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1832 |
Russian mining engineer
discovers gold near Kuskokwim River.
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1849 |
Lieutenant
Peter Doroshin, a geologist with the Russian Corps of Mining
engineers, found traces of gold in the mouths of streams
emptying into Kenai Bay, though he never found the source of
the gold.
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1861 |
Buck Choquette discovers gold
on the Stikine River at Telegraph Creek in British Columbia
near Wrangell.
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1867 |
Alaska purchased from Russia.
American prospectors came
north to explore the new territory.
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1870 |
Gold found at Sumdum Bay, SE
Alaska.
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1871 |
Gold discovered at lndian
River near Sitka.
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1872 |
Prospectors make a second
Stikine gold strike.
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1873 |
Jack McQuesten, Arthur Harper
and Alfred Mayo begin prospecting along the Yukon River.
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1874 |
George Holt became the first
to cross Chilkoot Pass in search for gold.
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1876 |
Gold was discovered in Juneau,
sparking the Juneau gold rush.
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1880 |
Tlingit Natives agree allow
prospectors to cross Chilkoot Pass.
Kowee, Joe Juneau and
Richard Harris make major gold strike on Gold Creek near
Juneau, leading to the establishment of that city.
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1884 |
Congress passes the Organic
Act of 1884, providing a civil government for Alaska.
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1886 |
Howard Franklin and Henry
Madison strike gold on Fortymile River in interior Alaska
near the Canadian border. This find started the first rush
to interior Alaska, setting the stage for further strikes
throughout the region.
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|
1888 |
Alexander King discovers gold
on Kenai Peninsula.
More than 60,000 arrived in Alaska in search of gold.
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1892 |
A discovery on Birch Creek
opens the Circle Mining District.
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1893 |
Gold discoveries near Hope,
Rampart and Circle focused new attention on the Yukon River
drainage as a place to prospect.
The Panic of 1893 plunges the
U.S. into economic depression.
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|
1896 |
George Washington Carmack,
Tagish Charlie and Skookum Jim stake a claim on Bonanza
Creek, setting off the great Klondike gold rush.
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|
1897 |
S.S. Excelsior and S.S.
Portland arrive at San Francisco and Seattle loaded with
gold from the Klondike.
The stampede to the Klondike
begins.
U.S. Army establishes Fort
St. Michaels, first of six gold rush posts.
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|
1898 |
30,000 stampeders reach the
Klondike.
Gold
discoveries at Nome by the "Three Lucky Swedes" caused
another massive rush north.
Sixty five people die in
Chilkoot Pass avalanche.
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|
1899 |
More gold was
discovered on the beaches of Nome.
Gold discoveries in
the Koyukuk drainage brought prospectors to the foothills of
the Brooks Range, the northern-most extent of Alaska's gold
rushes. Small strikes led to short-lived mining camps at
Beaver City, Dillman Creek, Coldfoot, and elsewhere.
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|
1900 |
Congress authorizes
construction of telegraph lines and submarine cables to
connect Alaska's military posts with each other and with the
rest of the U.S.
Alexander McKenzie and
Judge Arthur H. Noyes arrive ln Nome and start a fraudulent
scheme to seize rich mining claims.
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|
1902 |
Italian immigrant, Felix Pedro
discovers gold on Pedro Creek leads to the founding of
Fairbanks.
|
|
1903 |
Discoveries at Valdez Creek
set off a small stampede to a district that contained the
largest gold placer mine in North America.
Miners from Dawson stage a -50
degree stampede to the Tanana.
Boundary tribunal settles boundary dispute between Alaska
and British Columbia.
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1906 |
Gold discovered in Chandalar
District.
|
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1908 |
John Beaton and William
Dikeman strike gold on the Iditarod River.
|
|
1909 |
Gold discoveries at
Iditarod and Flat set off another rush, sometimes called
"The Last Great Rush."
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|
1910 |
Stampede to Ruby.
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|
1911 |
Kennicott copper mines begin
production.
Alaska Road Commission
blazes the Iditarod Trail, from Seward to Nome.
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|
1912 |
Congress passes Organic Act of
1912, giving Alaska Territorial Status and a Legislature.
|
|
1913 |
Gold found at Marshall.
Billy James and Nels Nelson
discover gold at Chisana in the Wrangell Mountains.
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|
1914 |
Jay Livengood finds gold on
Livengood Creek, north of Fairbanks.
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