In this post we will looking at Alaska a state in the United States of America and its territories, Its present and past governors and House of representative’s members.
INTRODUCTION.
Some researchers believe the first Russian settlement in Alaska was established in the 17th century. According to this hypothesis, in 1648 several koches of Semyon Dezhnyov’s expedition came ashore in Alaska by storm and founded this settlement. This hypothesis is based on the testimony of Chukchi geographer Nikolai Daurkin, who had visited Alaska in 1764–1765 and who had reported on a village on the Kheuveren River, populated by “bearded men” who “pray to the icons”. Some modern researchers associate Kheuveren with Koyuk River. The first European vessel to reach Alaska is generally held to be the St. Gabriel under the authority of the surveyor M. S. Gvozdev and assistant navigator I. Fyodorov on August 21, 1732, during an expedition of Siberian Cossack A. F. Shestakov and Russian explorer Dmitry Pavlutsky (1729–1735). Another European contact with Alaska occurred in 1741, when Vitus Bering led an expedition for the Russian Navy aboard the St. Peter. After his crew returned to Russia with sea otter pelts judged to be the finest fur in the world, small associations of fur traders began to sail from the shores of Siberia toward the Aleutian Islands. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1784. Between 1774 and 1800, Spain sent several expeditions to Alaska to assert its claim over the Pacific Northwest. In 1789, a Spanish settlement and fort were built in Nootka Sound. These expeditions gave names to places such as Valdez, Bucare Li Sound, and Cordova. Later, the Russian-American Company carried out an expanded colonization program during the early-to-mid-19th century. Sitka, renamed New Archangel from 1804 to 1867, on Baranof Island in the Alexander Archipelago in what is now Southeast Alaska, became the capital of Russian America. It remained the capital after the colony was transferred to the United States. The Russians never fully colonized Alaska, and the colony was never very profitable. Evidence of Russian settlement in names and churches survive throughout southeastern Alaska.
ALASKA TERRITORIES.
Alaska’s territorial capitol had been in Sitka until 1906, when it was moved north to Juneau. Passage of the 1899 Criminal Code which, among other things, included a tax on liquor, led to increased calls for Alaskan representation in Congress and the debate finally ended on August 24, 1912, when the Alaska District became an organized, incorporated territory of the United States. The Second Organic Act of 1912 renamed the District the Territory of Alaska. By 1916, its population was about 58,000. James Wickersham, a Delegate to Congress, introduced Alaska’s first statehood bill, but it failed for lack of interest from Alaskans. Even President Warren G. Harding’s unprecedented visit in 1923 (just days before his death) could not create widespread interest in statehood. Under the conditions of the Second Organic Act, Alaska had been split into four divisions. The most populous of the divisions, whose capital was Juneau, wondered if it could become a separate state from the other three. Government control was a primary concern, with the territory having 52 federal agencies governing it. The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; the Department of Alaska, 1867–1884; and the District of Alaska, 1884–1912. On January 3, 1959, Alaska became the 49th state. There was some delay because of concern by members of the national Republican Party that Alaska would elect Democratic Party members to Congress, in contrast to Hawaii, which was also a contender for statehood at the same time and thought to have Republican Party support. In recent years these predictions have turned out to be just the opposite for both states.
LIST OF GOVERNORS AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE’S MEMBERS.
Alaska was purchased by the United States from the Russian Empire in 1867, with formal transfer occurring on October 18, 1867, which is now celebrated as Alaska Day. Before then, it was known as Russian America or Russian Alaska, controlled by the governors and general managers of the Russian-American Company. The governor of Alaska is the head of government of Alaska. The governor is the chief executive of the state and is the holder of the highest office in the executive branch of the government as well as being the commander in chief of the Alaska’s state forces. Twelve people have served as governor of the State of Alaska over 14 distinct terms, though Alaska had over 30 civilian and military governors during its long history as a United States territory.
| Chief federal officers of the Department of Alaska | ||||
| No. | Commander | Position | Term in office | |
| 1 | Jefferson C. Davis | Army Colonel | October 18, 1867 – August 31, 1870 |
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| 2 | George K. Brady | Army Captain | September 1, 1870 – September 22, 1870 |
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| 3 | John C. Tidball | Army Major | September 23, 1870 – September 19, 1871 |
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| 4 | Harvey A. Allen | Army Major | September 20, 1871 – January 3, 1873 |
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| 5 | Joseph Stewart | Army Major | January 4, 1873 – April 20, 1874 |
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| 6 | George B. Rodney Jr. | Army Captain | April 21, 1874 – August 16, 1874 |
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| 7 | Joseph B. Campbell | Army Captain | August 17, 1874 – June 14, 1876 |
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| 8 | John Mendenhall | Army Major | June 15, 1876 – March 4, 1877 |
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| 9 | Arthur Morris | Army Captain | March 5, 1877 – June 14, 1877 |
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| 10 | Montgomery P. Berry | Collector of Customs | June 14, 1877 – August 13, 1877 |
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| 11 | Henry Charles DeAhna | Collector of Customs | August 14, 1877 – March 26, 1878 |
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| 12 | M. D. Ball | Collector of Customs | March 27, 1878 – June 13, 1879 |
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| 13 | Lester A. Beardslee | Navy Captain | June 14, 1879 – September 12, 1880 |
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| 14 | Henry Glass | Navy Commander | September 13, 1880 – August 9, 1881 |
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| 15 | Edward P. Lull | Navy Commander | August 10, 1881 – October 18, 1881 |
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| 16 | Henry Glass | Navy Commander | October 19, 1881 – March 12, 1882 |
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| 17 | Frederick Pearson | Navy Commander | March 13, 1882 – October 3, 1882 |
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| 18 | Edgar C. Merriman | Navy Commander | October 4, 1882 – September 13, 1883 |
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| 19 | Joseph Coghlan | Navy Commander | September 15, 1883 – September 13, 1884 |
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| 20 | Henry E. Nichols | Navy Lieutenant commander | September 14, 1884 – September 15, 1884 |
MEMBERS OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE U.S. HOUSE FROM ALASKA.
There is only one district, therefore only one member:
The most recent representative to Alaska was Don Young, who represented the at large district from 1973 until his death in 2022.
| Member or delegate | District home | Party | District | Years | Electoral history |
| Bob Bartlett | Juneau | Democratic | Territory | January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1959 | Elected in 1944. Elected in 1946. Elected in 1948. Elected in 1950. Elected in 1952. Elected in 1954. Elected in 1956. Retired. |
| Nicholas Begich | Anchorage | Democratic | At-large | January 3, 1971 – December 29, 1972 | Disappeared on a campaign flight from Anchorage to Juneau on October 16, 1972. An official death certificate was issued December 29, 1972. |
| Thomas Cale | Fairbanks | Independent | Territory | March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1909 | Elected in 1906. Retired. |
| Anthony Dimond | Valdez | Democratic | Territory | March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1945 | Elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1942. Retired to become a state judge. |
| George Barnes Grigsby | Juneau | Democratic | Territory | June 3, 1920 – March 1, 1921 | Elected to finish Wickersham’s term.[1] Lost election contest. |
| Howard Pollock | Anchorage | Republican | At-large | January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1971 | Elected in 1966. Retired to run for Governor of Alaska. |
| Ralph Rivers | Fairbanks | Democratic | At-large | January 3, 1959 – December 30, 1966 | Served as Representative-elect in 1957 and 1958 under the Alaska-Tennessee Plan, pending Alaskan statehood. |
| Charles August Sulzer | Prince of Wales Island | Democratic | Territory | March 4, 1917 – January 7, 1919 | Elected in 1916. Lost election contest to James Wickersham. |
| March 4, 1919 – April 28, 1919 | Re-elected in 1918. Died. |
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| Daniel Sutherland | Juneau | Republican | Territory | March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1931 | Elected in 1920.[2] Re-elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Retired. |
| Frank Hinman Waskey | Nome | Democratic[a] | Territory | August 14, 1906 – March 3, 1907 | Retired. |
| James Wickersham | Fairbanks | Republican | Territory | March 4, 1909 – March 3, 1917 | Elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1910. Re-elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914. Lost re-election. |
| January 7, 1919 – March 3, 1919 | Won election contest over Charles A. Sulzer.[4] Lost re-election. |
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| March 1, 1921 – March 3, 1921 | Succeeded George B. Grigsby, who had qualified on credentials of a special election held to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Charles A. Sulzer, which occurred while the contest was pending.[5] | ||||
| March 4, 1931 – March 3, 1933 | Elected in 1930.[6] Lost re-election to Anthony Dimond. |
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| Don Young | Fort Yukon | Republican | At-large | March 6, 1973 – March 18, 2022 | Elected to finish Begich’s term. Died. |