Alaskan Region History

Words: 1011
Pages: 5

The Alaskan region has an extensive history that dates back tens of thousands of years. The first people to Alaska roughly fifteen-thousand years ago via the Bering Land Bridge. However, as the most recent ice-age came to an end, sea levels began to rise and what was once a land bridge between North America and Asia, is now submerged underwater. This first initial group, would continue south and eventually populate both North and South America. The second group of migrants to arrive were the NaDene and Eskimo-Aleut, they arrived about three-thousand years after the initial Amerind migration group; however, instead of moving south, this group of migrants continued to move north, population what is present day Alaska and Canada. Data found from fossils suggests that the first permanent settlements in the higher arctic areas appeared about 3500-4000 years ago. Additionally, this data suggests that this first settlers originated in Siberia, crossed the Bering Land Bridge while following herds of animals, stayed in what is now Alaska for a brief time, then expand across Northern Canada and into what is now Greenland. Furthermore, fossils dating back 1000 to 4000 years ago have provided researchers with solid evidence of transcontinental interaction …show more content…
Years later him and George Steller, led a Russian expedition and made the first documented discovery of Alaska. By the late 1700s the first Russian Settlement was established in Alaska on Kodiak Island. Eventually it was discovered that Alaska was rich in natural resources ranging from oil to coal and even gold. In the mid 1800s oil and coal mining began to increase and in 1867, Alaska was purchased from Russia for $7.2 million dollars in gold. Gold was discovered in several locations in Alaska, including Sitka, Klondike and Juneau, this gave way to several gold rushes bringing hundreds of thousands new people to Alaska in search of