The term institution commonly applies to both informal institutions such as customs or behavior pattern important to a society, and to particular formal institutions created by entities such as the government and public services.
Gold was first discovered in Southeast Alaska in the 1870s. The first discovery was made near Sitka in 1872 and the second was made in 1876 in Windham Bay. These finds followed the discovery of gold nearby in British Columbia in 1861.
News of northern gold was responsible for bringing floods of people into or through Alaska; this, in turn, created dramatic bursts of population and caused the foundation of many settlements that still survive, (Skagway, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Nome, for instance).