Editing George Alexander Parks (section)

==Background==
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.<ref name="McMullin & Walker">{{cite book |last1=McMullin |first1=Thomas A. |last2=Walker |first2=David |title=Biographical Directory of American Territorial Governors |publisher=Meckler Publishing |location=Westport, CT |year=1984 |isbn=0-930466-11-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/biographicaldire0000mcmu/page/18 18–20] |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldire0000mcmu/page/18 }}</ref>

[[File:George Alexander Parks in Camp c 1915.jpg|thumb|left|Parks in a field camp, c. 1915]]
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.<ref name="McMullin & Walker"/>  Following the [[American entry into World War I]], he joined the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Army Corps of Engineers]].<ref name="NYTobit">{{cite news |title=George A. Parks, 100; Was Alaska Governor |page=34 |newspaper=New York Times |date=May 13, 1984  }}</ref>  Rising to the rank of [[Captain (land)|captain]] by the war's end, he returned to the Land office after his military service.<ref name="McMullin & Walker"/>

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.<ref name="McMullin & Walker"/>  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.<ref name="real alaskan">{{cite news |title='Real Alaskan' Chosen to Govern Territory |page=XX8 |newspaper=New York Times |date=March 8, 1925  }}</ref>