OIl Boom

The oil boom revitalized Alaska. Post WWII, the economy of Alaska was in decline due to the low price of timber and salmon, a decrease of military spending, and a lack of valuable exports. The money spent in Alaska attempting to drill was great because it employed people and stimulated the economy. However, the real money started flowing in when a bidding was held for the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield and other areas thought to contain oil. It followed with construction of the pipeline and maintenance of the drilling crews and rigs. All of this provided jobs for Alaskans and oil revenue for the state.

Questions for Jeff

1.     Why did you leave most of the famous ghost stories of Skagway out?

2.     How long have you worked on this book?

3.     What was the Smith family like? General personality?

4.     When were the roads paved?

5.     What happened to the Kasidaya Project? Is it near completion?

6.     What is going to happen to the Pullen fireplace? Is it still owned by the Brenas?

7.     Why did the Father ______ leave the mission?

8.     Why did you leave out some of the shipwrecks that happened in or near the harbor?

9.     What is your aim with making this book? To inform people primarily or to entertain them?

10. What was on, in the mid-1900s, the property that is where the baseball fields and frolfing course are now?

CH 11 Native Claims

·      Alaska Native Claims Setlement Act of 1971 was about two things:

o   the struggle for Native Americans to poses a bigger role/share in Alaska’s development

o   that the Claims will not endanger lands of special conservation value

·      American whalers, starting around 1848, harvested huge amounts of whales and walruses creating a shortage of both. The trade between the Natives and Americans also lead to disease and an introduction of alcoholism to the local population.

·      In Southeast the salmon stocks were also overfished and went into decline until statehood.

·      After the sea exploitation, the Americans turned their eyes to the interior and persuaded the Chilkat Natives to allow them over the pass. This was the beginning of interior exploration, trade, and conquest by Americans.

o   With the advent of gold rushes many non-Natives came into Alaska, this was the first population boom.

·      In 1906 one of the first Native Claims type act was passed. The Native Allotment Act enable Alaska Natives to obetain legal title to 160 arce homesteads. Only 80 allotments were ever given out.

·      The Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood was formed in 1912. Their purpose was to win citizenship, improve Native education, and preserve Native cultures.

o   1915 – an act allowing Natives to become citizens occurred, however it required the Natives give up their culture and old lifestyle

·      In 1934 the Indian Reorganization Act was passed. This included the right to create reservations if majority vote by Natives allowed it. This became a big topic in Alaska and most of the Natives and whites were against it.

o   Tlingits and Haidas filed claims for compensation for fishing, hunting, and land rights unfairly taken away. They won little money from the settlement.

·      1958 land was given to the state by the federal government, excluding any lands used or occupied by Natives. The state then slowly chose pieces of land.

·      The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) made plans to blast a new harbor using a hydrogen bomb in the Cape Thompson area of Alaska.

o   At first it was supported by the public, but when scientific studies of the are were done controversy arose because of a lack of hard evidence for the harbor, as it would be for the coal and mineral supposedly around .

o   Point Hope residents opposed the project because of its uncertain effects on their livlihoods, as their town was close by.

o   Eskimo and public opinion eventually turned against the project and it was abandoned.

·      The creation of the Alaska Federation of Natives in 1966 continued the fight for Native Claims and land rights.

·       

pg 383-394

            The section describing the location and purpose of certain old buildings in Skagway interests me. The change in the town from before the army was here, to when the military was stationed in Skagway, to nowadays is very dramatic. Plus, recognizing elements that have stayed the same such as houses or the Elks Lodge, makes history more comprehensible. I also enjoyed the descriptions of the highway construction as it is an essential part of the daily life now and Skagway would be less without it.

CH8

Alaska had several roadblocks to state hood. One of the main ones was a perception of Alaska as underdeveloped. Congress viewed Alaska as having too few people and not enough of an infrastructure. The tax base was also not there for a long time. People figured that the state might not be able to support itself. A second large roadblock was the inclusion of Hawaii as a state. Hawaii and Alaska were both pushing for statehood at the same time and many thought it was too much too include both. Eventually Hawaii agreed to let Alaska go first.

CH6 Important Things

Important Things

1.     Warren G. Harding was he first president to visit Alaska.

2.     President Harding enjoyed Alaska, except for Skagway. His was the only administration that attempted to deal with AK salmon fisheries.

3.     They did this by installing a rule that made fisheries operate hatcheries to release 4X the amount of fish taken the previous season.

4.     After a strike by fishermen, canaries and the packers who ran them decided to rely more on traps for fish. This caused a depletion of salmon due to over fishing.

5.     The federal government was highly involved, favoring the packers case, from 1906 with the bill giving the secretary of commerce the authority to regulate fishing until the 1930s.

6.     The Alaska railroad, going from Anchorage to Nenana, was completed in 1923 and cost $23 million. The railroad was expensive and many considered it frivolous.

7.     The era of airplanes began in the 1920s, this was crucial to travel and economy in Alaska. Because of the large nature and rugged terrain, planes as a way to bypass that were huge.

8.     The Coolidge administration had little interest in Alaska and took much financial backing away from the territory. During this time most Alaskans were living off the land with little from mainstream American intersecting in rural Alaskan life.

9.     Under Roosevelt’s presidency, Alaska benefitted indirectly. The cost and need for gold rose, thus the jobs for miners in the states increased as did the revenue produced.

10. The vast array of public-assistance programs the Roosevelt opened during the depression extended to Alaska such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Native Youth Association helped the general public.

11. As the Department of the Interior gained control of the fisheries department, major overhaul went on in monitoring and using the salmon fisheries. They wanted even more control of resource and Alaskans came together (packers and fishermen) to oppose them.

12. The Matanuska Valley Colony was a project envisioned as a part of Roosevelts relocation to cities battle against the depression. It’s aim was to create an agricultural hotspot in Alaska in the Matanuska Valley. It ultimately succeded despite the colonists being unprepared and the costs tremendous.

13. There was great opposition to the settlement and many Alaskans were opposed. In the end, the experiment was not repeated with any other town.

14. The native people were not ignored and more lands were given to them to further their economic independence.

15. The New Deal, as instigated by Roosevelt for a depression-ridden America, ultimately didn’t do a ton for Alaska. However, the salmon industries were majorly effected.

Elizabeth Peratrovich

            Elizabeth Peratrovich was born in Petersburg and adopted quickly by the Wanamakers. The father Andrew was a minister and travelled frequently on church business. Elizabeth often went with him and heard him speak. She acquired her eloquence in speech from him. She married Roy Peratrovich and they moved to Juneau look for better opportunities.

            When they arrived they faced major discrimination in the work force, housing, and social opportunity. Roy and Elizabeth joined the Alaska Native Brotherhood and the Alaska Native Sisterhood respectively. They lobbied for equal rights and an anti-discrimination bill to signed by the Senators. Elizabeth attended senate and spoke about to the Congress about passing the bill, despite major disapproval from some of the senators. She won over the congress and the bill passed, making the Anti-Discrimination Act one of the first such laws in the US.