Alaska, The Last Frontier,
aka Land of the Midnight Sun
L is for Last Frontier - An Alaska Alphabet Book |
Alaska's nickname is The Last Frontier. The state motto of Alaska is North to the Future, which was adopted in 1967 during the Alaska Purchase Centennial. The motto is meant to represent Alaska as a land of promise. Another nickname for Alaska is Land of the Midnight Sun. This nickname refers to Alaska's northern locations where, for a period of time in the summer, the sun never completely dips below the horizon. The sun is visible at midnight!
Starting in the 1890s and stretching in some places to the early 1910s, gold rushes in Alaska and the nearby Yukon Territory brought thousands of miners and settlers to Alaska. Alaska was officially incorporated as an organized territory in 1912. Alaska's capital, which had been in Sitka until 1906, was moved north to Juneau. Alaska is in the farthest northwest extremity of the North American continent. It was purchased from Russia on March 30, 1867 for $7.2 million, which equates to approximately 2 cents per acre. Alaska became the 49th state in the USA on January 3, 1959.
Alaska is located in the northwest extremity of the North American continent. |
Alaska's size compared with the 48 contiguous states. |
Alaska State Flag This beautiful flag was chosen from a flag-designing contest. It was designed in 1926 by a 13-year-old Native American boy named Bennie Benson. Bennie was from the village of Chignik; he won a 1,000-dollar scholarship and a watch for winning the contest. |
Alaska Great Seal |
U.S. State Birds en.wikipedia.orgAlaska State Bird: Willow PtarmiganAlaska State Dog: Alaskan Malamute
|
Alpine forget-me-not; photo by Mike65ie on Flickr (noncommercial use permitted with attribution / share alike). Alaska State Flower: Forget-me-not The Forget-me-not is the state's official flower and bears the same blue and gold as the state flag. Source: en.wikipedia.org |
For all State Symbols of Alaska click HERE!
A contemporary version of the state song of Alaska. Lyrics by Marie Drake - Melody by Elinor Dusenbury - Sung by Adele Morgan. Alaska Flag Day (July 9th) was established to pay tribute to our state's flag designer, 13-year old Aleut orphan Benny Benson, and his two-colored flag. It celebrates the first time Alaska's flag was unfurled over the Jesse Lee Home (orphanage) in Seward. Benny was living at the orphanage when he designed the eight stars of gold on a field of blue as part of a state-wide contest for school children. Buildings, roads and schools are named in his honor.
Wolf in the Wilderness
http://bucktrack.com/Alaska_Photos.html |
a land of extremes
boasts bitterest of winters
most splendid of scenes
http://bucktrack.com/Alaska_Photos.html |
stumpy shrubs, velvety moss
yield patches of green
over, under, and across
http://bucktrack.com/Alaska_Photos.html |
opens the mind's eye
drawing upon memories
of days long gone by
http://bucktrack.com/Alaska_Photos.html |
no man-made sounds
silence amid solitude
awareness abounds
http://bucktrack.com/Alaska_Photos.html |
ne'er abandoned nor alone
watches, waits for its prey
without fear of the unknown
watches, waits for its prey
without fear of the unknown
http://bucktrack.com/Alaska_Photos.html |
©2014 Sharla Lee Shults
Alaska is the wolf in the wilderness —
loyalty among her own within an affectionate, playful nature.
Alaska is the wolf in the wilderness —
loyalty among her own within an affectionate, playful nature.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment