Alaska became a US state thanks to a Montenegrin Serb you’ve never heard of
By Darko Dudić (97)
Few of you will have heard of Mike Stepovich but his story is quite something. Son of a stowaway. He rose to become a prominent lawyer and governor. Father of 13. It’s thanks to Mike Stepovich that Alaska became the 49th state of the USA.
Before our story begins, I want to make one thing clear. Mike Stepovich did not wheedle Alaska from the Russians. That 2-cents-per-acre steal was done and dusted a century earlier.
What Mike did do was sweet-talk sceptical locals and the federal government to promote the US territory into a fully fledged state. He was so effective, he had talked himself out of his job as governor.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.