Earlier this month the Anchorage Daily News covered a story that brought us back to a founding piece of Alaska’s history–the Gold Rush! A gold rush era ship which sank off of the Southeast Coast of Alaska, was uncovered and with it remained an impressive amount of gold and artifacts.
This enchanting local discovery might be just one piece of a larger puzzle for Professor Tim Rawson, along with student’s of his Environmental History class. The class has taken on the arduous task of uncovering the stories and historic accounts of Alaska’s Cook Inlet. Though it is not the projects central focus, they will find it impossible to ignore the impact of certain commodities and resources that created the bedrock for Alaska’s largest municipality. As a class they will look further into the climate history, fauna and flora, indigenous people, development of communities, transportation and trade economy.
