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Alaska's Governors Trivia Quiz

This includes questions about the people who governed Alaska, including Russian America, as well as the US Department, District, Territory, and State of Alaska.

A multiple-choice quiz by chikal98. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
chikal98

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
251,957

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
348

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Which of the following served as the first governor of Alaska by virtue of the fact that he was the Russian American Company's first chief manager? Hint

Alexander Baranov

Dmitri Maksutov

Ferdinand Wrangel

Vitus Bering

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Question 2 of 10

2. Alaska's first American governor was a military commander, representing the US Army's authority there from 1868. What other much more famous American leader of the period shared his name? Hint

Robert E. Lee

Jefferson Davis

Andrew Jackson

William Sherman

3. In 1884, Alaska was recategorized as a district of the union. John G. Brady was the governor of the district from 1897-1906. Before he took this office, though, he co-founded the Sitka Industrial and Training School to help local natives. What is the current name of that institution? Hint

Ilisagvik College

University of Alaska Sitka

Sheldon Jackson College

Prince William Sound Community College

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Question 4 of 10

4. The status of territory was given in 1912. Who was the very accomplished and popular territorial governor from 1939-53 who later served as a US Senator until his life of official public service was effectively ended with a loss to Mike Gravel in the Democratic primary of 1968? Hint

George Alexander Parks

Ernest Gruening

Michael Anthony Stepovich

Bob Bartlett

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Question 5 of 10

5. World War II brought a temporary reworking of the governorship in Alaska and it was again under military authority. Lt. General ____
____ Buckner functioned as a kind of governor of the territory and its defenses from 1941-44. Interestingly, he was an avowed Southern racist. Can you fill in the blanks with his, somewhat ironic, non-Anglo namesake? Hint

Mohammed Elijah

Simon Bolivar

Mahatma Ghandi

Frederick Douglass

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Question 6 of 10

6. Though two of its territorial governors were born in Alaska, only one state governor was born there. Who was this Democrat who served as the first (and fourth) governor of the state of Alaska? Hint

William Egan

Keith Miller

Walter Hickel

Jay Hammond

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. Another governor to be elected to two non-successive terms was Walter J. Hickel. He was the second governor of the state, but why did he resign that position in 1969? Hint

because he was under fire for financial mismanagement

to become Secretary of the Interior

to run for the US Senate

for health reasons

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Question 8 of 10

8. Which governor oversaw the creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund program? Hint

Bill Sheffield

Jay Hammond

William Egan

Tony Knowles

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Question 9 of 10

9. Arliss Sturgulewski was the first woman to become a major party candidate for the governor's office of Alaska, that in 1986. A Republican, she eventually lost the general election to what Democratic nominee? Hint

Walter Hickel

Frank Murkowski

Tony Knowles

Steve Cowper

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Question 10 of 10

10. Finally, a question to get us up to the year 2007. Sarah Palin became the first female (and youngest) governor in Alaskan history when she took office in December 2006. What was the highest elected office she had held previously? Hint

Alaska State Representative

Lt. Governor of Alaska

Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska

Alaska State Senator

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which of the following served as the first governor of Alaska by virtue of the fact that he was the Russian American Company's first chief manager?

Answer: Alexander Baranov

Wrangel (or Wrangell) and Maksutov were also governors of Russian America (which entailed mostly Alaska). Bering was the Danish explorer who headed the first significant European expedition to Alaska.

2. Alaska's first American governor was a military commander, representing the US Army's authority there from 1868. What other much more famous American leader of the period shared his name?

Answer: Jefferson Davis

Maj. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis (no relation to the Confederate President) was appointed to oversee Alaska just after the purchase from Russia. The Army remained in control of Alaska until 1877. For two years Alaska had no federal presence until the Navy and Revenue Cutter Service took authority in 1879.

Answer: Sheldon Jackson College

When the campus burned in 1882, the school was saved by Rev. Sheldon Jackson and eventually was renamed in his honor. Still located in Sitka, it is a fully accredited four-year liberal arts college.

Answer: Ernest Gruening

Gruening was a graduate of both Harvard University and its medical school, but began his professional life as a journalist. He later switched to public service and held several significant posts in the FDR administration, the last of which was an appointment to Alaska.

5. World War II brought a temporary reworking of the governorship in Alaska and it was again under military authority. Lt. General ____ ____ Buckner functioned as a kind of governor of the territory and its defenses from 1941-44. Interestingly, he was an avowed Southern racist. Can you fill in the blanks with his, somewhat ironic, non-Anglo namesake?

Answer: Simon Bolivar

Posthumously promoted to the rank of general, Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. is the son of Confederate General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Sr. He is officially credited as protesting the deployment of black soldiers to Alaska saying if they cross bred with Alaska natives they'd produce "the ugliest race the world has ever seen." Neither Buckner, Jr. nor his father likely had any Latin ethnic connections.

The name must have been given in tribute to the great South American revolutionary's military prowess.

6. Though two of its territorial governors were born in Alaska, only one state governor was born there. Who was this Democrat who served as the first (and fourth) governor of the state of Alaska?

Answer: William Egan

Born in Valdez, Alaska, Egan is a genuine founding father of modern Alaska. Every governor since him was born elsewhere in the US, so it is accurate to say there has never been a governor born in the "state" of Alaska: Alaska was a territory when Egan was born.

7. Another governor to be elected to two non-successive terms was Walter J. Hickel. He was the second governor of the state, but why did he resign that position in 1969?

Answer: to become Secretary of the Interior

Hickel is the only Alaskan to have headed a presidential cabinet department (1969-70).

8. Which governor oversaw the creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund program?

Answer: Jay Hammond

The popular fund of invested oil revenues now pays Alaskan residents an annual dividend, but, ever the fiscal conservative, Hammond wanted the fund to be held as insurance against future state budget deficits.

Answer: Steve Cowper

Sturgulewski was also nominated by the Republicans in 1990. She then lost the general election to Hickel. Traditionally a Republican himself, Hickel had accepted the nomination of the Alaska Independence Party.

Answer: Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska

Palin was the mayor and manager of Wasilla for two terms after serving on the Wasilla City Council. She was unsuccessful in a bid to be Lt. Governor in 2002, but she has never run for either the State House or Senate. After the failed 2002 bid, Gov. Frank Murkowski put her in charge of the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, a post she later resigned in protest.

Source: Author chikal98

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