Celebrate Alaska Day

Celebrate Alaska Day ......Sunday October 18, 2009!

Alaska Day marks the day Alaska was formally transferred from Russia to the United States...

October 18, 1867.

Alaska Day is an official state holiday so state government offices, the Alaska court system, state library, schools (closed for students), and many businesses are closed, Monday the 19^th. Although our schools in Homer were closed Friday for some reason...

After 68 years of Russian rule in Sitka, Alaska, the Russian flag at the governor's house was lowered on October 18, 1867, and replaced with a United States flag. Two years before, the transcontinental telegraph line reached Sitka, and old expansionist dreams were rekindled. The United States bought the territory for 7.2 million dollars. Many Americans thought this was a waste of money and called Alaska "Seward's Folly", after William Seward, the state's secretary who championed the purchase.

There was little interest in Alaska from the lower 48 until gold was discovered. About 10,000 fortune seekers headed for the Klondike gold fields. Many of them hiked from Skagway across the Chilkoot Trail. In 1898, gold was found on the beaches near the Alaskan city of Nome. A city of tents sprang up overnight and by 1900, 232 ships had arrived in Nome carrying nearly 18,000 prospectors.

During World War II, Alaska's location was very important for the USA. By the time Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands in 1943, more than 140,000 military personnel were stationed in Alaska. The Aleutian campaign, known as the "One Thousand Mile War," was the first battle fought on American soil since the Civil War. Alaska maintained its status as a territory until it became the 49th state of the United States on January 3, 1959.