Alaska

1993, the Umbrella Final Agreement is signed by representatives of the Council for Yukon Indians and the Yukon and federal governemnts, establishing the basic format for all 14 Yukon First Nations land claims agreements.

June 3

- in 1942, a large carrier-based Japanese force attacked Dutch Harbour.

June 7

- in 1942, the Japanese landed almost 2,500 troops on the Aleutian islands of Attu and Kiska. It took a huge Allied force until August 15, 1943 to regain control - the final invasion force numbered 34,426 troops.

June 13

- in 1898, the Yukon Territory is created.

June 20

- in 197, the first oil was pumped throught the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.

July (day unknown)

- in 1786, while charting Lituya Bay, 2 small boats are swamped by rip tides, and 21 French sailors drown.

- in 1968, the oil riches of Alaska's North Slope, first reported almost 100 years ago, were confirmed by a drilling program at Prudhoe Bay. The following year, a total of $990,220,590 was bid in a one-day lease sale of those properties.

July 2

- in 1882, George Krause becomes the first white man allowed to cross the Chilkat Pass to the interior.

July 3

- in 1913, the first airplane in Alaska made a demonstration flight at Fairbanks, piloted by James V. Lilly.

July 8

- in 1799, the Russian American Company is formed by Royal Charter; they were given a 20-year monopoly on trading on the coast from 55 degrees north.

July 10

- in 1919, Louis Beauvette staked the first silver claim at Keno Hill, in the central Yukon; by 1930 this district was producing 14% of all the silver mined in Canada.

July 14

- in 1897, the Excelsior reaches San Francisco with the first large shipment of Klondike gold.

July 15

- in 1923, the Alaska Railroad was completed, following 8 years of construction.

July 16

- in 1741, Vitus Bering, on St. Elias Day, sights the Alaskan mainland. In honour of the saint, the most prominent peak was named; this was the first point on the northwest coast named by Europeans.

July 17

- in 1897, the Portland reached Seattle with a large shipment of Klondike, turning the excitement caused by the Excelsior's arrival at San Francisco into an all-out gold rush.

July 22

- in 1902, Felice Pedroni ("Felix Pedro") discovered gold in the Tanana Hills, causing a stampede which resulted in the founding of Fairbanks.

July 23

- in 1867, Alaska's first post office is authorized, to be opened at Sitka.

July 27

- in 1868, the Customs Act is amended to include Alaska.

July 29

- in 1900, the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad was completed, with the Golden Spike driven at Carcross, Yukon.

August (day not known)

- in 1876, twelve whaling ships are trapped by ice near Point Barrow; 50 men die attempting to reach safety.

August 17

- in 1896, a party consisting of George Carmack, his wife Kate, Skookum Jim, Tagish Charlie and Patsy Henderson stake placer gold claims on Rabbit Creek, and rename the creek Bonanza Creek.

August 21

- in 1732, a Russian expedition under surveyor Mikhail Gvozdev sights the Alaska mainland at Cape Prince of Wales.

- in 1852, Fort Selkirk is destroyed by a group of Tlingits who objected to the Hudson's Bay Company trying to break the Tlingit monopoly on trade with the interior tribes.

August 24

- in 1912, the Alaska Territorial Act was passed by Congress.

August 25

- in 1778, Captain James Cook turned back south, having reached Lat. 71 North, Long. 197 West.

September (day not known)

- in 1848, the Hudson's Bay Company builds Fort Selkirk, at the confluence of the Pelly and Yukon Rivers.

- in 1871, of the 41 whaling ships hunting in the Bering Sea, 32 are trapped by early ice; all of the 1,200 people on the ships escaped, but 31 of the ships were destroyed the following spring.

- in 1898 gold was discovered near the future site of Nome, triggering a stampede.

September 24

- in 1942, the Alaska Highway opened at Contact Creek, 305 miles north of Fort Nelson, B.C.

September 25

- in 1745, a Russian fur hunter, Mikhail Nevodchikov, reaches Attu in his search for sea otters.

October 2

- in 1895, the North-west Territories was divided into the Districts of Franklin, Mackenzie, Ungava and Yukon.

October 7

- in 1869, the prediction of a total solar eclipse by American scientist George Davidson so impressed Kohklux, chief of the Chilkat Indian village of Klukwan, he drew him an incredibly detailed map of a vast part of the interior of the Yukon and Alaska.

October 18

- in 1867, official ceremonies at Sitka transferred Alaska from Russia to the United States.

October 25

- in 1918, the coastal steamer Princess Sophia sunk near Juneau, killing 463 people, about 10% of the Yukon's white population.

November 6

- in 1967, Jean Gordon, the Yukon's first female member of the Territorial Council, takes her seat.

December 8

- in 1741, Vitus Bering died after his ship was wrecked on an island off the Alaskan coast.

December 18

- in 1971, the Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by the President. Among the major provisions were the transfer of title to 40 million acres of land to native corporations, and a cash payment of $962.5 million.