List of people from Alaska

Updated on Sep 26, 2024

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This is a list of notable people from Alaska. This list includes individuals who were born in Alaska, grew up there, retired there, or in any other fashion lived there even if for only a brief period of time (such as infancy, during one or more of the many gold rushes during the late 19th century and early 20th century, or as a result of rapid military influx and outflux from 1940 onward).

Key to table entries:

Name

Year born

Year died

Communities lived in Alaska

Noted for

People associated with Alaska

Edward Albee (born 1928), 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 Alaskan 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; 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 included 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), 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), 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

Wiley Post (1898-1935), aviator who died in a plane crash in Alaska along with Will Rogers (see below) while making a flight through the territory

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.

Will Rogers (1879-1935), actor and humorist, died in a plane crash in Alaska along with Wiley Post while making a flight through the territory

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 (1920-2013), 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. He has been a ubiquitous figure on Anchorage television for decades, as well as the subject of parodies and other cultural depictions originating from Alaska.

References

List of people from Alaska Wikipedia

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