ALASKA’S HISTORY
Tlingit girl with ancient totems. Winter and Pond photo, about 1895.
ALASKA’S HISTORY
The People, Land, and Events of the North Country
REVISED EDITION
HARRY RITTER
Text © 2020 by Harry Ritter
Copyright to archival photographs and
illustrations as credited on pages 150–151
Revised Edition first printed in 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ritter, Harry, author.
Title: Alaska’s history : the people, land, and events of the North Country / Harry Ritter. Other titles: People, land, and events of the North Country
Description: Revised edition. | [Berkeley, California] : West Margin Press, [2020] | Series: WestWinds Press pocket guide | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A travel-sized history book on Alaska, with up-to-date information and historical photographs about the Last Frontier’s past and present”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019026002 (print) | LCCN 2019026003 (ebook) | ISBN 9781513262727 (paperback) | ISBN 9781513262734 (hardback)| ISBN 9781513262741 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Alaska—History.
Classification: LCC F904 .R58 2020 (print) | LCC F904 (ebook) | DDC 979.8—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026002
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019026003
Cartographer: Vikki Leib
Indexer: Sheila Ryan
Cover: ‘The Trickster,’ David Boxley, Tsimshian, 1988. Private collection.
Proudly distributed by Ingram Publisher Services.
Published by Alaska Northwest Books®, an imprint of West Margin Press
WEST MARGIN PRESS
Publishing Director: Jennifer Newens
Marketing Manager: Angela Zbornik
Editor: Olivia Ngai
Design & Production: Rachel Lopez Metzger
Desgin Intern: Michelle Montano
CONTENTS
Residents of Skagway, 1898, including Soapy Smith (fourth from the right).
PEOPLE OF THE RAIN FOREST: TLINGIT, HAIDA, AND TSIMSHIAN
CROSSROADS OF CULTURES: ALUTIIQ/SUGPIAQ HERITAGE IN ALASKA’S GULF
RUSSIAN AMERICA: THE FORGOTTEN FRONTIER
PROMYSHLENNIKI AND THE RUSSIAN FUR TRADE
FIRST CONTACTS: THE VOYAGES OF BERING AND CHIRIKOV
IN THE RUSSIANS’ WAKE: BRITISH AND FRENCH EXPLORERS
MALASPINA AND THE SPANISH INCURSIONS
LORD OF ALASKA: ALEXANDER BARANOV
APOSTLE OF ALASKA: FATHER IVAN VENIAMINOV
YANKEE WHALERS
EXPLORERS, ADVENTURERS, AND NATURALISTS: AMERICA’S NEW FRONTIER
SEWARD’S FOLLY
PURSUING MANIFEST DESTINY
THE FUR SEAL RUSH
RUMRUNNERS OF THE INSIDE PASSAGE
SHELDON JACKSON: CHRISTIAN SOLDIER OF THE GREAT LAND
JOHN MUIR AND GLACIER BAY
GOLD FEVER BEFORE THE KLONDIKE STRIKE
THE KLONDIKE STAMPEDE
STIRRING DAYS IN SKAGWAY
NEW ELDORADOS: NOME AND FAIRBANKS
THE YUKON: HIGHWAY TO THE INTERIOR
FRONTIER TOURISM: ALASKA WITH BAEDEKER
ALASKA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: FROM TERRITORY TO STATEHOOD
AFTER ’98
PIONEER JUDGE: JAMES W. WICKERSHAM
A YOUNG GIRL’S FAIRBANKS
KING COPPER
ANCHORAGE AND THE IRON HORSE
BUSH PILOTS
THE “THOUSAND-MILE WAR”: THE