Of Alaska Online Dating Secret Friends Guide
Tourism And History Of Alaska
By Natalie Glass
Digging back through dinosaur bones and frozen artifacts,
archaeologists uncover the prehistory of Alaska. Dinosaurs
and woolly mammoths once dominated the landscape, leaving
their imprints on the earth, just as the volcanic eruptions,
earthquakes and glaciers carved and sculpted the
terrain.
Clues to early people are uncovered one artifact at
a time, with finds like a piece of copper, a jade knife
blade, a whale bone mask, a stretched piece of tattered
animal skin or a broken bison bone.
Some of the earliest settlements in the state of Alaska
are said to date back 11,000 years, like the one in
Onion Portage in Northern Alaska and the Trail Creek
Caves on the Seward Peninsula.
As far back as one can imagine, Alaskan history runs
far and wide, from wild animals and indigenous people,
to the arrival of Europeans and oil prospectors.
Crossing Of The First Alaskans
The first Alaskans were thought to have crossed the
Bering Strait between 60,000 and 50,000 BC. By the mid
1700s, there were 60-80,000 Indians, Aleuts and Eskimos
living in Alaska.
The Indians of Alaska included the Tlingits and Haidas
in the Southeast, and the Athabaskans of the Interior
Passage; together, they numbered about 20,000 strong.
The 15,000 Aleuts inhabited the Aleutian Islands and
a Southwest portion of the Alaska Peninsula. Lastly,
30,000 Eskimos lived along the Alaskan coast from the
Arctic Ocean to Yakutat, stretching to the Kodiak Island,
the Alaska Peninsula and Prince William Sound.
Hunter Gatherers
The early inhabitants of the state of Alaska lived
in a hunter-gatherer society and used every part of
the beasts they hunted, making long houses, tools, igloos,
weapons, clothing, blankets, jewelry, dishes and canoes.
Shamans battled for good and evil, with some providing
spiritual healing, while others cast curses.
Wealth was shared through ceremonies, like Tlingit
potlatches, Athabaskan festivals, Eskimo messenger feasts,
and Aleut theatrical performances. For thousands of
years, these indigenous groups would be the only population
on the Alaskan frontier, but that changed and the Alaska
native became just 15% of the total population.
Allure Of Ice Free Ports
The Spanish, the French and the Russians all tried
to stake claims in Alaska during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The allure of Alaska was in the attractive ice-free
ports, its rich fur trading potential and its abundance
of whale-hunting and seal-harpooning opportunities,
both of which were very profitable industries.
However, peace could not be reached with the local
tribes and Russian resources were stretched to the max
thanks to the Crimean War, prompting them to sell their
Alaskan territories to America in 1867.
Alaska Became A State In 1959
Despite the 1896 discovery of oil in Nome, the US didn’t
do much in the territories during their initial acquisition,
since other wars preoccupied much of their time. Alaska
didn’t gain official statehood until 1959, following
the Second World War when more money, time and effort
could be poured into the Alaskan adventure.
From the gold boom of the 1890s to the oil boom of
the 1960s, the proliferation of Alaska can be credited
to profitable exploration. Despite the harsh climate
and the inaccessibility, the American pioneering spirit
prevailed and yielded astounding results.
Attracts Millions Of Tourists Every Year
Roughly 80% of the state’s income derives from the
petroleum industry. In 2005, its per-capita GSP for
2005 was $60,079, ranking 3rd in the nation. Today,
Alaska has a population of 626,932, which is still one
of the least populous states, though it is the
largest.
Yet it is this empty space and remoteness that draws
millions of tourists to Alaska each year. The preserved
wilderness and wildlife, combined with the spoils of
modern capitalism, is a juxtaposition one surely must
review and witness in his or her lifetime.
About the Author:
Natalie Glass is an author of articles on travel, romance, relationships, dating and weddings including
Online Love,
Single Parents,
Teen Chat Sites,
Wedding Gift Ideas.
Keep a lookout for more articles coming soon.
More Alaskan Facts....
When was Alaska added to the United States?
Alaska is the 49th state, being admitted on
January 3rd, 1959. Up until that time it was just considered a territory
along with Hawaii. Later in 1968 more than gold became the chief export.
Oil was found and led to the creation of the Trans-Alaska pipeline.
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