Previous Next
Previous Next
Copyright 2001. The Lazy 'C' - All rights reserved.
history
The state flag was designed by 13-year-old Bennie Benson from Chignik, Alaska, in 1926. The blue field is for the sky and the Forget-Me-Not, the state flower. The North Star is for the future of the state of Alaska, the most northerly of the Union. The dipper is for the Great Bear - symbolizing strength.
Nickname: The Last Frontier State.
Capital: Juneau.
Constitution: The 49th State.
Statehood: January 3rd 1959.
Motto: North to the future
History:
When whites first arrived in the Alaska region, three groups of natives--Inuit, Aleuts, and American Indians--were living there. In 1725, Czar Peter the Great of Russia commissioned Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator in Russian service, to explore the North Pacific region. Bering and his men became the first Europeans to reach Saint Lawrence Island, now part of Alaska. But they did not sight the North American mainland because of fog. In 1741, during a second expedition to the region, Bering's party sighted Mount Saint Elias in southeastern Alaska.
Russian traders and hunters soon began operating in the region. In 1784, Gregory Shelikof, a trader, established the first white settlement in Alaska, then called Russian America, on Kodiak Island.
In 1799, Russia chartered the Russian-American Company, a trading firm. The company was the only governing power in Alaska for 68 years. Profits from fur trading gradually dwindled, and by the late 1850's, Russia became eager to sell the region.
A few American companies became interested in Alaska's rich salmon fisheries. In 1878, they built the first canneries in Alaska. In 1884, the U.S. Congress established Alaska as a "civil and judicial district." This gave Alaska a code of laws and a federal court.
In 1896, prospectors discovered gold in Canada's Yukon region, just across the border from Alaska. Thousands of people journeyed to the area, and several towns were founded. Gold discoveries near Nome in 1898 and in the Fairbanks area in 1902 brought more people.
A dispute between the United States and Canada over Alaska's boundary reached a climax in 1903. An international commission set Alaska's present southeastern boundary. In 1912, Alaska became a U.S. territory.
During the 1920's and 1930's, fishing, mining, and fur trading remained the leading industries. The Alaska Railroad, completed in 1923, linked Seward and Anchorage with Fairbanks. Improved air travel made it possible to reach previously isolated communities. During the 1930's, the federal government established an agricultural colony in the Matanuska Valley.
The United States sent thousands of workers to Alaska to build and maintain military installations during World War II (1939-1945). In 1942, the government built the Alaska Highway. The Japanese bombed Dutch Harbour in the Aleutian Islands in 1942, and occupied Attu and Kiska islands until early in 1943. Alaska became a U.S. state in 1959.
During the 1960's, the state improved its transportation facilities. In March 1964, the biggest earthquake ever known to hit North America occurred in the area around Anchorage and Valdez. It killed 131 people.
In 1968, two oil companies made one of the greatest oil discoveries of all time--at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Coastal Plain. Construction of a pipeline to carry the oil about 1,300 kilometres across the state was completed in 1977 and oil production began.
From 1971 to 1980, the U.S. Congress set aside large amounts of land for native Alaskans and for conservation purposes. In the mid-1980's, sharply falling oil prices led to a slowdown in Alaska's economy. Disputes arose between conservationists and those favouring development of resources on federal lands.
In 1989, a disastrous oil spill occurred in southern Alaska. On March 24, the Exxon Valdez, a 301-metre tanker, ran aground in Prince William Sound. More than 42 million litres of crude oil were spilled. The oil destroyed wildlife and polluted hundreds of kilometres of Alaskan coastline.
Bird:
Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus alascensis Swarth). Adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1955, the Willow Ptarmigan is a small arctic grouse that lives on open tundra in boggy areas.
Economy:
Agriculture: Seafood, nursery stock, dairy products, vegetables, livestock.
Industry: Petroleum and natural gas, gold and other mining, food processing, lumber and wood products, tourism.
Flower:
Adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1917, is the wild Forget-Me-Not. The plant can be found in most areas across the state.
Nickname:
Last Frontier - Great Land - Land of the Midnight Sun.
Origin of state's name:
Based on Eskimo word "Alakshak"meaning "great lands" or "peninsula".
Seal:
In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States, and for nearly fifty years the region was known as the District of Alaska. While Alaska was still a district, the first governor designated a seal of the district. This seal featured icebergs, northern lights, igloos and an Eskimo ice fishing. In 1910, this seal was replaced with a design more representative of the state's industrial and natural wealth. Today, this seal, created by an "unnamed draftsman," is the state seal of Alaska. The rays above the mountains represent the famous Alaskan northern lights. The smelter symbolizes mining, the train stands for Alaska's railroads, and ships denote transportation by sea. The trees pictured in the seal symbolize Alaska's wealth of timber, and the farmer, his horse, and the three shocks of wheat stand for Alaskan agriculture. The fish and the seals signify the importance of fishing and seal rookeries to Alaska's economy. The state seal of Alaska is a fine representation of the vast wealth of the forty-ninth state.
State sport:
Dog mushing. Adopted by the Alaska Legislature in 1972, dogsledding once was the primary form of transportation in most of Alaska. Today dog sled racing is a popular winter sport.
Tree:
Sitka spruce! This evergreen is abundant throughout the southeastern and central regions of Alaska, and was adopted in 1962.
When whites first arrived in the Alaska region, three groups of natives--Inuit, Aleuts, and American Indians--were living there. In 1725, Czar Peter the Great of Russia commissioned Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator in Russian service, to explore the North Pacific region. Bering and his men became the first Europeans to reach Saint Lawrence Island, now part of Alaska. But they did not sight the North American mainland because of fog. In 1741, during a second expedition to the region, Bering's party sighted Mount Saint Elias in southeastern Alaska.
Russian traders and hunters soon began operating in the region. In 1784, Gregory Shelikof, a trader, established the first white settlement in Alaska, then called Russian America, on Kodiak Island.
In 1799, Russia chartered the Russian-American Company, a trading firm. The company was the only governing power in Alaska for 68 years. Profits from fur trading gradually dwindled, and by the late 1850's, Russia became eager to sell the region.
A few American companies became interested in Alaska's rich salmon fisheries. In 1878, they built the first canneries in Alaska. In 1884, the U.S. Congress established Alaska as a "civil and judicial district." This gave Alaska a code of laws and a federal court.
In 1896, prospectors discovered gold in Canada's Yukon region, just across the border from Alaska. Thousands of people journeyed to the area, and several towns were founded. Gold discoveries near Nome in 1898 and in the Fairbanks area in 1902 brought more people.
A dispute between the United States and Canada over Alaska's boundary reached a climax in 1903. An international commission set Alaska's present southeastern boundary. In 1912, Alaska became a U.S. territory.
During the 1920's and 1930's, fishing, mining, and fur trading remained the leading industries. The Alaska Railroad, completed in 1923, linked Seward and Anchorage with Fairbanks. Improved air travel made it possible to reach previously isolated communities. During the 1930's, the federal government established an agricultural colony in the Matanuska Valley.
The United States sent thousands of workers to Alaska to build and maintain military installations during World War II (1939-1945). In 1942, the government built the Alaska Highway. The Japanese bombed Dutch Harbour in the Aleutian Islands in 1942, and occupied Attu and Kiska islands until early in 1943. Alaska became a U.S. state in 1959.
During the 1960's, the state improved its transportation facilities. In March 1964, the biggest earthquake ever known to hit North America occurred in the area around Anchorage and Valdez. It killed 131 people.
In 1968, two oil companies made one of the greatest oil discoveries of all time--at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Coastal Plain. Construction of a pipeline to carry the oil about 1,300 kilometres across the state was completed in 1977 and oil production began.
From 1971 to 1980, the U.S. Congress set aside large amounts of land for native Alaskans and for conservation purposes. In the mid-1980's, sharply falling oil prices led to a slowdown in Alaska's economy. Disputes arose between conservationists and those favouring development of resources on federal lands.
In 1989, a disastrous oil spill occurred in southern Alaska. On March 24, the Exxon Valdez, a 301-metre tanker, ran aground in Prince William Sound. More than 42 million litres of crude oil were spilled. The oil destroyed wildlife and polluted hundreds of kilometres of Alaskan coastline.
Bird:
Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus alascensis Swarth). Adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1955, the Willow Ptarmigan is a small arctic grouse that lives on open tundra in boggy areas.
Economy:
Agriculture: Seafood, nursery stock, dairy products, vegetables, livestock.
Industry: Petroleum and natural gas, gold and other mining, food processing, lumber and wood products, tourism.
Flower:
Adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1917, is the wild Forget-Me-Not. The plant can be found in most areas across the state.
Nickname:
Last Frontier - Great Land - Land of the Midnight Sun.
Origin of state's name:
Based on Eskimo word "Alakshak"meaning "great lands" or "peninsula".
Seal:
In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States, and for nearly fifty years the region was known as the District of Alaska. While Alaska was still a district, the first governor designated a seal of the district. This seal featured icebergs, northern lights, igloos and an Eskimo ice fishing. In 1910, this seal was replaced with a design more representative of the state's industrial and natural wealth. Today, this seal, created by an "unnamed draftsman," is the state seal of Alaska. The rays above the mountains represent the famous Alaskan northern lights. The smelter symbolizes mining, the train stands for Alaska's railroads, and ships denote transportation by sea. The trees pictured in the seal symbolize Alaska's wealth of timber, and the farmer, his horse, and the three shocks of wheat stand for Alaskan agriculture. The fish and the seals signify the importance of fishing and seal rookeries to Alaska's economy. The state seal of Alaska is a fine representation of the vast wealth of the forty-ninth state.
State sport:
Dog mushing. Adopted by the Alaska Legislature in 1972, dogsledding once was the primary form of transportation in most of Alaska. Today dog sled racing is a popular winter sport.
Tree:
Sitka spruce! This evergreen is abundant throughout the southeastern and central regions of Alaska, and was adopted in 1962.