Captain James Cook reaches what is now known as Cook Inlet. Cook traced the outline of the Kenai Peninsula eventually sailing into a channel that he dubbed “River Turnagain”, which is now known as Turnagain Arm, due to the strong tides that required his boats to retreat.

IMAGE: Map of “Cook’s River” (David Rumsey Map Collection, www.DavidRumsey.com)

Purchase of Alaska from Russia. The United States, championed by Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State William H. Seward, paid Russia $7.2 million for the purchase of Alaska. Many scoffed at the purchase of an icebox and dubbed it Seward’s Folly.

IMAGES:

1. President Andrew Johnson’s proclamation regarding the Alaska Treaty, (Courtesy of the Alaska State Library, ASL-E669-U52-clip) 
2. Signing of Treaty of Cessation 3/30/1867 (Courtesy of the Alaska State Library – Alaska Purchase Centennial Collection, P20-181)
3. William H. Seward, Bureau of Engraving (Resurrection Bay Historical Society)

Joseph Cooper discovers gold in what is now known as Cooper Landing. Cooper Landing, Cooper Lake, and Cooper Creek are all named for him.

IMAGES:

1. The Cooper Landing Post Office was established in 1937. Today the historic post office is located at the site of the Cooper Landing Museum at Milepost 48.7 of the Sterling Highway (Cooper Landing Historical Society)
2. A bus bound for Seward is parked near the Cooper Landing Store. (Courtesy of Alaska State Library, Skinner Foundation. Photographs, Alaska Steamship Company, 1890s-1940s. ASL-PCA-44)
3. The covered bridge at Schooner Bend, built in 1929, was the northernmost covered bridge in North America and spanned the Kenai River near Cooper Landing. It was was torn down in 1955. (Cooper Landing Historical Society)
4. Jack Lean, a Cooper Landing resident, delivered mail with his dog team known as the White Special. The cabin that Lean constructed eventually became the Cooper Landing post office. (Cooper Landing Historical Society)

Hope, along with Sunrise, sprang up as a supply center for miners who stampeded to the area during the Turnagain Arm Gold Rush. Today Hope is considered the best preserved gold rush community in Southcentral Alaska. Many of the historical buildings are still in use.

IMAGES:

1. Robert Mathison with 385 ounces of Gold, which was a result of 58 days of placer mining. Mathison and his family, originally from Texas, became one of the first families to settle permanently in Hope. (Hope and Sunrise Historical Society -Mathison Collection 2010.030.019)
2. A stamp mill, which was used to crush rock in search of gold, is transported on the back of horse-drawn wagon. Circa 1902 (Hope and Sunrise Historical Society – Carl Clark Collection 2010.029.044)
3. After surface gold was mined by pick and shovel, miners used hydraulic methods to extract deeper placer gold. Water pressure from nearby creeks or man-made ditches pushed gold-bearing gravel through long lines of sluice boxes.(Hope and Sunrise Historical Society – Carl Clark Collection 2010.029.068)

Alaska Central Railway construction begins. (It becomes the Alaska Railroad in 1915 when the U.S. Government takes over the project.)

IMAGES:

1. Driving first spike on Seward Dock for Alaska Central Railroad, 1904 (Alaska Railroad Collection; Anchorage Museum, B1979.002.2503)
2. The Loop, designed by Frank Bartlett, to bypass a glacier and steep grades through the Kenai Mountains. (Courtesy of the Anchorage Museum)
3. Excursion Train enroute to Placer River Valley, 1906, (Courtesy of Alaska State Library, Feaster Family Collection, P349-040)
4. Alaska Central Railway’s First Engine (Courtesy of the Anchorage Museum, Alaska Railroad Collection; Anchorage Museum, B1979.002.4813)
5. Close-up view of Alaska Central Railway construction on Turnagain Arm. (Resurrection Bay Historical Society 701.1.40)
6. Teams freighting supplies to construction camps on Alaska Central Railway. Case and Draper photo. (Resurrection Bay
   Historical Society 701.1.70)

The first Mt. Marathon foot race is held in Seward.

IMAGE: Johnny Hughes won first place in the 1939 Mt. Marathon Race. (Resurrection Bay Historical Society 78.1.65)

The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, which connects Whittier to the Seward Highway, is completed. At two and half miles long, the tunnel is the longest combined highway and rail tunnel in North America.

IMAGES:

1. View from the Bear Valley end of the Whittier Tunnel (Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel) of a group of workers and others after the final blast in the construction of the tunnel. (Benjamin B. Talley papers, 1925-2002. Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage UAA-HMC-0241)
2. Passengers riding in open railroad cars enter the newly constructed Whittier Tunnel (Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel) for the first time. (Benjamin B. Talley papers, 1925-2002. Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage UAA-HMC-0241)
3. A group of men stands on top a pile of rubble during the construction of the Whittier Tunnel (Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel). (Benjamin B. Talley papers, 1925-2002. Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.UAA-HMC-0241)    

Alaska is proclaimed the 49^th state of the Union.

IMAGE: Child holding “49^th State” Pennant(UAA Consortium Library – Ruth A.M. Schmidt papers, 1912-2014, UAA-HMC-0792)

Congress designates the Iditarod Trail a National Historic Trail.

IMAGE: This sign designated the beginning of Iditarod Trail was erected in Seward in the 1980s. (Resurrection Bay Historical
Society 911.1.6)

KMTA National Heritage Area was established to recognize, preserve and interpret the historic resources and cultural landscapes of the Kenai Mountains- Turnagain Arm transportation corridor.

KMTA celebrates its 10th year as a National Heritage Area. In the past 10 years KMTA has invested over $1.07 million in local community projects, leveraging approximately $1.9 million through a multitude of volunteer, partner and community support.

IMAGE: Confluence of the Russian and Kenai Rivers (Janessa Anderson)