Kodiak, Alaska - History

History

The Kodiak Archipelago has been home to the Alutiiq for over 7000 years. In their language, kadiak means "island". In 1763, the Russian explorer Stephan Glotov discovered the island, calling it Kad’yak (Кадьяк). He was followed by the British captain James Cook fifteen years later, who first penned "Kodiak" in his journals in 1778.

In 1791, the Russian fur trapper Alexander Baranov moved the post at Three Saints Bay (established in 1784), moved to a new site in Saint Paul Harbor (Свято-Павловской гавани, Svyato-Pavlovskoy Gavani) which became the nucleus of modern Kodiak. Baranov considered Three Saints Bay a poor location because it was too indefensible. The relocated settlement was first named Pavlovskaya (Повловская). A warehouse was built in what became one of the key posts of the Shelikhov-Golikov Company, a precursor of the Russian-American Company and a center for harvesting the area's vast population of sea otters for their prized pelts. The warehouse still stands as the Baranov Museum. Because the First Native cultures revered this animal and would never harm it, wars with and enslavement of the Aleuts occurred during this era. Eastern Orthodox missionaries settled on the island by the end of the 18th century, continuing European settlement of the island, which eventually became the capital of Russian Alaska. The Russian-American Company was established as a partnership between the two countries in the following century to continue the sea otter harvest. By the mid-19th century, the sea otter was almost extinct and 85% of the First Native population had disappeared from violence and exposure to European diseases.

When Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867, Kodiak became a center for commercial fishing, and canneries dotted the island in the early 20th century until global farm-raised salmon eliminated these businesses. New processing centers emerged and the industry continues to evolve, even today. During the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, animals such as the mountain goat, Sitka Deer(black tail), rabbits, muskrats, beavers, squirrels, and others were introduced to the island and the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge was created.

As Kodiak was incorporated in 1941, the U.S. feared attack from Japanese during World War II, and turned the town into a fortress. Roads, the airport, Fort Abercrombie, and gun fortifications improved the island's infrastructure. When Alaska became a state in 1959, government assistance in housing, transportation, and education added additional benefits.

In March 1964, a tectonic tsunami struck the city during the 1964 Alaska earthquake with 30-foot (9.1 m) waves that killed 15 people and caused $11 million in damages. Some areas near Kodiak were permanently raised by 30 feet (9.1 m). It wiped out the neighboring Native villages of Old Harbor and Kaguyak. The Standard Oil Company, the Alaskan King Crab Company, and much of the fishing fleet were also destroyed.

In 2012, rapper Pitbull was involved in an advertising campaign with Walmart, in which the Walmart store that gets the most Facebook "likes" from June 18 to July 15, 2012 would have Pitbull visit and put on a show there. An orchestrated internet campaign urged people to vote for the most remote location imaginable, Kodiak, resulting in a sizable lead for that store. Walmart confirmed that Kodiak won. Pitbull visited on July 30th where he received a key to the city from mayor Branson and then made an appearance before a crowd of hundreds at the Coast Guard base.