Thursday, October 11, 2012

Stories That Make Up Alaskan History

By Leigh Bean


There is evidence that the first people to come to Alaska did so by crossing the Bering Land Bridge between Russia and North America. This arrival occurred around thirteen thousand years ago when people were migrating out of Asia. This began the era of humans being involved in the workings of Alaskan History. There have been some notable periods that have shaped this part of the United States.

Most of the travelers kept on moving into the interior of the North American continent. The Aleuts did not go with the others. They stayed on the islands that developed after the water rose enough to devastate the land bridge. Here they lived for thousand of years undisturbed by outsiders looking to take their resources. Some of the other tribes moved down the Alaskan coastline towards the upper edge of Canada.

The influence of Europeans on this areas started before a single white person set foot on the islands. The Spanish had laid claim to the right to explore this region in the late 15th century. However, it would be several hundred later before the Spaniards acting on this claim when other countries showed interest in what Alaska had to offer.

The Russians who came to take advantage of the pelts of animals at first lived peacefully with the natives of the area. This changed as more aggressive traders arrived and felt the natives were a threat to their livelihood. Battles ensued that raged for many years. However, the biggest thing that hurt the Aleuts were the foreign diseases that arrived with the traders. These diseases almost wiped out the entire population of Aleuts.

In 1799 the Russian American company was formed to monopolize the fur trade. This was done with the approval of the Russian Czar. Part of this agreement that the company made with the Czar included attempts to establish settlements in order to firmly control the area. They did this by displacing natives who had been living there for thousands of years and lead to many battles taking place. Eventually, the company lost control of the area to the Imperial Russian Navy. A few years later, Russia agreed to let other people come to fish and hunt the area commercially.

The agreement to let the British sail into these waters happened during the Anglo Russian Convention of 1825. This was when the borders were set between Russia and Canada in upper North America. They gave permission to set up trading posts to conduct business. This agreement changed a lot of the influence that Russia was holding over Alaska at that time.

The United States purchased the land from Russia in 1867. Many people thought this was a very foolish thing to do. They considered the area a frozen tundra that had little to no value. Then the Gold Rush happened and people flocked to try and gain their riches. Years later large oil reserves were discovered.

In the Alaskan history are stories of men and women braving harsh elements to live their lives. They came from all areas to explore and take advantage of the bounty of the sea and forest. Then others came to take its mineral and oil to achieve their riches.




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