For many reasons it is impossible to establish a foolproof chronology of Carl Barks' life with exact dates. Partly because much of the official paperwork is not accessable (or in existence) anymore, and partly because Barks was not entirely sure of many of the dates himself. This means that the timeline presented below doubtless has minor and possibly even major errors, but it is felt that the possible flaws are outweighed by the simple importance of 'arranging' Barks' lifespan.
NB: The timeline includes a number of references to first and last issues of comic books, and first appearances of comic characters. It should be known that the dates mentioned are all for publishing dates and not composition dates.
| 1858 | Father William Barks (Dutch origin) is born |  1902
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| 1860 | Mother Arminta Johnson (Scottish origin) is born | ||
| 1898 | William marries Arminta | ||
| 1899 | Brother Clyde Barks is born | ||
| 1901 | (March 27th) Carl Barks is born in Merrill, Oregon | ||
| 1904 | Pearl Turner is born | ||
| 1908 | Moves
to Midland, Oregon Helps as cattle station worker |
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| 1911 | Moves
to Santa Rosa, California Helps at plum farm First caricatures made at school |
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| 1913 | Moves back to Midland, Oregon | ||
| 1916 | Moves
back to Merrill, Oregon Mother Arminta dies Buys mail order course in drawing |
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| 1917 | Margaret (Garé) Wynnfred Williams is born | ||
| 1918 | Moves
to San Francisco, California Apprentice in a printing shop |
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| 1920 | Moves back to Merrill, Oregon | ||
| 1921 | Marries Pearl as his first wife | ||
| 1923 | First
daughter Peggy is born Short oil business adventure in Coalinga, California Moves to Roseville, California Railroad car worker |
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| 1924 | Second daughter Dorothy is born | ||
| 1928 | Starts selling gags to The Calgary Eyeopener and others | ||
| 1929 | Separates
from Pearl Moves back to Merrill, Oregon |
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| 1930 | Divorces Pearl | ||
| 1931 | Hired
by The Calgary Eyeopener Moves to Minneapolis, Minnesota Meets Clara Balken |
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| 1932 | Starts Coo-Coo which only comes in one issue | ||
| 1934 | First appearance of Donald Duck | ||
| 1935 | Moves
to Los Angeles, California Starts at Disney's as inbetweener |
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| 1936 | Release
of first cartoon as an inbetweener (Three Little Wolves) Transferred to the cartoon story department First cartoon script (The Love Nest) |
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| 1937 | First
appearance of Huey, Dewey and Louie Release of first cartoon (Modern Inventions) |
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| 1938 | Marries
Clara as his second wife First appearance of Bolivar (later renamed Bornworthy) |
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| 1940 | Father William dies | ||
| 1942 | First
comic book story (FC9: Donald Duck finds Pirate Gold) Leaves Disney's Moves to San Jacinto, California Starts as chicken farmer Starts freelancing at Western |
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| 1943 | First
ten-pager (WDCS31) First adventure story (FC29) First appearance of J. Jones Makes 33 stories starring Barney Bear, Benny Burro, ......Andy Panda, Porky Pig, and Droopy over the next 5 years |
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| 1944 | Release
of last cartoon (The Plastics Inventor) First Giveaway (Firestone) |
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| 1945 | Only Mickey Mouse story (FC79) | ||
| 1946 | First children's book (Donald Duck and the Boys) | ||
| 1947 | First
appearance of Uncle Scrooge First onepager (FC147) |
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| 1948 | First
appearance of Gladstone Gander First frontcover (FC189) |
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| 1949 | The paramount year of his career by his own admission | ||
| 1951 | Divorces
Clara First appearance of Junior Woodchucks First appearance of The Money Bin First appearance of The Beagle Boys |
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| 1952 | Meets
Garé who starts working with him First issue of the Uncle Scrooge stories First appearance of Gyro Gearloose |
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| 1953 | First
appearance of April, May, and June First appearance of Number One Dime |
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| 1954 | Marries
Garé as his third wife First appearance of The Junior Woodchucks' Book of Knowledge |
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| 1956 | First
appearance of Little Helper First appearance of Flintheart Glomgold |
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| 1957 | Full-time
employee at Western Fan Malcolm Willits discovers Barks' identity |
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| 1958 | First appearance of General Snozzie | ||
| 1959 | Last children's book (The Lemonade King) | ||
| 1960 | A stunning record of 358 comic book pages are finished | ||
| 1962 | First
appearance of Emily Quackfaster First appearance of Magica de Spell |
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| 1963 | First daughter Peggy dies | ||
| 1966 | Last
ten-pager (WDCS312) Last one-pager (U$61) Leaves Western to go into retirement Starts learning to paint inspired by Garé's work Sells his paintings at exhibitions over the following 5 years |
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| 1967 | Last complete Uncle Scrooge story (U$70) Scripted and did the layout for his last Uncle Scrooge story (U$71) |
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| 1968 | The first landscape paintings are made | ||
| 1969 | Moves to Goleta, California | ||
| 1970 | Writing and sketching 24 Junior Woodchuck stories until 1974 | ||
| 1971 | Given
special permission from George Sherman at Disney's .....to paint the ducks |
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| 1976 | The
permission is revoked after 122 paintings Numerous oils and watercolours with non-duck motifs .....are made over the following years |
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| 1977 | Moves to Temecula, California | ||
| 1981 | The
Fine Art of Walt Disney's Donald Duck containing .....the 122 duck paintings is published Obtains another permission from Disney's to paint the ducks |
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| 1982 | Makes numerous signed lithos over the following years | ||
| 1983 | Moves
to Grants Pass, Oregon Start of the release of The Carl Barks Library (10 3-volume sets) Brother Clyde dies |
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| 1985 | Last frontcover (for The Carl Barks Library No. 9) | ||
| 1987 | First wife Pearl dies | ||
| 1988 | Disney World in Florida opens Duckburg with tribute to Barks | ||
| 1991 | Receives the prestigeous award 'Disney Legends' | ||
| 1992 | Start of the release of The Carl Barks Library in Color (141 albums) | ||
| 1993 | Third
wife Garé dies The Carl Barks Studio is founded |
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| 1994 | Obtains
his first passport Visits 11 European countries |
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| 1997 | Release
of a philatelic comic book in USA The final commercial drawing is made |
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| 1998 | The
signing of lithos and similar artwork is stopped The Carl Barks Studio closes down following a series of lawsuits |
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| 1999 | 'Finally
time to watch the football series on TV' Diagnosed with leukemia |
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| 2000 | (August 25th) Carl Barks dies in Grants Pass, Oregon | ||
| 2001 | Many estate effects are auctioned away |
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| http://www.cbarks.dk/THETIMELINE.htm | Date 2002-11-10 |
