The Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98 was the first event to garner significant exposure for the

great, white North. During the decade of 1890-1900, more than 30, 000 people surged into the
Yukon Territory and Alaska when gold was discovered in places like Dawson, Fairbanks, and
Ester. Mining, fishing, trapping, and mineral production flourished and a true "colonial economy"
developed, in which outside interests exploited the material resources of Alaska and took the
profits elsewhere. In an article for the ​Atlantic Monthly​ called "Colonial Lessons of Alaska,"
journalist David S. Jordan declared that the disarray in Alaska could be attributed to four
sources: "lack of centralization of power and authority, lack of scientific knowledge, lack of
personal and public interest, and the use of offices as political patronage."​3​ Could the U. S. in
good conscience hoist its flag over a colony if it was not prepared to care for it? Surveying the
situation, President McKinley acknowledged the urgent need for further civil organization in
Alaska and called for legislative relief which would address Alaska's bulky backlog of civil and
criminal cases. In 1900 Congress passed an official code of civil and criminal procedure,
appointed more judges, and put in place a system of taxation. Furthermore, the duty-free
exchange of goods with Canada was established and construction was approved for a railroad
between the port city of Seward and the city of Fairbanks, in the Interior, to aid in the distribution
of goods.
Efforts toward self-government were complicated by the influence in Washingon of the "AlaTska
Syndicate," formed in 1906 by the fortunes of J. P. Morgan and Guggenheim. The Syndicate
had purchased the large Kennicott-Bonanza copper mine and controlled much of Alaskan
steamship and rail transportation, as well as a major part of the salmon canning industry. The
Syndicate lobby in Washingon had successfully opposed any further extension of Alaskan home
rule. James Wickersham, who had been appointed to an Alaskan judgeship in 1900 by
President McKinley, became alarmed by the potential influence of incorporated interests in the
territory and took up the struggle for Alaskan self-government. Wickersham argued that Alaska's
resources should be used for the good of the entire country rather than exploited a select group
of large, absentee-controlled interests--home rule, he claimed, would assure more just utilization
of the territory's natural wealth. The 1910 Ballinger-Pinchot affair, which involved the illegal
distribution of thirty-three federal government Alaskan coal land claims to the Guggenheim
interests, culminated in a Congressional investigation and brought Alaska directly into the
national headlines. Wickersham, surveying the fallout of the affair, determined that it
destroyed the friendship between Theodore Roosevelt and President Taft; split the Republican
party into two great factions; defeated President Taft for re-election in 1912; elected Woodrow
Wilson President of the United States; and changed the course of history of our country.​4
A chastened President Taft, in a special message to Congress on February 2, 1912, urged the
enactment of legislation which would help Alaska develop its resources along the lines that
Wickersham had urged.
The Second Organic Act, passed by the U. S. Congress in April 1912, conferred official territory
status upon Alaska and provided for an elected legislature of eight senators and sixteen house
members.​5​ Congress refused to give significant power to this legislature, however, or make the
position of governor of the Territory a popularly elected one. Everything the local legislature did
was subject to the (dis)approval of Congress. The federal government retained the power to
regulate the territory's fish, game, and fur resources, a function no organized territory had thus
far been denied. These restrictions would chafe Alaskans and eventually lead to efforts to
amend and change the Second Organic Act. Nonetheless, this official act of incorporation by
Congress did bind the region more firmly to the United States.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had provided the framework for the territorial system and
had, for over a century, served well the purposes of expansion. The last two contiguous U. S.
territories, New Mexico and Arizona, had become states in 1912. But Alaska (like Hawaii and
Puerto Rico) was non-contiguous and sparsely populated. These two factors, as well as
Congress' uncertainty about Alaska's indigenous non-white population of Aleuts, Indians, and
Eskimos complicated Alaska statehood. To be sure, political considerations had often been part
of statehood questions: the 1864 elevation of Nevada from territory to state (though it only had a
population of 20,000 at the time) gave Abraham Lincoln needed votes for re-election and also
helped ratify the 13th Amendment.

When gold was discovered the dawson,fairbanks, and ester regions of Alaska during the early
1800s many workers began to flood into these areas greatly increasing the industrialization of
Alaska. Along with the new influx of workers hoping to strike it rich with gold many
furtraping,mining, and fishing companies began to settle in this eventually helped establish a
“colonial economy”. Some greedy settlers made the decision to mine the natural resources of
alaska and take the profit and business to other areas. These actions led to a article published
in “atlantic monthly called colonial lessons of Alaska” the author states that the disorder in
Alaska is fueled by a Lack of government,law, and education the article questioned the moral
grounds on Alaska and the United States. This concern eventually found its way to then
President of the United States Mckinley who took action by installing a local government
,sending judges, and implementing a system of taxation. More action was taken when a railway
was constructed to connect with the neighboring country of Canada to improve trade and
relations. The progress in alaska was slowed when political parties ,backed by billionaires, or
the “Alaska Syndicate” bought major mining and small businesses in Alaska which gave them
power of the economy this prevented the Self governing initiative. This power struggle
prevented the home rule of Alaska. This concerned Judge Jame Wikersham who believed that
Alaska and its resources should be used for the good of the entire country not just a small
number of big businesses he insisted that home rule in Alaska would help the industrialization
and distribution of its vast resources. Then in 1910 the ballinger-Pinchot affair happened which
was an illegal distribution of coal mines for the Alaskan Syndicate this interest played in the
favor of having Woodrow Wilson elected for the United States and split the republican party in
two.