Russian colonization in Northwest America started in 1745, when Siberian fur
hunters reached Attu, the westernmost Aleutian island.
In the course of the following years they expanded their activities to other
islands and to the coastal regions of what later became Alaska.
In 1799 the colonized territories - known as Russian Northern America - were
granted to the Russian American Company. This company assumed all commercial
and administrative tasks until 1861, when the administration was taken over
by the Russian state and the company only retained its economic privileges.
In the course of the 19th century Russia - now more interested in expansion
in Asia - gradually lost its interest for its North American possessions and
in 1867 they were sold to the United States. (1)
(1) Actually negociations had started in 1859, but they were interrupted
by the Civil War.
Chronology of the Administration of U.S. Alaska 1867 - 1912
1868 : After its annexation to the US, Alaska was placed under military rule
and organized as a separate Military Department.
1870 : The Military Department of Alaska was abolished and the region became
part of the Military Department of Columbia.
1877 : The Army was withdrawn from Alaska to fight the Nez Percé. For nearly
two years the region now remained without federal officials. (2)
1879 : The federal administration was restored : Alaska was placed under the
common rule of the Departments of the Navy and of the Treasury (3)
1884 : Organic Act : Alaska became a Judicial District of the US.
Laws and regular administrative services were gradually introduced in
the country in the course of the following years. (4)(2) After the departure of the US troops M. C. Berry, customs collector
at Sitka, was left behind as sole federal official. As the man had
however no means to maintain any form of authority he wisely toke a
sickness leave soon afterwards.
After that William J. Morris (possibly identical to William Hopkins
Morris 1827 - 1900, often listed as chief executive in this period)
of the Port Townsend customs service in Washington Territory seems
to have maintained a semblance of US authority for some months in
1877 - 1878.
(3) More exactly under its Revenue Cutter Service(4) Until 1884 neither the Federal nor the Military authorities payed
much attention to judicial or administrative affairs : the military
administrators had been mainly concerned with Indian affairs and
except for the Customs Act of 1868 - regulating the liquor and arms
import, the fur trade, etc. - no other commercial, administrative
or penal laws were promulgated in Alaska before 1884.
As a result the settlers often had to look for themselves :
- In 1870 the settlers of Sitka elected a provisional government
(Chairman : ... Dodge) to maintain a semblance of law and order
in the town and to provide some educational and health services
- In 1879, fearing a native rising, Sitka requested British help
and for some time in march - july the town actually was under
the protection of HMS Osprey (Commander : Capt. Holmes O' Court)
(It was also in this situation that the Alaska Commercial Company
for some time emerged as a kind of de facto administration, its
trade posts often also serving as post offices, courts, community
houses, etc.)(But even after 1884 it toke some time before US laws and services
covered the whole district. This was especially the case in regions
touched by gold-rushes, like Nôme in Northern Alaska were there first
judge only arrived in 1900)
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U.S. ADMINISTRATORS
Commander of the Military Department of Alaska
(subordinated to the Commanders of the Military Division of the Pacific)
1868 - 1870 MajGen. Jefferson "Jeff"
Columbus Davis, Commander of the US
troops in Alaska 1867 - 1868 1828 - 1879
Commanders of the Military District of Alaska
(subordinated to the Commanders of the Military Department of Columbia)
1870 Col. George Keyports Brady 18.. - 1899
1870 - 1871 Maj. John Caldwell Tidball 1825 - 1906
1871 - 1872 Maj. Harvey Abner Allen 1818 - 1882
1872 - 1874 Maj. Joseph Steward
1874 Capt. George B. Rodney
1874 - 1876 Capt. Joseph B. Campbell 18.. - 1891
1876 - 1877 Capt. John Mendenhall 18.. - 1892
Naval Commanders in charge of Alaska
(subordinated to the Commanders in Chief of the Pacific Squadron)
1879 - 1881 Capt. Lester Anthony Beardslee,
Commander of the USS Jamestown 1836 - 1901
1881 Comm. Henry Glass,
Commander of the USS Wachusett 1844 - 1908
1881 - 1882 Comm. Frederick Pearson,
Commander of the USS Wachusett
1882 - 1883 Comm. Edgar C. Merriman,
Commander of the USS Adams
1883 - 1884 Comm. Joseph Bullock Coghlan,
Commander of the USS Adams 1844 - 1908
1884 Comm. Henry E. Nichols,
Commander of the USS Pinta
(until 1886)
Governors of the District of Alaska
1884 - 1885 John Henry Kinkead 1826 - 1904
1885 - 1889 Alfred P. Swineford 1836 - 1909
1889 - 1893 Lyman Enos Knapp 1837 - 1904
1893 - 1897 James Sheakley 1827 - 1917
1897 - 1906 John Green Brady 1848 - 1918
1906 - 1909 Wilford Bacon Hoggatt 1865 - 1938
1909 - 1912 Walter Eli Clark 1869 - 1950
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REPRESENTATIVES TO THE U.S. CONGRESS
Delegates(5)
1906 - 1907 Frank Hinman Waskey 1875 - 1964
1907 - 1909 Thomas Cale 1848 - 1941
1909 - 1912 James Wickersham 1857 - 1939
(5) In 1881, in an attempt to obtain the introduction of a regular civil
administration, a convention of the major Alaska settlements (Sitka,
Juneau, Wrangel, Klawock and Killisnoo) had already sent a delegate,
Mottrom Dulany Ball (1835 - 1887) to Washington.
He was not recognized by the Congress, but he stayed in the capital
and thanks to his lobbying he obtained the promulgation of the Act
of 1884.
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(This information is added in view of the important historical role of this
company, which, as already mentioned, for some time also acted as a kind of
de facto administration in for Alaska)
When the United States acquired the Russian possessions in North America in
1867, the stores, ships and other properties of the Russian American Company
were bought by two US companies, Hutchinson, Kohl & Co. and Hansen, Nybom &
Co.
They soon afterwards merged, becoming the Alaska Commercial Company - ACC in
1868.
At first mainly concerned with fur hunting on the Pribiloff Islands the ACC
gradually extended both its economic activities (to include banking, mining,
fishing, transportation, retail trade, etc.) and its zone of operations (to
include not only other parts of Alaska but also parts of Canadian Yukon), in
this way becoming for some time the real power in the whole region.
Presidents of the ACC
(imcomplete)
1868 - 1869 Louis Sloss 1823 - 1902
1869 - 1881 Gen. John Franklin Miller 1831 - 1886
1881 - 190. ...
190. - 1908 Gustave Niebaum (Gustav Nybom) 1842 - 1908
1908 - 1942 ...
Following the end of the great gold-rushes, the emergence of other companies
and the establishment of regular local administrations the power of the ACC
gradually declined after 1900 and in 1942 it ceased all activities. (6)
(6) By then most of these activities had however already been taken
over by other companies.
Among these the Northern Commercial Company, mainly concerned with
retail trade, was generally seen as the heir of the ACC.
The NCC lasted until 1977 when its last stores were sold the CEDC
(Community Enterprise Development Corporation of Alaska)
In 1992 the CEDC sold the stores to the reestablished Canadian NWC
(North West Company), which for its Alaskan branch, reintroduced
the ancient name of Alaska Commercial Company.
U.S. TERRITORY OF ALASKA
In 1912 Alaska became a Territory of the Union. (7)
(7) Included within the frontiers of the new territory were some 2400
islands, headlands, rocks, islets, spires and reefs
Among these were the Aleutian Islands, which in 1942 were attacked
by the Japanese who then briefly occupied the islands of Attu and
Kiska in 1942 - 1943.
Commander of the Northern Sea Garrison
1942 - 1943 Col. Yamazaki Yasuyo 1... - 1943
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TERRITORIAL OFFICERS
Territorial Governors
1912 - 1913 Walter Eli Clark s.a.
1913 - 1918 John Franklin Alexander Strong 1856 - 1929
1918 - 1921 Thomas Christmas Riggs Jr. 1873 - 1945
1921 - 1925 Scott Cordelle Bone 1860 - 1936
1925 - 1933 George Alexander Parks 1883 -
1933 - 1939 John Weir Troy 1868 - 1942
1939 - 1953 Ernest Henry Gruening 1887 - 1974
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REPRESENTATIVES TO THE U.S. CONGRESS
Territorial Delegates
1912 - 1917 James Wickersham s.a.
1917 - 1919 Charles August Sulzer 1879 - 1919
1919 James Wickersham (2x)
1919 Charles August Sulzer (2x)
1919 - 1920 none
1920 - 1921 George Barnes Grigsby 1874 - 1962
1921 James Wickersham (3x)
1921 - 1931 Daniel Alexander Sutherland 1869 - 1955
1931 - 1933 James Wickersham (4x)
1933 - 1945 Anthony Joseph Dimond 1881 - 1953
1945 - 1959 Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett 1904 - 1968
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