This Month in Alaska History
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This Month in History is compiled by Robert N. DeArmond of Sitka

July 1, 1935--The Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines became the University of Alaska as a result of an act of the territorial legislature.

July 2, 1922--What was said to have been the first radio broadcast "north of 53" went on the air at Nome.  The station was installed by Captain C. H. Burkhead of the U.S. Signal Corps.  The broadcast was heard at St. Michael and Nulato.

July 3, 1913--The first airplane flight in Alaska occurred at Fairbanks.  The pilot was Army Captain J. V. Martin.

July 4, 1884--John H. Kinkead of Nevada was appointed Alaska's first governor.  He had previously lived in Sitka from 1867 until 1872.

July 5, 1869--The steamboat Yukon entered the Yukon River, the first steamer to do so.

July 6, 1921--A fire at Katalla destroyed the plant of the Chilkat Oil Company.

July 7. 1958--President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act into law.

July 8, 1937--Radio telephone service was inaugurated between Juneau and Seattle. The cost for 3 minutes was $9 during the day, $6 evenings and weekends.

July 9, 1953--Mount Spurr erupted northwest of Anchorage and coated that city with volcanic ash.

July 10, 1899--Fort Gibbon military reserve was established near Tanana by executive order of President McKinley.

July 11, 1921--The last of the old Russian blockhouses at Sitka was razed by the Coast & Geodetic Survey because its iron spikes interferred with the instruments at the nearby magnetic observatory.

July 12, 1776--Captain James Cook sailed from England on a voyage of exploration that brought him to Alaska.

July 13, 1921--Scott C. Bone took office as the tenth governor of Alaska.

July 14, 1804--The Russian ship Neva, Captain Urey Lisianski, arrived at Kodiak on a voyage around the world.

July 15, 1923--At Nenana President Warren G. Harding drove the golden spike that signified the completion of the Alaska Railroad.

July 16, 1786--The King George, with Captain Nathaniel Portlock, and the Queen Charlotte, with Captain George Dixon, arrived on Cook Inlet.

July 17, 1897--The steamer Portland arrived in Seattle with what the headlines said was "a ton of gold." The Klondike gold rush was on.

July 18, 1881--The Rev. and Mrs. Eugene Willard arrived at Portage on Lynn Canal and established Haines Mission.

July 19, 1888--John H. Keatley took office as U. S. District Judge for Alaska, the fourth man to hold that office.

July 20, 1897--Carl Ben Eielson, pioneer Alaska aviator and for whom Eielson Air Force Base was named, was born in North Dakota.

July 21, 1922--Jay Hammond, Alaska's governor from 1974 to 1980, was born.

July 22, 1902--Felix Pedro discovered gold on Cleary Creek near present Fairbanks.

July 23, 1907--President Theodore Roosevelt issued a Proclamation establishing the Chugach National Forest.

July 24, 1897--Congress created the office of Surveyor General and ex-officio Secretary of Alaska. The latter office is now known as Lieutenant Governor.

July 25, 1924--The Alaska Sanitary Packing Co. cannery at Wrangell was destroyed by fire.

July 26, 1950--A. E. "Cap" Lathrop, one of Alaska's leading entrepreneurs, was killed when struck by a railroad car at the Suntrana coal mine.

July 27, 1868--The U.S. Customs Service created a district for Alaska with its headquarters at Sitka.

July 28, 1899--Fire destroyed the U.S. Army post, Camp Dyea, at the head of Lynn Canal.

July 29, 1905--The sailing ship Star of Russia of the Alaska Packers fleet was stranded on Chirikof Island and sustained damage of $56,000 but was salvaged.

July 30, 1904--The USS Burnside, laying a telegraph cable between Seattle and Sitka, sent the first message over the cable.

July 31, 1869--The steamer Active arrived in Sitka with former Secretary of State William H. Seward and his party on board.