List of People From Alaska - People Associated With Alaska

People Associated With Alaska

• Edward Albee (born 1928), the main person responsible for building the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez to the status it has currently achieved.
• Henry Tureman Allen (1859-1930), U.S. Army officer who conducted a famous expedition of Alaska's interior in 1885, largely through the Copper and Tanana River drainages.
• Roald Amundsen (1872-1928), frequently passed through Alaska in his travels.
• Hubert Howe Bancroft (1832-1918), whose 19th-century published history of Alaska, part of a larger series, formed an important foundation for later study of Alaska history.
• Alexander Baranof (1746-1819)
• Vitus Bering (1681-1741), made the first recorded European sighting of Alaska.
• Hale Boggs (1914-1972), member of the U.S. House from Louisiana, who disappeared on a flight in Alaska along with freshman colleague Nick Begich while helping Begich campaign for reelection.
• Jackson Browne (born 1948), stated in a 1980s interview that he was conceived in Alaska, while his father was stationed there in the U.S. military.
• Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. (1886-1945), military commander of Alaska early in World War II.
• Sydney Chapman (1888-1970), mathematician and geophysicist; was Advisory Scientific Director of the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska from 1951 until his death, where he was largely responsible for building the programs and reputation of the Institute in its early years.
• James Cook (1728-1779), British explorer, whose voyages include several trips along Alaska's coastline.
• William Healey Dall (1845-1927), biologist, hydrographer; explored interior Alaska, charted the Aleutians. America's pre-eminent authority on Alaska 1866-1900
• Brad Davis (born 1955), played briefly for the Anchorage Northern Knights before going on to a long career with the Dallas Mavericks, both as a player and in other capacities.
• Edna Ferber (1885-1968), a personal friend of Ernest Gruening, following the success of Giant, was convinced by Gruening to write Ice Palace as a tool to promote Alaskan statehood.
• Joseph Hazelwood (born 1946), captain of the Exxon Valdez when it ran aground and spilled oil in 1989.
• Michael A. Healy (1839-1904), captain of the USRC Corwin and USRC Bear when they were the only law enforcement presence north of Sitka.
• Eric Holmback (1924-1965), a professional wrestler of the 1950s and 1960s known as "Yukon Eric," was billed (declared by the promoter and/or ring announcer as hailing) from Fairbanks. Other wrestlers, such as Jay York (who was also briefly a member of the rock group Delaney & Bonnie) and King Kong Bundy (while wrestling in Texas during the early 1980s), also portrayed wrestling personas associated with Alaska.
• Michio Hoshino (1952-1996), photographer.
• Jack London (1876-1916), writer.
• Christopher McCandless (1968-1992), hiker, ad hoc adventurer.
• John Muir (1838-1914) Writer, explorer, naturalist. Made and wrote about several trips to Alaska; explored Glacier Bay
• Ralph Regula (born 1924), longtime member of the U.S. House representing Canton, Ohio, the hometown of William McKinley. Regula devoted much of his career to preserving McKinley's legacy, and maintained a decades-long effort in Congress to prevent the renaming of Mount McKinley to its native name Denali.
• Robert W. Service (1874-1958), due to influence from Gold Rush migration across the North Country, Service became Alaskans' most well-loved poet, despite actually living in the Yukon Territory.
• Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962), frequently passed through Alaska in his travels.
• Timothy Treadwell (1957-2003), bear enthusiast.
• Naomi Uemura (1941-1984), adventurer, mountain climber, died while attempting a solo ascent of Mount McKinley.
• Bradford Washburn (1910-2007), mountaineer, geographer.
• Cal Worthington (born 1920), purchased Anchorage dealership Friendly Ford in 1976 and renamed it Cal Worthington Ford, which his company still owns and operates along with other Anchorage dealerships. Has been a ubiquitous figure on Anchorage television for decades, as well as the subject of parodies and other cultural depictions originating from Alaska.