Dear Friends,

ook Inlet Historical Society (CIHS) is the private non-profit historical society for the Anchorage area, and has been instrumental since its founding in 1955 in fostering discussion, research and publication of the history and ethnography of the Anchorage and Cook Inlet regions of Alaska, as well as of our state and its place in the Circumpolar North. In that regard, CIHS was the principal organization responsible for the establishment of the Anchorage Museum in 1968.
     CIHS is the prime sponsor of Legends and Legacies, a project initiated by the late John Bagoy, long-term member of the Society, which features the people who lived and settled in Anchorage in the early 20th Century. This presentation is not a treatise on the history of Anchorage, nor a collection of self-told stories, escapades and personal accomplishments by Anchorage residents. Instead, it is an accumulation of the histories of the range of people who lived in Anchorage for an extended period of time during Alaska’s formative years. They were from all walks of life: old timers and immigrants, Natives and non-Natives, crusty sourdoughs and brash newcomers. Whoever they were, each made an important contribution to the founding and prosperity of our vibrant and diverse community. This project is intended to celebrate them and their accomplishments.
     The Legends and Legacies project will continue to be updated over time, and we encourage your suggestions as the database expands to include the full range of people who helped give Anchorage its start and made it the community we know today. In this way our database will tell an even more complete and robust story of the hardy individuals and families who lived here or put down their roots, built their homes and worked together to establish and build Alaska’s largest community.