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.
The Gold Rush of the 1890s has been overshadowed by the Alaska oil rush of the 1970s. Oil had been discovered earlier on the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage, but the discovery in 1968 and development of vast oil deposits on the North Slope, bordering the Beaufort Sea, transformed the young state in many ways.