It's Time For A Little History Lesson, Page Three

Alaska is the largest state in the union in area, twice the size of Texas, but ranks 47Th in population. It's so large it has it's own time zone. With that in mind you should know that it's going to take more than one journal to cover all this great state has to offer, so please bear with me, and make sure you have a lot of pop corn.

The population is 670,053 and the Capital is Juneau, the largest city Anchorage with a population of 283,938

Juneau, the Capital of Alaska

In 1880, nearly 20 years before the great gold rushes to the Klondike and Nome, two prospectors named Joe Juneau and Dick Harris found "color" in what is now called Gold Creek, a small clear stream that runs through the center of present-day Juneau. Local history states that it was a Tlingit Chief, Kowee, who showed Joe Juneau where to find gold in Gold Creek. What the prospectors found led to the discovery of one of the largest lodes of gold quartz in the world. Juneau, then called Harrisburg, boomed into a gold rush town as claims and mines sprang up in the area.

Congress first provided civil government for Alaska in 1884. Alaska was governed by a succession of presidential appointments, first as the District of Alaska, then as the Territory of Alaska. Between 1867, when the United States purchased Alaska from Russia, and 1884, the military had jurisdiction over Alaska, except for a three year period , 1877-1879, when Alaska was put under control of the U.S. Treasury Dept. and governed by U.S. Collectors of Customs.

In 1974, Alaskans voted to move the capital from Juneau to a site closer to Anchorage. In 1976, Alaska voters selected a new capital site near Willow, but finding for the new capital move, about 2.8 billion, was defeated in November 1982.

Anchorage the State's largest city is located on the upper shores of Cook Inlet. More than 42 percent of Alaska's population live in Anchorage Within the city limits of Anchorage there are an estimated 1,000 moose, nearly 250 black bears and almost 65 brown bears. Unfortunately we were unable to visit Anchorage but it's high up on our return visit list. There is so much to see in this wonderful, beautiful state that one really needs to be able to spend about two or three months in order to see it all.

Fairbanks

Located in the heart of Alaska's Interior, Fairbanks is approximately 1,488 driving miles from Dawson Creek, BC, the start of the Alaska Highway. Fairbanks has a population of 96,888 in what they call "Fairbanks-North Star Borough". Fairbanks is a most unusual city weather wise, it can be 90 degrees in the summer and then 60 degrees BELOW zero in the winter. When visiting Fairbanks in the summer be prepared that "the sun never really sets". You can watch the sun dip a little below the western sky and then turn around and see it pop up in the eastern sky. We had an average of 21.5 hours of sunlight during our stay in Fairbanks.

In 1901, Captain E.T. Barnette set out from St. Michael on the stern-wheeler "Lavelle Young" traveling up the Yukon River with supplies for his trading post which he proposed to set up on the Tanana Crossing, the halfway point on the Valdez-Eagle trail. But the stern-wheeler could not navigate the fast-moving shallow Chena River. The stern-wheeler's captain dropped off Barnette on the Chena River near the present site of First Avenue. A year later, Felix Pedro, an Italian prospector discovered gold about 16 miles north of Barnette's temporary trading post, and alert to possibilities, Barnette abandonded his original plan to continue on to Tanana Crossing. In September 1902, Barnette convinced the 25 or so miners in the area to use the name "Fairbanks" for the town that he expected would grow up around his trading post.

Not far from Fairbanks is the city of North Pole, Alaska. Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus and he lives and works here. We drove there and were met by the jolly ole elf himself. He and his elves were in the process of making toys and goodies for all the good boys and girls. We saw some of his rain deer but some of them were elsewhere being grommed for their winter jobs.

There is a lot to see in and around Fairbanks and one needs to spend several weeks here so as to not miss anything.