996 U.S. government began managing fish and wildlife on federal lands 1998 Alaska Native Heritage Center Opened in Anchorage 2000 Alutiiq Museum opened in Kodiak 2001 Millennium Agreement 2006 Sarah Palin takes office as Alaska’s first woman governor 2006 British Petroleum oil spill at Prudhoe Bay 2009 50th Anniversary of Alaska Statehood 2011 New leases for oil exploration to be granted in non-protected areas of Alaska