Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1867-04-04
RUTLAND HERALD.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL s, 1867.


sions, has taken the country by sur
prise, yet II develops the fact that the
Secretary OF State has been engaged In
negotiation with foreign power of
great magnitude and Importance. By
this accession the United States have
control of the entire Pacific coast for
ioyty degrees of latitude, except about
q. degrees in the possession Of Great
~ Nv. This addition gains it's main
;.na",a,oo fron its bearing upon our
na npO .rado with nina and other coun-
tries of eastern Asia, VI" sne ,,,''e 10
not distant when this count. van "a,
nv on a traffic which will vastly 'niIon
our nation, as it has those which l. ave
hitherto enjoyed it. The country can
not fail, when they know the full extent
and Importance Of the accession OF this
territory, to appreciate its great sources
of wealth, magnitude and Importance.
A glance at the present territory OF the
United States, and with this acquired,
will give our readers an idea of the ex-
tent of our country. The United States
now cover an area Of three millions of
square miles. At the close Of the Rev
olutionary war, we had 820,6S0 square
miles, which we doubled by the pur-
chase of Louisiana $500 when Flor
ida was acquired we secured $4,000
with Texas; 308,052 by the Oregon
treaty; from Mexico 550,455 more. We
have 10000 miles of sea coast, unsur-
passed for its harbors. Our Pacific
coast covers 4, 2sl miles. The Russian
American possessions nearly doubled
the length of our coast line, and gives
as about 1000 square miles Of terri
tory.
We give below geographical de-
soription of the ceded territory, with an
historical sketch OF the explorations
which have been made, that will be far
more instructive than any description
we can present
Such an unimportant part has Rus
sian American played in the affairs of
nations and of men that, when an offer
for its cession from one power to an
other is made known, the announcement
eoDjures up in the mind Of nearly every
one visions of cold, barren, and unin-
habited region, convergiDg about Beh-
rings Steaits, and celebrated only be-
cause Capt. Beechy and Sir John Frank
lin voysged on its coasts. But, in this
resuscitation of school-day memories,or
even in q casual glance at the map Of
the continent itself, the most important
parts of the territory would most likely
escape notice. These are the Peninsula
of Alaska and the Archipelagoes known
as George III. and Prince of Wales,
rather peculiar names for series of
Islands forming part of the possessions
of the Russian Bear. 1t is noticeable,
however. that the Russians know the
islands by other names, and the one
named George Ill by Vancouver, form
ing part of the archipelago generally
known by the name of that monarch, is
by them called Baranov. These islands
are formed by inlets Of the ocean, and
are more properly narrow strip of land
extending for nearly 400 miles along the
coast of the Pacific, broken by narrow
causeways and arms of the sea extend
ing in every direction.
The principal settlements are in these
islands, the largest town being New
Archangel, on the island of Sitka, which
has a population of only 1000. On the
island called George Ill or Baranov, is
the seat of the Governor of all the es-
Establishments of Russian-America. 1t
has Governors residence and fortifica-
tions, and magazines built of wood, and
on it's coasts is usually feet OF two
frigates and two corvettes. The whole
region along these coasts, including the
archipelago of Kodiac and the peninsula
of Alaska, Is exceedingly mountainous,
being succession of lofty peaks, most
of them volcanic, one of them reaching
nearly Is 900 feet In height, and another
being little inferior In altitude. The part
of the mainland south of Mist. Elias one
of the volcanic peaks before referred to,
and the Hottest summit on the continent,
is nowhere more than 80 miles widess
The islands and crests of the main
land have generally been well explored,
but the interior of the country, which
looms up prominently on the map, is
almost entirely unknown. The estimat.
ed area OF the whole territory is about
1874 600 square miles. 1t has an average
length and breadth of 600 miles. The
longest line that can be drawn across
the country, from Cape Prince of
Wales on Behring's Straits through the
narrow strip bordering on British Co.
lumbia and the Pacific Ocean, TO the ex-
IRENE southern point Of the Russian
possessions, is 1000 miles. But il will
be seen from its average length and
breadth that the mass Of the country is
tolerably compact. From several expe-
ditions that have been projected into
the interior, it seems that the western
part of the territory is elevated and un-
even, while the part extending along
the Arctic Ocean is generally fat. The
north coast was discovered early in the
present century, Capt. Cook having
previously, as early as l77S, penetrated
as far north as Icy Cape. In 1926 Capt.
Beechy reached Point Borrow, and at
the same time the lamented Sir John