The Brief History of Alaska We first learned about Alaska in 1741 when Captain Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator, landed on the Alaskan islands. Soon after his discovery, Russians established the first white settlement on Kodiac Island, in 1784. The Russian hunters and traders went there in search of valuable furs so that they would become rich. In 1799, Russia chartered the Russian-American Company, a trading firm. Alexander Baranof became its manager and the company was the only governing body in Alaska for sixty-eight years. Baranof treated the natives harshly and enslaved the Aleuts. Durin