How did Alaska become a State

Alaska is known as the 49th state, only becoming a state of the United States in 1959. By that point, however, it had been colonized, first by the Russian Empire, and settled by non-indigenous populations since at least 1730s or earlier. Alaska was known as a land of rich resources and, when the US purchased the land in 1867, it also became a key part of US national defense.

Russian Settlement

After 1581, the Russian Empire began to greatly expand eastward across Siberia. By the early 1600s, it had reached the Bering Sea. Some sources claim that the first Russia settlement was established by Semyon Dezhnyov, a Russian explorer who was the first Russian to cross the Bering Sea. The settlement may have been near the Koyuk River near Seward Alaska. By the early 18th century, Peter the Great had begun to renew Russian expansion and colonization interests. In 1741, Vitus Bering, the man who would lend his name to the Bering Sea, navigated across the the sea and arrived near Yakutat, Alaska. Bering would eventually die from scurvy during his second expedition but his travels were successful as it showed Alaska to be very wealthy, attracting fur traders and missionaries to Alaska. The first permanent Russian settlement was founded in 1784. Throughout the remainder of the 18th century, Russian colonies, mostly small and along the coastal regions of Alaska, were established. The Spanish also became increasingly interested in the Pacific Northwest in the 1780s, establishing a fort in Nootka Sound in modern British Columbia. Areas in southern Alaska, such as around Valdez, Alaska, became temporarily explored and trading areas for the Spanish, although within a few years the Spanish had effectively left the region. This prompted Russian interests as well to expand southward in Alaska. In 1799, the Fort of Archangel Michael, later becoming Novo-Arkhangelsk and later modern day Sitka, Alaska, was established as the capital of the Alaskan colonies. The old fort was destroyed in 1802 when native Tlingit attacked the fortification, but the site was returned to Russia control after an invasion in 1804 (Figure 1). Russia efforts became more concentrated in southern Alaska. This was also a time of great expansion of Russian interests, as Russian settlers reached modern-day areas of California by 1812, settling what is today's Fort Ross about 90 miles north of San Francisco.

By the 1840s, US expansion across North America increased in earnest with the American-Mexican war. California and Oregon were also soon purchased and future (after the Civil War) Secretary of State William Seward once stated: "Our population is destined to roll resistless waves to the ice barriers of the north, and to encounter oriental civilization on the shores of the Pacific." This signaled interested in areas north of modern Washington, although expansion into these regions had to wait until after the Civil War. During this time, the Russian colonies in Alaska were financially struggling, as the fur trade suffered from over exploitation, while Russia itself became deeply embroiled with the Crimean War in 1853. This put a major financial strain on Russia and it began to look for ways to raise revenue as its colonies were costing it money.

Figure 1. St. Michael's Cathedral i Sitka was originally built in 1848, with the city of Sitka serving as Russia's capital in North America.

US Purchase

Since the late 1700s trip by Captain James Cook, British interests in the western North American increased. This did prompt concerns in the US over British interests in the region. US fur traders, originally restricted in trading in Alaska by the Russo-American Treaty of 1824, ignored this treaty and increasingly traded with Alaska after the 1820s. Native populations, particularly Aleut, were decimated by the Russians through disease and war. Russian continued to face stiff native resistance through the 1850s, with the Tlingits never being conquered and threatening key Russia settlements. Native populations, in fact, rebounded in the 1850s as Russian power declined. With the Civil War over, and Russia still facing financial problems, the stage was set in 1867 for the United States to purchase Alaska. While expansion north of Washington state eluded the United States, William Seward still strongly believed in Manifest Destiny for the United States. The United States purchases Alaska for US$7.2 million, about $132 million in 2020 US dollars (Figure 2), under Secretary of State Seward guidance. Initially, many in the US ridiculed the purchase, leading people to call the purchase Seward’s folly. The first day the US gained power in Alaska was October 18, 1867, today known as Alaska Day. The importance of Alaska as a defensive possession was evident in how it was governed, with US Army, US Department of the Treasury, and US Navy tasked with governing under the government called the Department of Alaska until 1884. Sitka remained as the main settlement for the US during this time. In 1884, the Department of Alaska changed to the District of Alaska as civilian rule was now extended across the state. The 1896 Yukon Gold Rush (or known as the Klondike Gold Rush), which was mostly in neighboring Yukon, Canada, benefited Alaska as more settlers moved inland and exploration of the interior hastened. Towns along the Alaska-Canada border became established. In 1899, gold was found near Nome, Alaska, prompting construction of the Seward-Nome railway and establishment of towns such as Fairbanks. Throughout the early 20th century, mining and fishing expanded throughout the state, in particular western Alaska. The wildlife of Alaska began to greatly suffer, particularly seals and whales that were over-hunted.

Figure 2. Map from 1860 showing Russian America.

Becoming a State

The Second Organic Act in 1912 formally made Alaska a territory by this time, with the population then being over 50,000 in the state. The 1930s saw crashes in mining and fishing prices for Alaskans, depressing the economy. However, some US settlers came as President Roosevelt saw the region near modern Anchorage, Alaska as being conducive for agriculture and settled some US citizens in the region to develop agriculture as part of the economy. The 1930s and 1940s saw the airplane becoming the most important vehicle of transport, as the lack of roads and railroads made this the easiest way to move around the state. World War II would make Alaska, once again, an important part of US national defense. First, it was the invasion of Japanese in World War II, with the occupation of Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian islands, during the war increasing US military commitment. Even today, throughout Alaska defensive embankments and fortifications for an anticipated larger invasion can be seen in different parts of the state. The Alaska–Canada Military Highway, used to supply the USSR during the war with US war materials, was built in 1942, connecting Alaska to the mainland US via a highway system for the first time. One could now drive from Minnesota to Fairbanks, Alaska, which also helped increase trade and the population of the state. The city of Anchorage in the 1940s became Alaska's largest city as it expanded due to military personnel being based in Alaska and increasing number of bases built. The discovery of oil in the Kenai Peninsula in 1957 and the rise of the Cold War in 1945 led to Alaska being seen as an important US territory for defense and resources. President Eisenhower in 1958 signed the Alaska Statehood Act that would formally bring the territory to statehood in 1959. Many worried Alaska would not be able to support itself financially as a state. The 9.2 1964 Good Friday (March 27) Earthquake, North America's largest ever recorded earthquake, while devastating, did demonstrate the Alaska could quickly recover and its bountiful resources proved a draw for corporations. This helped cement the state's population growth and drive for statehood. Native rights were still discriminatory, by law, until 1945, until the Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945 was signed that banned discrimination in the state against Alaskan Natives. Because the state was admitted relatively late in US history, Native rights have been better protected and today much of the state is owed by Native populations. For instance, in the 1958 statehood Act, the provision made it illegal for land to be taken away from Native titleholders, which was never the case in the lower 48 states.

Summary

Alaska was always seen as a resource rich land that drove, first Russia, then the Spanish, English, and later US settlers to its vast lands. Native Alaskans, similar to other regions in North America, endured hostility, disease, and war, but relative to their peers in other parts of the US, they have been able to control much of the lands in their native regions. Relative to the entire population of the state, about 120,000 of the 740,000 people in the state claim indigenous ancestry. Alaskan Native Corporations have also helped the state's native population to benefit financially from the state's wealth.