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

September 1, 1906--Roald Amundsen and the Gjoa reached Nome after the first traverse of the Northwest Passage.

September 2, 1935--The first bridge connecting Douglas Island with Juneau opened.

September 3, 1941--The Army activated a post at Nome with nine officers and 221 enlisted men.

September 4, 1794--The Phoenix, the first ship built in Alaska, sailed from Resurrection Bay.

September 5, 1881--Alaska held its first election. A total of 294 voters cast ballots at Sitka, Harrisburg (Juneau), Wrangell, Killisnoo, and Shakan and elected M. D. Ball of Sitka as an unofficial delegate to Congress.

September 6, 1867--General Jefferson C. Davis was appointed commander of the Military District of Alaska.  He served in that office until the district was abolished on July 1, 1870.

September 7, 1884--The First Presbyterian Church of Sitka was organized.

September 8, 1906--The office of the Governor of Alaska was moved from Sitka to Juneau.  The rest of the District government and the Customs District headquarters had already moved.

September 9, 1947--Fire destroyed the Gilson store and bank and the Seattle Hotel at Valdez.

September 10, 1918--The "golden spike" was driven along the rail line connecting Seward and Anchorage.

September 11, 1958--Robert W. Service died at Monte Carlo, age 85.

September 12, 1922--The Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines was dedicated.  (Also reported as being on the 13th)

September 13, 1955--In a Special Election, 55 delegates were chosen to the Constitutional Convention which was to convene at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks in November.

September 14, 1917--Pioneer Hall in Fairbanks opened with a potlatch dance.

September 15, 1948--The parcel post zone system was established in Alaska.

September 16, 1929--Pilot Russ Merrill lost his life when his plane went down in Cook Inlet. Merrill Field in Anchorage and Merrill Pass in the Alaska Range are named for him.

September 17, 1868--The Alaska Commercial Company was incorporated at San Francisco.

September 18, 1948--Eielson Air Force Base was formally dedicated.

September 19, 1903--The Fairbanks News was established. Today it survives as the Fairbanks News-Miner.

September 20, 1914--The Revenue Cutter Tahoma was wrecked in the Aleutian Islands, a $750,000 loss.

September 21, 1891--The first Siberian reindeer in Alaska were landed at Unalaska by the Revenue Cutter Bear.

September 22, 1898--Discovery claim was staked on Anvil Creek near Cape Nome and the future city of Nome.

September 23, 1928--Erik Lindblom, one of the "three lucky Swedes" of the Nome gold discovery, died in Berkeley, California.

September 24, 1918--President Woodrow Wilson established the Katmai National Monument.

September 25, 1907--A gun battle took place in Keystone Canyon near Valdez over the right-of-way for a railroad.

September 26, 1867--A hurricane at Sitka damaged buildings and shipping and nearly sank the USS Ossippee which had left the harbor and was traveling south.

September 27, 1957--The Richfield Oil Company completed its well No. 1 near the Swanson River on the Kenai Peninsula.  The company had struck oil with the well on July 23.

September 28, 1922--The library of the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines officially put its first book on its shelves.   Alaska--Its Meaning to the World was the first volume of what is now the Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

September 29, 1849--Frederick Schwatka, who became noted as an explorer of Alaska, was born in Galena, Illinois.

September 30, 1902--Tom Gilmore located the discovery claim on Vault Creek in the Tanana District.