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George Alexander Parks
Summary
George Alexander Parks (May 29, 1883 – May 11, 1984) was an American engineer who worked in Alaska Territory for most of his career. Following an unexpected nomination from President Calvin Coolidge, he became the territory's first resident governor. As governor, he was the first person to serve two complete four-year terms and the first chief executive to travel extensively by air.
Parks was born to James and Mary Leach (Ferguson) Parks on May 29, 1883, in Denver, Colorado. He was educated in public schools before graduating from the Colorado School of Mines in 1906. After graduation, he worked as a mining engineer in Canada, Mexico, and the Western United States before arriving in Alaska in 1907 as part of an engineering team tasked with making evaluations for a group of investors.
In 1908, Parks worked for the United States Land Office in Denver as a mineral examiner for two months before taking a similar position in Alaska. Following the American entry into World War I, he joined the Army Corps of Engineers. Rising to the rank of captain by the war's end, he returned to the Land office after his military service.
In 1920, Parks was appointed Chief of the United States Land Office in Juneau. Four years later he was in Anchorage working as Assistant Supervisor of Surveys of Public Lands for Alaska. During his time with the land office, he traveled extensively throughout the territory, gaining an intimate knowledge of the geography and becoming acquainted with both the white and indigenous populations of Alaska.
While President Warren G. Harding, Hubert Work, and Herbert Hoover were visiting Alaska, Parks was assigned as a tour guide for the dignitaries. The group was impressed by their guide's detailed knowledge of the territory. When President Calvin Coolidge was later looking for a new territorial governor, Work and Hoover, who by then were both members of the Presidential Cabinet, recommended Parks. Coolidge nominated Parks to be Governor of Alaska Territory on February 14, 1925, and the new governor took his oath of office on June 17, 1925.
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