Ask the Scholar

{
    "localId": "12010354",
    "label": "Memorandum, Theodore Stevens to Wilton B. Persons Regarding the Eisenhower Administration's Position on Alaska Statehood",
    "core": "doc",
    "dtoType": "document",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12010354"
}

{
    "id": "12010354",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12010354",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Memorandum, Theodore Stevens to Wilton B. Persons Regarding the Eisenhower Administration's Position on Alaska Statehood",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12010354",
    "collections": [
        "White House Central Files (Eisenhower Administration)",
        "Official Files"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/eisenhower/186625/186625_0014_Page_1.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/eisenhower/186625/186625_0014_Page_1.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/eisenhower/186625/186625_0014_Page_1.jpg",
    "imageCount": 8,
    "hasImages": true,
    "source": "import",
    "hasTranscription": false
}

{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/12010354",
    "naId": 12010354,
    "levelOfDescription": "item",
    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 19,
            "logicalDate": "1955-03-19",
            "month": 3,
            "year": 1955
        }
    ],
    "recordType": "description",
    "ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}

{
    "seq": 3,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/eisenhower/186625/186625_0014_Page_3.jpg",
    "mediaId": "71215393d3e72bf0",
    "ocrText": "portion of this part of Alaska by the United States Marshals.\nThe Territorial police have al ready assumed responsibility for\nNome, Kotzebue, and Point Barrow.\nWithout further action, the Federal Government has control\nover and responsibility for more than 75% of the people in this\narea. There are virtually no roads in this area and none con-\ntemplated, other than a road planned for the distant future to\nlink Fairbanks with Nome. The schools in this area are predomi-\nnantly native schools. The main population center is Nome, which\nhas a population of about 1,900.\nWe believe that this area will be dependent upon the Federal\nGovernment regardless of whether it is included within the State.\nOn the other hand, there are vast mineral resources in this area\nwhich are necessary for the full development of the more populated\nareas of Alaska. The Gubic gas field, for instance, located\nsouth and east of Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, is a known gas\nstructure covering about 20 million acres. This structure has\nbeen estimated to contain 300 billion cubic feet of gas. Already\nplans are underway to provide private financing (about 45 million\ndollars) to develop this field and transport the gas by pipeline\nto the market center in the Fairbanks vicinity. The opening of\nthis field may well provide the incentive for extensive oil and\ngas exploration in this area. Minety-nine per cent of the land\nof Alaska is now owned by the Federal Government. Our bill would\nauthorize the new State to select up to 103,350,000 acres for\ndevelopment purposes. This is, roughly, 20% of Alaska.\n4. If Alaska were partitioned, and provision made for local\nrepresentative government, the cost would be prohibitive to the\nUnited States. Provision would have to be made by the Federal\nGovernment for executive, legislative and judicial authority by\ncreation of a territorial government or some administrative\nauthority. A separate government for the excluded area would\nbe more costly and would have a very limited revenue base. It\nhas been estimated that such local government would cost approxi-\nmately 4 million dollars annually.\n5. A decision to partition Alaska amounts to a reversal of\nthe position previously announced by Administration spokesmen\nbefore Congress. In 1955, Secretary McKay testified before com-\nmittees of both the Senate and the House; he requested that the\n3"
}