Alaska
parallel to the winding of the coast, and which shall never exceed the
distance of ten marine leagues therefrom." The western limit within which
the territories and dominion conveyed, are contained, passes through a
point in Behring's straits on the parallel of sixty-five degrees thirty
minutes north latitude, at its intersection by the meridian which passes
midway between the islands of Krusenstern, or Inaglook, and the island of
Ratmanoff, or Noonarbook, and proceeds due north, without limitation, into
the same Frozen ocean. The same western limit, beginning at the same
initial point, proceeds thence in a course nearly southwest through
Behring's straits and Behring's sea, so as to pass midway between the
northwest point of the island of St. Lawrence and the southeast point of
Cape Choukotski, to the meridian of one hundred and seventy-two west
longitude; thence, from the intersection of that meridian, in a
southwesterly direction, so as to pass midway between the island of Attou
and the Copper island of the Kormandorski couplet or group in the North
Pacific ocean, to the meridian of one hundred and ninety-three degrees west
longitude, so as to include in the territory conveyed the whole of the
Aleutian islands east of that meridian. ARTICLE II In the cession of
territory and dominion made by the preceding article are included the right
of property in all public lots and squares, vacant lands, and all public
buildings, fortifications, barracks, and other edifices which are not
private individual property. It is, however, understood and agreed, that
the churches which have been built in the ceded territory by the Russian
government, shall remain the property of such members of the Greek Oriental
Church resident in the territory, as may choose to worship therein. Any
government archives, papers and documents relative to the territory and
dominion aforesaid, which may be now existing there, will be left in the
possession of the agent of the United States; but an authenticated copy of
such of them as may be required, will be, at all times, given by the United
States to the Russian government, or to such Russian officers or subjects
as they may apply for. ARTICLE III The inhabitants of the ceded territory,
according to their choice, reserving their natural allegiance, may return
to Russia within three years; but if they should prefer to remain in the
ceded territory, they, with the exception of uncivilized native tribes,
shall be admitted to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and
immunities of citizens of the United States, and shall be maintained and
protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion.
The uncivilized tribes will be subject to such laws and regulations as the
United States may, from time to time, adopt in regard to aboriginal tribes
of that country. ARTICLE IV His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias
shall appoint, with convenient despatch, an agent or agents for the purpose
of formally delivering to a similar agent or agents appointed on behalf of
the United States, the territory, dominion, property, dependencies and
appurtenances which are ceded as above, and for doing any other act which
may be necessary in regard thereto. But the cession, with the right of
immediate possession, is nevertheless to be deemed complete and absolute on
the exchange of ratifications, without waiting for such formal delivery.
ARTICLE V Immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of this
convention, any fortifications or military posts which may be in the ceded
territory shall be delivered to the agent of the United States, and any
Russian troops which may be in the territory shall be withdrawn as soon as
may be reasonably and conveniently practicable. ARTICLE VI In
consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United States agree to pay at
the treasury in Washington, within ten months after the exchange of the
ratifications of this convention, to the diplomatic representative or other
agent of his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, duly authorized to
receive the same, seven million two hundred thousand dollars in gold. The
cession of territory and dominion herein made is hereby declared to be free
and unencumbered by any reservations, privileges, franchises, grants, or
possessions, by any associated companies, whether corporate or incorporate,
Russian or any other, or by any parties, except merely private individual
property holders; and the cession hereby made, conveys all the rights,
franchises, and privileges now belonging to Russia in the said territory or
dominion, and appurtenances thereto. ARTICLE VII When this convention
shall have been duly ratified by the President of the United States, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate, on the one part, and on the
other by his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, the ratifications
shall be exchanged at Washington within three months from the date hereof,
or sooner if possible. In faith whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries
have signed this convention, and thereto affixed the seals of their arms.
Done at Washington, the thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven. [SEAL] WILLIAM H. SEWARD [SEAL]
EDOUARD DE STOECKL And whereas the said Treaty has been duly ratified
on both parts, and the respective ratifications of the same were exchanged
at Washington on this twentieth day of June, by William H. Seward,
Secretary of State of the United States, and the Privy Counsellor Edward de
Stoeckl, the Envoy Extraordinary of His Majesty the Emperor of all the
Russias, on the part of their respective governments, Now, therefore, be
it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States of America,
have caused the said Treaty to be made public, to the end that the same and
every clause and article thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good
faith by the United States and the citizens thereof. In witness whereof, I
have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be
affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this twentieth day of June in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, and of the
Independence of the United States the ninety-first. [SEAL] ANDREW JOHNSON
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State
The most important dates in the history of Alaska
January 3
- in 1959, Alaska became the 49th State.
January 23
- in 1971, the temperature at Prospect Creek, Alaska, dropped to 80
degrees below zero, the lowest temperature ever recorded in the United
States.
February 3
- in 1988, PL 100-241, the Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act
Amendments, were signed by President Regan. The amendments gave more
flexibilty to the corporations managing Settlement lands.
February 14
- in 1973, the Yukon Native Brotherhood presented a Statement of
Claim to the federal government, stating their position on land claims,
self-goverment and other issues which had been published in January in
"Together Today For Our Children Tomorrow".
February 16
- in 1944, the final weld on the Canol pipeline laid on by Bob
Shivel, 20 months after the project began.
February 22
- in 1951, after 3 years of rumours, the federal government
approved moving the capital of the Yukon from Dawson City to Whitehorse.
A new Federal Building was constructed in 1952, and the Territorial
Council chambers were moved the following year, with the first meeting
held in Whitehorse in April.
February 24
- in 1924, Carl Ben Eielson made Alaska's first Air Mail flight.
March (day unknown)
- in 1812, the Russian American Company establishes a post at Fort
Ross, California to grow crops for their Alaska operations.
March 12
- in 1914, a bill authorizing the construction of the government-
financed Alaska Railroad was signed by President Wilson. Construction
started in 1915, and some sections were opened as they were completed,
but the entire line, running from Seward to Fairbanks, was not completed
until July 15, 1923.
March 24
- in 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez went aground on Bligh Reef,
pouring almost 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound.
March 27
- in 1964, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.4 on the Richter
Scale hits the Anchorage area, killing 115 people and destroying hundreds
of homes.
- in 1975, the first section of pipe for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline
from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez was laid. By August, 21,600 people were
working on the project. The first oil was put through the 800-mile line
on June 20, 1977.
March 30
- in 1867, the United States purchased Alaska for $7,200,000
April 1
- in 1951, the Alaska Highway was turned over to Canada, in a
ceremony at Whitehorse.
April 3
- in 1898, a series of 5 avalanches in the Chilkoot Pass between
2:00 AM and noon killed over 70 people.
- in 1919, the Yukon finally allowed women to vote in Territorial
elections. Manitoba had been the first province to enfranchise women, in
1916, and federal enfranchisement was passed in May 1918.
May (day unknown)
- in 1904, the first commercial wireless communication facility in
the U.S. opened, between Nome and St. Michael.
May 7
- in 1906, the Alaska Delegate Act was passed by Congress, giving
the territory's 40,000 people the right to elect a non-voting delegate to
Congress.
May 12
- in 1778, Captain James Cook entered Prince William Sound.
May 26
- in 1778, Captain James Cook entered Cook Inlet.
- in 1894, a resolution of the Privy Council authorizes the North-
West Mounted Police into the Yukon "in the interests of peace and good
government, in the interests also of the public revenue." By June 26,
Inspector Charles Constantine and Staff-Sergeant Charles Brown were at
Juneau, heading for the goldfields of the British Yukon.
- in 1900, Congress authorized a massive telegraph construction
project in Alaska.
May 28
- in 1898, the ice broke on Lake Bennett; within the next few
weeks, 7,080 boats carrying 28,000 people passed the NWMP post at Tagish.
May 29
- in 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.
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