nchorage was built by a series of "Boom-to-Bust" cycles. After the gold rush, Anchorage became a tent city and railroad-building town. Then Anchorage flowered during the boom years of World War II into a rowdy little city.

In 1959, Alaska became a state, and Anchorage was one of its most important towns. Five years later, on Good Friday, the Great Alaska Earthquake, which measured up to 9.2 on the Richter Scale, almost demolished Anchorage.

Anchorage surged again in the 1970's, as an outfitting town for building the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

Today, the once-scrappy town of Anchorage on the edge of the wilderness holds half the state's population, and provides cultural activities for all Alaskans.

This is the Fur Rendezvous "Grande Parade."