1843 |
 
U.S. Secretary of State William Marcy and Senator William M. Gwin inquire as to whether the Russian colony of Alaska is for sale. Although the Russians are not selling, the two expansionists have made their interest in the colony known.
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1848 |
January 24: Gold is struck near Sacramento, California. Within one year, 90,000 people will catch gold fever and move to California, mining 10 million ounces of gold. America's focus moves west, and soon railroads, banks and telegraphs will branch out toward the Pacific Ocean too.
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1859 |
As a result of its crippling loss to France and Britain in the Crimean War, Russia reconsiders selling Alaska to the United States to help its economy rebound following the financial losses of the war.
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1865 |
April 9: The Civil War ends.
The Western Union Company begins building a telegraph line through Canada, Alaska and across Siberia into Europe. Under the direction of entrepreneur Peter M. Collins, plans call for the construction of almost entirely overland cable, with only 50 miles of underwater cable across the Bering Strait. The Russian American Telegraph Expedition, led by famed scientist Robert Kennicott, goes to Alaska to conduct a land survey.
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1866 |
After twelve years of cajoling investors and solving technical problems, Cyrus W. Field's attempt to complete a transatlantic cable succeeds. As a result, Collins and the Western Union Company abandon their work, despite having made significant progress.
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1867 |
March 11: The Russian ambassador to the U.S., Edouard De Stoeckl, begins negotiations with the American secretary of state, William Seward, for the sale of Alaska.
 March 30: The United States purchases the rights to Alaska, known as "Russian-America," from Russia. Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiates a price of $7.2 million, or roughly 2 cents per acre. Some Americans, particularly those who have lost their zeal for frontier adventures and who know little of this mysterious northern land, disparage the purchase, and the acquisition is scorned in editorial cartoons as "Seward's Folly." Others see the acquisition as the inevitable progress of Manifest Destiny (spurring British and Canadian efforts to establish western provinces).
October 18: Russia officially transfers Alaska to the United States.
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1868 |
The first salmon cannery is constructed on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. Salmon fishing will become one of Alaska's key industries.
July 18: After much convincing on the part of Seward, the United States House of Representatives votes to reimburse Russia for the acquisition of Alaska. Under this legislation, Alaska is officially deemed the Department of Alaska, and placed under the control of the U.S. Army.
September 19: The first issue of the Sitka Times, Alaska's first newspaper, is published.
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1877 |
The War Department withdraws all military personnel from Alaska. The possession is placed under the administration of the United States Treasury Department.
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1879 |
The United States Navy takes over control of Alaska from the United States Treasury Department.
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1880 |
August 17: Joseph Juneau and Richard Harris strike gold at Silver Bowl Basin. It is the first of many gold strikes in Alaska over the next twenty years. The Juneau-Douglas mines quickly become Alaska's largest company. The town that develops around the basin is called Juneau City, later shortened to Juneau.
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1884 |
President Chester Arthur signs the Organic Act, creating the "District of Alaska" and appointing several officials to reside over the region, including a governor, several judges and a district attorney. The act also provides for the protection of Native Alaskans; however, the developing industries -- fishing, mining, and timber -- that had begun with the influx of settlers and prospectors are taking their toll on the Native Alaskans.
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1890 |
Juneau is populated by 1,251 people and boasts several schools and stores, a hospital and nine saloons.
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1897 |
July 17: Returning from the Klondike River in Yukon Territory, the S.I.S. Portland arrives in Seattle. On board the ship is $1 million worth of gold. As word spreads about the Klondike gold, people flood into the Yukon Territory, leading to the development of many towns and businesses. At the mouth of the Klondike River, the town of Dawson City is founded.
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1898 |
September 22: Four miners strike gold in the vicinity of present-day Nome. News of the strike spreads quickly, and prospectors inundate the area.
The White Pass and Yukon Railroad gets a boost. Originally a British-financed connection between Skagway, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon, the railroad garners U.S. government support following the successive gold rushes and immigration to Alaska. The railway will be extended along the Yukon River, and riverboats will distribute goods throughout the Yukon River Basin.
Congress authorizes funds for the development of a telegraph from Seattle to Sitka.
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1899 |
May 31: The Harriman expedition leaves Seattle to explore the flora, fauna and native cultures of Alaska. Later in the year, the expedition's namesake, railroad tycoon Edward Harriman, will propose the construction of a railway to Alaska from the continental United States, with a connection to Russia.
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1900 |
Alaska has seen substantial growth, thanks to successive gold strikes. The total population in Alaska is now 63,592. More than 20,000 miners live in Nome alone. Congress votes to incorporate towns in Alaska, and moves the capital of Alaska from Sitka to Juneau. The White Pass and Yukon Railroad, begun in 1898, is completed.
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1902 |
Another significant gold strike occurs in the center of Alaska, in the Tanana Valley. As the area swarms with gold prospectors, the town of Fairbanks is founded.
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1903 |
December 17: Wilbur and Orville Wright record the first controlled flight of an aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. With few roadways, air travel will become extremely important to the development of Alaska in the post-WWII era. Until then, interior shipping will still travel mainly by riverboat.
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1904 |
Telegraph cables are laid from Seattle, Washington, to Valdez, Alaska, by way of Sitka. For the first time, Alaska is able to communicate via telegraph with the continental United States.
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1905 |
January 27: Congress creates the Alaska Road Commission to build the region's first proper roads.
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1906 |
At the behest of Alaskans, Congress permits residents to elect a non-voting representative to sit in the House of Representatives. Alaskan residents will continue to push to be politically recognized by the United States.
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1907 |
President Theodore Roosevelt establishes the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. The forest is the largest national forest in the United States today.
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1912 |
August 24: Congress passes Alaska's Second Organic Act, designating Alaska an official territory of the United States, and creating a legislature and government for it.
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1915 |
Construction begins on the Alaska Railroad, a line that will eventually connect Seward to Fairbanks.
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1917 |
April 6: Congress approves President Woodrow Wilson's call to enter World War I, and America officially mobilizes. As a result, Alaska's population decreases significantly as many Alaskans join the war effort.
May 3: The University of Alaska is founded with a particular emphasis on agriculture and mining.
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1923 |
July 13: The Alaska Railroad, approximately 470 miles long, is completed at a cost of roughly $65 million. Running from Seward to Anchorage and ending in Fairbanks, the railroad provides the sole year-round route from Alaska's coast to its interior. The Alaska Railroad will serve as the primary mode of transportation for the American military and prove invaluable for moving military goods and engineers, including those needed for the construction of the Alaska Highway during World War II.
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1924 |
KFQD, Alaska's first radio station, goes on the air in Anchorage.
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1927 |
May: Charles A. Lindbergh becomes an instant celebrity after he completes the first nonstop airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
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1929 |
The United States Navy begins surveying Alaska for military bases.
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