Native History: U.S. Buys Alaska for Two Cents an Acre From Russia - Indian Country Media Network Events litsite.org The Russian-America Company had been fur trading in Alaska for some 83 years before Hayward Hutchinson, a Civil War business promoter, travelled to Sitka in 1867 to bid on the company’s remaining assets. Native History: U.S. Buys Alaska for Two Cents an Acre From Russia Christina Rose • October 18, 2013 This Date in Native History: On October 18, 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for two cents an acre, or $7.2 million in gold, which amounts to about $16.5 billion in 2007 currency according to an Economix blog . Alaska’s history began thousands of years ago with the Natives who lived according to the provisions and possibilities of nature. Food was abundant and snow was preferable to mud for travel.

But with the arrival of the Russian fur traders in the early 1700s, came fur rush and like the miners of the gold rush, the scourge of “fugitive serfs, ex convicts, debtors” arrived from Russia to Alaska and treated the Natives in an abusive, torturous manner, according to an Alaska History and Cultural Studies course offered by the Alaska Humanities Forum. The enormous state of Alaska is about one-fifth the size of the United States, but it was the coastal areas that saw the greatest impact from the intruders. In 1778, British navigator Captain James Cook noted that the Russians had intermarried and taken on the culture of the Natives. Yet in other areas, violence, enslavement, and hostilities continued. Richard Dauenhauer, a retired Alaskan language and culture professor from the University of Alaska, expressed concern that too much focus is placed on the hostilities and not enough credit is given for the working relationships that also existed. “Natives had the option of being a citizen of Russia or not. Native people mapped the Marshall Islands, charted the coast. One Alaska Native man was a governor in Siberia.

A lot of people at that time had Russian fathers and Native mothers. This created the Creole class, which was important in the middle management of the colony.” Native Alaskans also formed partnerships with Russian companies, Dauenhauer said, adding that many Natives held positions as teachers and officers and attended prestigious military schools. He asked, “Where did you see that kind of power among Natives anywhere else in the U.S. at that time?” Alaska.edu Richard Dauenhauer addresses a crowd of friends and co-workers during a reception in Juneau celebrating his receipt of the 2013 Bullock Prize for Excellence. Approximately 45 percent of the people labeled Russians were Native peoples from Siberia, and the Alaska Native languages and cultures were never threatened; bilingualism was the norm, Dauenhauer said. “The Natives weren’t competing with the Russians. The Creole people, Russian-Natives, would have been considered Native by BIA standards even though they had Russian names. The problem is that people stereotype and focus on the abuse,” Dauenhauer wrote in an email.

“Many Aleuts teamed up with the Siberians in mutually beneficial relationships.” wilderness.org/blog Pictured from left, are, Second Chief Ed Alexander, Wilderness Society’s Nicole Whittington-Evans, and First Chief Michael Peter. In 1794, Russian missionaries arrived and established schools that designed writing systems for Native languages and translated scripture, Dauenhauer said. The treaties made during the Russian/American period from 1732 to 1837 focused almost solely on the fur trade. Gold mining began in the 1880s and 1890s, after the U.S. purchased Alaska, and continues today. Alaska still produces more gold than any other state, except Nevada. For more than a century, Russia, and ultimately the United States, England, Spain and others took advantage of Alaska’s fur trade until the animal resources became severely depleted. With so many outside parties coming into Alaska, Dauenhauer said Russia’s decision to sell was based on the fact that it was almost impossible to defend the entire coastline. Once America took ownership of Alaska, Native Alaskans lost much of their power. Formerly assured of their ability to maintain their own cultures, the U.S.

began the assimilation process including boarding schools and the destruction of language and culture. “The Russian system had not been based on race,” Dauenhauer said. “The American system was based on treaties that were not followed through by Americans, and for first time American people came to stay.” Why Did Russia Sell Us Alaska So Cheap? (less than two cents an acre) Why Did Russia Sell Us Alaska So Cheap? (less than two cents an acre) American Heritage ^ | 10/18/07 | John Steele Gordon Posted on 10/18/2007 4:40:53 PM PDT by Libloather Why Did Russia Sell Us Alaska So Cheap? By John Steele Gordon The check, dated August 1, 1868, that was used to pay the purchase price for Alaska to Eduard de Stoeckl on behalf of the emperor of Russia. (National Archives) A hundred and forty years ago today, sovereignty over Alaska was transferred from the Russian Empire to the United States. The transfer completed the national territory on the North American continent. It was one of the great bargains of all time.

For a price of $7.2 million, this country got 365 million acres of land and another 13 million of water, at slightly less than two cents an acre. Over the last 140 years, we have taken untold riches in gold, oil, and other minerals out of the ground and billions of dollars worth of fish out of the surrounding waters. And yet with a population of only 1.1 people per square mile, Alaska is still in a very real sense the last American frontier, a land rich in wildlife, open spaces, and incomparable natural beauty. It also gave the United States the most diverse national territory in the world. Today the United States is the only country whose territory encompasses arctic, temperate, and tropical areas. In 1725, a few weeks before his death, Peter the Great wanted to determine if far eastern Siberia was attached to the North American continent, so he dispatched Vitus Bering, a Danish-born sailor, to find out. In his first expedition, Bering determined that Asia and North America were separated by the strait that now bears his name, but he did not sight Alaska.

Not until 1741, on Berings second expedition, did he make landfall there. His ship was forced to take refuge on what is now called Bering Island, and there the explorer died of scurvy at the age of 60, along with many of his crewmen. The survivors, however, made it back to Siberia with sea otter pelts, among the most valuable of furs. And it would be the fur trade that would draw the Russians to Alaska. Russian fur traders and others, including Captain James Cook, repeatedly visited Alaskan waters, but it wasnt until 1784 that the Russians permanently settled, on Kodiak Island. In 1799 the Russian-American Company was formed, and it established a capital at New Archangel, now Sitka. The Russian-American Company would run Russian Alaska much the way the British East India Company ran India at the time. But while India was the jewel in the crown of the British Empire, Alaska was a very minor part of the Russian one. At the end of the Russian period, there were only a few hundred Russians living in Alaska, along with about 8,000 natives within reach of Russian authorities.

Elsewhere there were perhaps another 50,000 Eskimos and Indians. No one really knew. Moreover, Alaska was very difficult for Russia to defend, and the tsar feared encroachment from British North America. Russia didnt want to spend the money necessary to secure Alaska but also didnt want to strengthen the British by selling it to them. Russia and Britain, after all, had been at war in the Crimea from 1854 to 1856. Therefore in 1857 Tsar Alexander II instructed his minister in Washington, Eduard de Stoeckl, to feel out the American government about a sale. De Stoeckl had been posted to Washington since 1841, and he had many friends in the American government, including Sen. William Seward of New York. He had many more in Washington society. He even married an American woman, Elisa Howard, of Springfield, Massachusetts. Negotiations began in 1859, but they broke off when the Civil War approached. In February 1867 they began again.

By this time Seward was Secretary of State under President Andrew Johnson, and so de Stoeckl negotiated with a friend. After an all-night session, agreement was reached on the morning of March 30. The deal didnt necessarily look like such a steal at the time. Some objected, just as earlier some had objected to every other substantial addition to the national territory. Alaska was dubbed Sewards Folly and Andrew Johnsons Polar Bear Garden by opponents of the acquisition. The New York World thought it contained nothing of value except fur-bearing animals and that most of them were on the edge of extinction from over-hunting anyway. Horace Greeley, in the New York Tribune, dismissed Alaska as nothing more than a frozen wilderness. But many favored the acquisition, especially Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, who very conveniently was head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which would have to approve the treaty and send it to the full Senate. Russia had backed the North in the Civil War, while Britain had been at best an unfriendly neutral. Sumner argued that we should help those who had helped us.

Anti-British feeling was very much part of the warp and woof of American politics at the time, for the War of 1812 was still within the living memory of many. So was the idea that we were destined one day to see the whole of the North American continent under the American flag. Drawing a parallel with the ancient Roman senate, which barred kings from within the citys gates, Sumner declared that our city can be nothing less than the North American continent. By purchasing Alaska, he argued, we would dismiss one more monarch from this continent. He noted that the French and Spanish kings had already departed from North America and now the tsar was going. The implication was clear that Queen Victoria would be next. On April 9 the treaty was ratified by the Senate, 27 to 12, barely above the necessary two-thirds majority. (A subsequent ceremonial vote to make the approval unanimous was carried by a vote of 37 to 2.) The House had no constitutional say in whether to approve the treaty, but it had to approve the appropriation of money. Some thought the price was too high.

However, in fiscal year 1867 the government had revenues of $491 million and expenses of $347 million. With a huge surplus that year, $7.2 million was not a problem. The House finally approved the money in July 1868, by a vote of 113 to 48. By that time, of course, Alaska was already in American hands. On October 18, 1867, Capt. Alexis Pestchouroff turned over control to Gen. Lovell Rousseau, saying, General Rousseau, by authority from His Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, I transfer to the United States the territory of Alaska." (A strange coincidence linked Sumner and Rousseau. In 1856 a southern congressman had attacked Sumner with a cane in a dispute over slavery, while in 1866 Rousseau had attacked a fellow member of the House of Representatives with a cane in a dispute over Reconstruction. In both cases the attacker resigned and was reelected to his seat.) Five months later Gen. Jefferson C. Davis (a Union general and no relation to the Confederate president) became the first commander of the Department of Alaska.

Alaska would not become a territory until 1912. By that time the wisdom of buying Alaska had long since been clear, especially after the discovery of gold in the Klondike. After World War II, Sewards wisdom in buying Alaska would be even clearer. The great geopolitical struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union dominated the international politics of the second half of the twentieth century. It would have been fought very differentlyand would have been much harder to winhad the Soviet Union possessed a major foothold on the North American continent. In 1867 Alaska had been a remote and expensive tidbit of empire that the Russian government was only too glad to get rid of. A hundred years later, the Soviet government must have bitterly regretted its sale for a pittance. John Steele Gordon writes The Business of America for American Heritage magazine. His most recent book is An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power (HarperCollins). So, what kind of deals might there be in the future? Perhaps the US selling California to Mexico? Or... selling New England to Canada? ... or better yet, the US paying Canada to take New England?

{still can't believe this "state" of Mass I'm living in, after Tuesday's election} 3 posted on 10/18/2007 4:50:13 PM PDT by C210N To: Libloather Why Did Russia Sell Us Alaska So Cheap? Cause back in the 1860s it was just useless tundra. Nobody predicted the importance of oil. Mining for gold and diamonds that far north was impractical. Also, nobody would have guessed the land would be used for missile defense. 4 posted on 10/18/2007 4:53:53 PM PDT by varyouga ("Rove is some mysterious God of politics & mind control" - DU 10-24-06) To: C210N So, what kind of deals might there be in the future? None. Any president who doesn't follow Abe Lincoln's lead in preserving the Union isn't worthy of the office.

6 posted on 10/18/2007 4:56:41 PM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek To: Libloather At the time it was known as Seward’s Folly. 7 posted on 10/18/2007 4:57:46 PM PDT by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (Remember the Alamo, Goliad and WACO, It is Time for a new San Jacinto) To: Libloather i've been to anchorage, fairbanks, gnome, etc. alaska is indeed the edge of the earth. i spent 16 hours driving toward denali (mt. mckinley) after i first saw its peak. amazing. flying over the arctic circle in a single prop; watching the polar bears try to run away was classic. watching the whales play around in some non-descript inlet was priceless. watching japanese tourists set up a tripod and take pictures of grizzlies barely 50 ft. away was a lesson in stupidity. having a couple of wild horses stick their heads in my parents car (out of a herd of a couple hundred) was beautiful. i will never forget alaska.

i hope to go back someday! it changed my perspective on life as a child 8 posted on 10/18/2007 5:01:43 PM PDT by robomatik Great post! Interesting and a useful historical reference.. Seward's Folly... I just love that phrase. Plus the clarity with which this subject shows us that the "press" is often monumentally wrong. Not that they would ever express regret at pontificating on everything or, heaven forbid, admit that they were wrong!. 9 posted on 10/18/2007 5:03:45 PM PDT by Publius6961 (MSM: Israelis are killed by rockets; Lebanese are killed by Israelis.) To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran; Liz Horace Greeley, in the New York Tribune, dismissed Alaska as nothing more than a frozen wilderness. The New York Tribune was established by Horace Greeley in 1841 and was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States. In 1924 it was merged with the New York Herald to form the New York Herald Tribune, which ceased publication in 1967.

May the New York Times meet the same fate... 10 posted on 10/18/2007 5:08:04 PM PDT by Libloather (That's just what I need - some two-bit, washed up, loser politician giving me weather forecasts...) To: varyouga “No one will ever want a computer in their home” 11 posted on 10/18/2007 5:09:14 PM PDT by ari-freedom (I am for traditional moral values, a strong national defense, and free markets.) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies ] To: Libloather It was a Great bargain,but what good is it if the Dummycrats won’t allow us to use the natural resources we find there?

12 posted on 10/18/2007 5:09:41 PM PDT by puppypusher (The world is going to the dogs.) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] To: Libloather It also bears mentioning that President Polk in -- I believe -- 1848, had pushed hard for the Texas territory and for the Oregon Territory. This was the era of manifest destiny, and the US claim to the Oregon Territory, while principally against Great Britain, took us right up to the border of the land controlled by Russia. We were expanding rapidly -- the Oregon question was settled, but what would come next? Russia probably thought they had two choices: get money by selling, or lose the "worthless" territory in a war. Getting cash on the barrel head, so to speak, probably looked like the best option. 13 posted on 10/18/2007 5:20:20 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (The broken wall, the burning roof and tower.

And Agamemnon dead.) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] To: Libloather I remember a lot of this from high school history but a lot I had forgotten too. Very interesting. Thanks for posting it. 14 posted on 10/18/2007 5:24:09 PM PDT by Graybeard58 ( Remember and pray for SSgt. Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies ] To: Graybeard58 One of the Russian Premieres said that they already had Siberia and they didn’t need Alaska, which is a speck of territory by comparison. In pre-oil times this was probably a sensible idea and the scorn heaped upon Seward seemed to back that logic up.

17 posted on 10/18/2007 5:33:52 PM PDT by Oshkalaboomboom [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies ] To: Libloather Perhaps the Czar would rather sell Alaska cheap to the US than let the British have it as part of Canada. After all Russia was humiliated by Britain and France in the Crimean war just a little over a decade previously. Alaska was too far away for the Russians to control anyway. 18 posted on 10/18/2007 5:45:20 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative To: Libloather I’m betting that they knew all along that they would stir up sentiment against ANWR drilling. 20 posted on 10/18/2007 5:57:19 PM PDT by GingisK [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] To: All We bought Alaska for 7.2 million, we can’t even build a bathroom in a state park for that amount anymore.

21 posted on 10/18/2007 5:57:19 PM PDT by escapefromboston (manny ortez: mvp) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] To: Libloather When I was stationed in Egypt in the late 80's we had about 15 Soviet officers and their families stationed with us. We had a lot of conversations during that year ans several times they said that we should give them Alaska back, since it is Russian territory. We Americans always laughed - but those Sovs were serious! 22 posted on 10/18/2007 5:57:59 PM PDT by USMCVet To: Libloather I know someone still waiting to cash in his deeds for their Quaker Oats Klondike Big Inch .

23 posted on 10/18/2007 6:10:44 PM PDT by Daffynition (The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] To: bill1952 I really have no idea what happened there other than to assume that wacko dems won big. Niki Tsongas won by only 5% over Jim Ogonowski. Both are 1st time candidates; Jim's bro was pilot of a/c that hit the WTC on 9/11. Her first vote today in DC was to override Bush's health insurance veto. 24 posted on 10/18/2007 6:33:48 PM PDT by C210N [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies ] To: Daffynition Ironically, there are reports that-Bakers late-night brainstorm, those 7-by-5-inch deeds that were 35 times larger than the piece of land they represented, are bringing upwards of $40 in some antique shops. Better hold on to yours.

It maybe worth something someday... 25 posted on 10/18/2007 6:38:27 PM PDT by Libloather (That's just what I need - some two-bit, washed up, loser politician giving me weather forecasts...) To: Libloather Russia probable could look into the future and could tell there would be a crooked GOP Senator. 26 posted on 10/18/2007 6:41:17 PM PDT by Wheee The People (Go FRed) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] To: Libloather Maybe ... I’m grateful that the marketing people at Quaker Oats didn’t have any sway over state department in 1868!

;-D 27 posted on 10/18/2007 6:42:19 PM PDT by Daffynition (The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies ] To: USMCVet When I was stationed in Egypt in the late 80's we had about 15 Soviet officers and their families stationed with us. We had a lot of conversations during that year ans several times they said that we should give them Alaska back, since it is Russian territory. We Americans always laughed - but those Sovs were serious! Did you ever mention to them that their Siberia is at least as rich in mineral resources as Alaska? The only development of Siberian riches came from Stalin's convict gold-mining camps such as the infamous Kolyma, and those essentially slave-labor camps have been almost completely shut down since the late 1950s. The Russians can't develop their own Siberia, and they aren't handicapped at all by any environmental concerns. What do they want with Alaska?

28 posted on 10/18/2007 6:54:14 PM PDT by xJones To: Wheee The People; MurryMom Russia probable could look into the future and could tell there would be a crooked GOP Senator. If they were that smart, they would be able to forecast the corrupt, impeached *Crintons. On the other hand, the brilliant Chicoms did see it coming - eh? 29 posted on 10/18/2007 7:06:51 PM PDT by Libloather (That's just what I need - some two-bit, washed up, loser politician giving me weather forecasts...) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies ] To: Libloather Back in the late 1950’s, there was an alternate history that was written for “Look Magazine” or “Colliers Magazine” (IIRC) where the South won the Civil War and remained a sovereign nation after it. As time went on, tensions between the USA and CSA eased to the point where they were allies in World Wars I and II.

The consequence of the USA losing the South was that we rejected the purchase of Alaska since the US needed the money for reconstruction. Well, after the wars, we had the Cold War much like in our history but you had Soviet troops stationed in “Russian America” where in the Yukon, you had to have many Canadian, USA, and CSA troops garrisoned there to offset the Soviets. There was also talk of the CSA and USA reuniting because of the Cold War. Of course, perhaps a CSA victory in the Civil war could have unleashed “butterflies” that would change things enough to where the world might not have followed our history, but it is an interesting thought to say the least. 30 posted on 10/18/2007 7:17:35 PM PDT by Nowhere Man (RIP, Corky, I miss you, little princess!!! (Corky b. 5-12-1989 - d.

9-21-2007)) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] To: USMCVet Some truth to the fact that Russia sold the trading rights / economic rights to alaska for a period of a 100 years; why the feds wanted statehood so badly in 50’s. Most Alaskans at the time were against statehood, they wanted to remain like Peurto Rico because they knew there wasn’t a strong economy that would produce enough taxes to fund state govt. Feds shipped in 30-40 thousand military people, quickly changed voting law and thru election. That’s how my 95 year old neighbor who homesteaded his place in 1942 and is a super conservative repub; tells it. Also remember during civil war, the czar sent western russian fleet into san fran harbor for a few years to help ole Lincoln out. More to everything I do think. Ya know, none of that really matters anyway, because all Alaskans are becoming more like Americans everyday and Alaska is ethnically a part of america. We do have lots of russkies here anyway, proximity to Siberia and economic freedom.

Most are ok; they want a better life just like we do. I had several russian friends tell me some things are better here some worse. You have more opportunity but also in russia, everyone had 2 week paid vacation at govt cabin on the blk sea; they hadn’t had a vacation since coming to alaska, ha. Also they didn’t like paying 10 gran to have a baby when med care was free for everyone in russia. They use to say Russia not all bad;;; but they weren’t going back either, ha. 31 posted on 10/18/2007 7:28:27 PM PDT by Eska [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies ] To: Nowhere Man If CSA won the Civil War, then I don't think we would had gotten involved in both World Wars. Germany would have been the dominant power in Europe and the colonies in Africa would still exist today. However, the Soviet Union is still likely to exist since USA would never have been strong enough to challenge the Communists.

32 posted on 10/18/2007 8:13:10 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies ] To: Nowhere Man If CSA won the Civil War, then I don't think we would had gotten involved in both World Wars. Germany would have been the dominant power in Europe and the colonies in Africa would still exist today. However, the Soviet Union is still likely to exist since USA would never have been strong enough to challenge the Communists. 33 posted on 10/18/2007 8:13:23 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies ] To: Nowhere Man If CSA won the Civil War, then I don't think we would had gotten involved in both World Wars. Germany would have been the dominant power in Europe and the colonies in Africa would still exist today. However, the Soviet Union is still likely to exist since USA would never have been strong enough to challenge the Communists.

34 posted on 10/18/2007 8:13:58 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies ] To: Libloather Inspiring bit of history. Our government did something right back then. Hard to imagine such a sale occurring today. 35 posted on 10/18/2007 8:15:56 PM PDT by Ciexyz [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] To: MinorityRepublican Historical what-ifs are more complicated. For instance, Harry Turtledove, the novelist, who makes his living with historical what-ifs, in a CSA victory what-if, has the USA entering WW I on the Central Powers side, with the CSA on the Allied side. This is less implausible than it sounds, since the USA would have been sandwiched in between Canada, still very British, and the CSA, which would have been aligned with Britain as its major trading partner, had its war of independence succeeded.

A Central Power victory, or Germany not so desparate as to use Lenin to disrupt Russia’s war efforts, and there might not have been a Soviet Union at all. (And the Caliph might still sit on the throne of the Sultan in Constantinople so that the Muslims wouldn’t the all out of sorts these days.) 36 posted on 10/18/2007 8:40:33 PM PDT by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know. . .) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies ] To: Libloather Alaska wasn't considered a useless piece of tundra even at the time of sale. It was rich hunting grounds (fur and sea animals also). The price was based on possible hunting revenues. Gold hadn't been discovered yet. The Russian government badly needed money for reforming it's military after the Crimean war. That was the reason.

37 posted on 10/19/2007 1:55:48 AM PDT by Freelance Warrior (The barbarian) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] To: USMCVet “several times they said that we should give them Alaska back, since it is Russian territory.” ............. Not suprising, they wanted the whole world too. Its not like they don’t have more than they need now. I’ll give them about 25 more years and see what they will have left. 38 posted on 10/19/2007 5:09:17 AM PDT by Bringbackthedraft (Staying home or voting 3rd Party, Elects Hillary!) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies ] To: Libloather Why Did Russia Sell Us Alaska So Cheap? In a nutshell: They needed the money. And they wanted to be certain the British didn't get it and make it part of Canada.

39 posted on 10/19/2007 8:05:47 PM PDT by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ] To: MinorityRepublican If the CSA hadda won, the USA couldna afforded Alaska and the Brits woulda got it. With the alternative cotton supplies that the Brits had fixed up in the Civil War, the CSA wouldna had the money like before, so it woulda collapsed from its internal contradictions. There’da been a second Civil War, which the USA woulda won; but it woulda probably still have had segregated armed forces in both World Wars....it might even have agreed the Treaty of Versailles and volunteered to get into WW2....on behalf of the Chinese, in 1937. So, no Pearl Harbor. And u probably woulda got Alaska as the price for financially supporting the Brits from 1915...assuming that we didn’t pick up Hawaii in the 1870s.

40 posted on 02/12/2015 3:15:06 PM PST by fictionlines (The big bong theory.) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies ] Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. The State of Alaska - An Introduction to the Last Frontier from NETSTATE.COM The State of Alaska Photograph: Harley D. Nygren America's last frontier! On March 30, 1867, the United States agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars, about two cents an acre; "Seward's Folly" many called it, after Secretary of State William H. Seward. A check for $7,200,000.00 was issued on August 1, 1868 and made payable to Edouard de Stoeckl, the Russian Minister to the United States.

On January 3, 1959, Alaska, with a land mass larger than Texas, California and Montana combined, became the 49th state in the union. It is a large state, 1/5 the size of all the other states together, reaching so far to the west that the International Date Line had to be bent to keep the state all in the same day. It's also the only U.S. state extending into the Eastern Hemisphere. In Alaska, the "family car" has wings, vegetables and fruit grow to two times their normal size and moose interrupt golf games when they feel like it. THE STATE NAME: The name "Alaska" was used by the Russians to refer only to the peninsula. This name was used by the United States to refer, first to the entire territory, and then, to the State after its purchase in 1867. The name "Alaska" is taken from the Aleut word "aláxsxaq" that refers to an object to which the sea is directed, in this case the Alaska peninsula and mainland.

This is sometimes loosely translated as "great land." Alaska; The Last Frontier The Last Frontier Alaska, admitted as the 49th state to the union is thought of as "America's Last Frontier" because of its distance from the lower 48 states and because of its rugged landscape and climate. This remote and rugged perception is evidenced by the fact that only about 1/3 of the state has been organized into political units; 13 boroughs (similar to counties) are defined. Land of the Midnight Sun This nickname refers to Alaska's northern locations where, for a period of time, in the summer, the sun never completely dips below the horizon. The sun is visible at midnight. Parts of Alaska are bathed in 24 hours of daylight. In Barrow, the sun doesn't set for 84 days. For more information about the extremes of Alaska days and nights, visit this page maintained by the Alaska Department of Community and Economic Development. Seward's Folly When the agreement to purchase the Alaska territory from Russia was struck in 1867 by Secretary of State William H.

Seward, there were many in the lower 48 states, who looked upon the deal with skepticism and were critical of the secrecy that had surrounded it and of the high price tag. Though Seward finalized agreement with Russia in March, it was a long and bitter battle to get final Congressional approval for the purchase and then get Congress to approve the money for the purchase. During this period, critics of Seward's agreement to purchase the Alaska territory from Russia called the plan referred to the plan as " Seward's Folly ." Congress, finally relented and on October 18, 1867, in Sitka, the Imperial Russian Flag was lowered and the Stars and Stripes was raised. Seward's Ice Box The is another derisive name given to the Alaska territory during the battle between Secretary of State William H. Seward and the United States Congress over the purchase of the land from Russia. Other satirical names were "Icebergia," "Polaria," and "Walrussia." Critics of the purchase also chastised the President of the United State, Andrew Johnson, by referring to the Alaska territory as "Johnson's Polar Bear Garden." Why did Russia sell Alaska to the United States?

| Russia Beyond The Headlines Why did Russia sell Alaska to the United States? April 20, 2014 Georgy Manaev , RBTH In 1867, Russia sold the territory of Alaska to the U.S. for $7.2 million. A mere 50 years later, the Americans had earned that amount back 100 times over. How could the imperial officials have given up such a choice parcel? RBTH sorts out the muddled story of the sale of Alaska. Facebook u.s.-russia relations , history , alaska View of Alaska. Source: Alamy / Legion Media A petition calling for Russia’s annexation of Alaska that was posted on the White House website gathered more than 35,000 signatures before it was canceled. Many people still think that the Americans either stole Alaska from the Russians or leased it and did not return it. Despite the widespread myths, the deal was an honest one, and both sides had valid reasons to make it. Alaska before the sale In the 19th century, Russian Alaska was a center of international trade.

In the capital, Novoarkhangelsk (now known as Sitka), merchants traded Chinese fabrics, tea and even ice, which the southern United States needed before the invention of the refrigerator. Ships and factories were built, and coal was mined. People already knew about the numerous gold deposits in the area. Selling this land seemed like madness. Pilots retrace Alaska-to-Siberia Lend-Lease route Russian merchants were drawn to Alaska for the walrus ivory (it was as expensive as elephant ivory) and the valuable sea otter fur, which could be procured by trading with the indigenous peoples of the region. Trading was done by the Russian-American Company (RAC), which was started by adventurers — 18th-century Russian businessmen, courageous travelers and entrepreneurs. The company controlled all of Alaska’s mines and minerals, it could independently enter into trade agreements with other countries, and it had its own flag and currency — leather “marks”. These privileges were granted to the company by the imperial government. The government not only collected massive taxes from the company, it also owned a large part of it — the tsars and their family members were among the RAC’s shareholders.

The Russian Pizarro The main ruler of the Russian settlements in America was the talented merchant Alexander Baranov. Alexander Baranov. Source:GettyImages/Fotobank He built schools and factories, taught the native people to plant rutabaga and potatoes, built fortresses and shipyards, and expanded the sea otter trade. Baranov called himself the “Russian Pizarro” and took a liking to Alaska not only with his purse, but also with his heart — he married the daughter of an Aleut chief. Under Baranov, the RAC brought in enormous revenue: more than 1,000 percent profit. When an ageing Baranov resigned his duties, he was replaced by the captain lieutenant Hagemeister, who brought with him new employees and shareholders from military circles. Statute now dictated that only naval officers could lead the company. The strongmen quickly appropriated the profitable business, but it was their actions that ruined the company. Filthy lucre The new masters set astronomical salaries for themselves — common officers earned 1,500 rubles per year (this was comparable to the salaries of ministers and senators), while the head of the company earned 150,000 rubles.

They bought fur from the local population for half price. As a result, over the next 20 years, the Eskimos and Aleuts killed almost all the sea otters, depriving Alaska of its most profitable trade. The native people suffered and staged uprisings that the Russians quashed by firing on the coastal villages from military ships. The officers began to look for other sources of revenue. Hence the trade in ice and tea began, but the ill-fortuned businessmen could not organize this sensibly either, and lowering their salaries was unthinkable. Consequently, the RAC was transferred to state subsidies — 200,000 rubles per year. But even this did not save the company. A check in the amount of $7.2 million, for the purchase of Alaska. Source: Getty Images / Fotobank Then the Crimean War broke out, and Britain, France and Turkey stood against Russia. It became clear that Russia could neither supply nor defend Alaska — the sea routes were controlled by the allies’ ships. Even the prospect of mining gold dimmed. There was a fear that the British might block Alaska, and then Russia would be left with nothing.

Tensions between Moscow and London grew, while relations with the American authorities were warmer than ever. Both sides almost simultaneously came up with the idea of selling Alaska. So Baron Eduard de Stoeckl, Russia’s envoy in Washington, opened talks with U.S. secretary of state William Seward on behalf of the tsar. The Russian flag refuses to come down While the bureaucrats were negotiating, public opinion in both countries opposed the deal. “How can we give away land that we have put so much effort and time into developing, land where the telegraph has arrived and where gold mines have been found?” the Russian newspapers wrote. “Why does America need this ‘ice box’ and 50,000 wild Eskimos who drink fish oil for breakfast?” the American press asked indignantly. U.S. and Russia introduce visa-free travel for Chukotka and Alaska The press was not alone in this sentiment — Congress also disapproved of the purchase.

But on March 30, 1867, in Washington, D.C., the parties signed the agreement to sell 1.5 million hectares of Russian property in America for $7.2 million, or about 2 cents per acre ($4.74/km2) — a purely symbolic sum. At that time, an unproductive plot of land in Siberia with the same surface area could have cost 1,395 times as much on the domestic market.But the situation was critical — the Russians risked not even receiving this. The official handover of the land occurred in Novoarkhangelsk. The American and Russian soldiers lined up next to the flagpole, from which the Russian flag started its descent to the accompaniment of a canon salute. However, the flag got tangled at the top of the pole. The sailor who climbed up for it threw it down, and it accidentally landed on Russian bayonets. It was a bad omen! Afterward, the Americans started requisitioning the buildings of the town, which was renamed Sitka. Several hundred Russians who decided not to take American citizenship had to evacuate on merchant ships, and they did not reach home until the following year.

The cartographic fall-out over Crimea A short time passed, and gold started flowing from the “ice box”: The Klondike gold rush started in Alaska, bringing the States hundreds of millions of dollars. Of course it was insulting. But it is impossible to know how relations between the world’s largest powers would have developed if Russia had not escaped in time from the problematic and unprofitable region, which only talented and courageous merchants, but not navy bureaucrats, could extract revenue from. The United States formally takes possession of Alaska from Russia - Oct 18, 1867 - HISTORY.com The United States formally takes possession of Alaska from Russia Share this: The United States formally takes possession of Alaska from Russia Author The United States formally takes possession of Alaska from Russia URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1867, the American flag flew for the first time in Alaska, marking the formal transfer of this massive northern territory from Russia to the United States. Separated from the far eastern edge of the Russian empire by only the narrow Bering Strait, the Russians had been the first Europeans to significantly explore and develop Alaska.

During the early 19th century, the state-sponsored Russian-American Company established the settlement of Sitka and began a lucrative fur trade with the Native Americans. However, Russian settlement in Alaska remained small, never exceeding more than a few hundred people. By the 1860s, the Russian-American Company had become unprofitable. Faced with having to heavily subsidize the company if an active Russian presence in the territory was to be maintained, the tsar and his ministers chose instead to sell to the Americans. Seeing the giant Alaska territory as a chance to cheaply expand the size of the nation, William H. Seward, President Andrew Johnson’s secretary of state, moved to arrange the purchase of Alaska. Agreeing to pay a mere $7 million for some 591,000 square miles of land-a territory twice the size of Texas and equal to nearly a fifth of the continental United States-Seward secured the purchase of Alaska at the ridiculously low rate of less than 2¢ an acre. Later myths to the contrary, most Americans recognized that Seward had made a smart deal with the Alaska Purchase.

Still, a few ill-informed critics did not miss the opportunity to needle the Johnson administration by calling the purchase “Seward’s Folly” and “Seward’s Icebox,” or joking that the administration had only bought the territory to create new political appointments like a “Polar Bear’s Bureau” and a “Superintendent of Walruses.” Johnson’s opponents (who were trying to impeach him at the time) also succeeded in delaying approval of the $7 million appropriation. But after a year of squabbling, Congress approved the purchase, and Russia formally transferred control of the vast northern land to the United States. Within a few decades, Alaska would prove to be an amazing treasure trove of natural resources from gold to oil, proving Seward’s wisdom and exposing the shortsightedness of those who had once poked fun at the purchase. Related Videos Seward's Folly SEWARD'S FOLLY Russia initially tried to interest the United States in purchasing Alaska in 1859, during President James Buchanan's administration. But the Civil War stalled negotiations. Seward, Secretary of State under presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, supported American expansion and was eager to acquire Alaska.

However, convincing the Senate that Alaska was an important addition to the United States proved difficult. The upper house ratified the treaty by just one vote. On March 30, 1867 the Treaty of Purchase was signed in Washington D.C., was affirmed by the Senate on April 9th, and signed by President Andrew Johnson on May 28th. The document was then signed by the Russian Tsar, Alexander II, in May and in June the sides exchanged ratification certificates. Formal transfer of the Territory was made at Sitka on October 18, 1867 when Secretary of State William H. Seward signed an agreement with Baron Edouard de Stoeckl, the Russian Minister to the United States. The agreement ceded possession of the vast territory of Alaska to the United States for the sum of $7.2 million, about two cents an acre. A check for payment was issued on August 1, 1868 and made payable to Stoeckl. When the news about selling Alaska became known in Russia, people refused to believe it.

Newspapers wrote that it was nothing but a "mean, disgusting joke upon the Russian society." By many, it was considered another blunder committed by Alexander II for a modest sum of money that did Russia little good. The reaction was rather indignant and emotional, until the government made its point of view public. Russian advocates of the deal believed that Alaska's remoteness was an impediment to administration of the territory, and also hoped its sale would help strengthen friendly relations with the United States. Few citizens of the U.S. could fathom what possible use or interest the 586,000 square miles of land would have for their country. In a speech given at Sitka on August 12, 1868, however, Secretary Seward claimed he did not doubt "that the political society to be constituted here, first as a Territory, and ultimately as a state or many States, will prove a worthy constituency of the Republic." President Andrew Johnson expected that Congress would establish the civil organization of the territory. Unfortunately, the attitude of the United States Congress was quite the contrary. Congress had been extremely reluctant to purchase Alaska in the first place.

Many of President Johnson's opponents saw it as one more arbitrary act by a Chief Executive who they would soon try unsuccessfully to remove from office. The Senate had begrudgingly ratified Secretary Seward's treaty only after being warned that rejection would be viewed as an offensive act by Russia, the Union's great friend. By the time the debate turned to appropriation, the the summer of 1868, the impeached President had avoided conviction, but the wounds of his trial were still raw and Alaska became a handy target for Congressional vitriol. PREPARING FOR THE HEATED TERM King Andy and his man Billy lay in a great stock of Russian ice in order to cool down the Congressional majority. ['Andy' refers to President Andrew Johnson while 'Billy' is William Seward.] Massachusetts Congressman Benjamin F. Butler said caustically that he did not object to paying for the Czar's friendship "if we could only get rid of the land - or ice, rather - which we are to get by paying for it." But the outcry was not restricted only to Washington. The New York Tribune editorialized: "Ninety-nine hundredths of Russian America are absolutely useless.

To Russia it was an encumbrance, to us it would be an embarrassment." The New York World summed up its position more pithily: "Russia has sold us a sucked orange." Generally, the American public was outraged - although there were many Americans who favored the purchase. But critics attacked Seward for the secrecy surrounding the deal with Russia. They mocked his willingness to spend so much on "Seward's Ice Box" and Andrew Johnson's "Polar Bear Garden." Additionally, derogatory nicknames such as Icebergia, Walrussia, and Polaria were heard across the country. It is unfortunate that "Seward's Folly" is the slur that would carry Alaska's acquisition through history. On October 18, 1867, American soldiers raised the United States flag over Sitka. From then until 1898 was a period of total neglect in the administration of the Territory by the United States. Alaska celebrates the purchase on Seward's Day, the last Monday of March, and the flag-raising on Alaska Day, October 18. The Russian phase of Alaskan history had lasted 126 years.

Russian activities had been mainly limited to the Aleutians, Kodiak, and the Alexander Archipelago. There was some exploration of the Interior, but little settlement. At its peak the Russian population numbered no more than 700. The greatest impact of this period was the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church and its priests among the Aleut and Tlingit, which continues today. Alaska: Russia's Folly | History Today Alaska: Russia's Folly Modern USA , Russia Empire , Environmental History Louis C. Kleber describes how the United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Government at a price of just two cents an acre. On March 30th, 1867, the American Secretary of State, William H. Seward, signed a treaty with the Russian Minister, Baron Edouard de Stoeckl, to conclude what was perhaps the shrewdest purchase in history – Alaska, 586,400 square miles of land, furs, fish, timber, minerals and gold. The price was $7,200,000; just two cents an acre. The purchase of Alaska was the sole triumph among Seward's expansionist projects.

Although he had successfully opposed the French in Mexico and Maximilian's puppet empire, there was little support when it came to his own efforts to extend the American sphere. A country just recovering from a murderous civil war could hardly be excited about the prospect of acquiring the Danish West Indies or Santo Domingo. Tentative negotiations were fruitless. Surprisingly, and to his credit, Seward almost singled-handedly engineered the acquisition of Alaska. Opposition was strong, and the entire Alaskan issue was treated with derision by many. They called it 'Seward's Folly'. The revenge-seekers in the North, who opposed President Johnson's conciliatory policy toward the South, called it 'Johnson's Polar Bear Garden'. The President, Lincoln's successor, was from Tennessee which had joined the Confederacy, and no opportunity was missed to discredit him. There were rumours of bribery, and Robert Walker of Mississippi was accused of lobbying the purchase through Congress. One irate Congressman demanded, 'Have the people deserved it? Not a sensible man among them had ever suggested it.

The whole country exclaimed at once, when it was made known to it, against the ineffable folly, if not the wanton profligacy, of the whole transaction.' The sale of Alaska, however, was not so much an American coup as a matter of expediency for an Imperial Russia that was short of cash and quite unable to defend the immense land with a coast line longer than that of the first forty-eight states. Other nations have figured in Alaska's history, but Russia, Great Britain and the United States are the dominant protagonists. Despite this, it was a Danish sea captain who discovered the country. In the middle 1500's Russia was expanding to the east; Kamchatka had been subdued and there were strong rumours of another land farther east. While French trappers and traders were pushing into the area of the Great Lakes, Peter the Great commissioned Vitus Bering to explore beyond the north-eastern Asiatic land mass. Bering's first voyage in 1728 failed to reach Alaska, though he sighted St. Lawrence Island. On his second voyage in 1741, Bering took two ships, the second commanded by the Russian, Alexei Chirikov.

The day after Chirikov made a landfall on July 15th, Bering sighted the monumental 18,000-foot Mount St. Elias on the southern Alaskan coast. His moment of glory was sadly brief, for Bering's ship was wrecked and he died on the island that bears his name. But there were the survivors, and they brought fine pelts of sea-otter with them to Petropavlovsk. Now the penetration of Alaska by hunters and traders began; and in the next sixty years they viciously exploited the Aleut Indians. Rarely does a newly discovered land the size of Alaska remain the province of one nation without a struggle. The first crack in Russia's sole proprietorship came with the arrival at Sitka in 1775 of a small Spanish vessel under the command of Juan Francisco Quadra. Only three years later, Captain James Cook made a landfall at Mount Edgecumbe before sailing on into the Arctic Ocean in search of the north-west passage. He failed to find it. Another attempt in the next year also failed, but of significance to Alaska were the high prices paid to Cook's sailors for furs when they put into Canton, China.

This stimulated a trade that involved a journey to Alaska for furs, and thence to China to barter for oriental luxuries. The French were not long absent from the scene. Less than ten years after Cook, a Frenchman named Jean Francois de Galaup la Perouse led a scientific expedition to the vicinity of Lituya Bay where they remained for six weeks. Spain's interest in Alaska must have been partly coloured by the long-range threat from foreign powers to her hegemony over Mexico and the present American south-western states. She sent new exploratory parties to Alaska. Under the leadership of Estevan Jose Martinez and Lopez de Haro, the Spaniards called on Russian out-posts at Kodiak Island and Unalaska in 1788. Then rumours reached the Spaniards that the Russians were planning a settlement on Vancouver Island. The Viceroy of Mexico moved to beat them to it, and in 1789 he ordered the founding of a Spanish settlement at Nootka Sound. This stroke was unexpectedly to bring Spain and Great Britain into a serious confrontation rather than cause the more likely Spanish-Russian conflict.

In 1788 a British captain, John Meares, arrived at Nootka Sound with two ships registered under the Portuguese flag. He put ashore a group of labourers, including Chinese, with instructions to build living quarters and vessels. When Martinez arrived at Nootka Sound on May 6th, 1789 with a Spanish squadron, he was surprised. No Russians were there to oppose him, but he did find the Meares shore party. Unfortunately for Spain, Martinez was a man of action. He seized four of Meares' ships and declared them prizes of war; two were provisionally released and two sent to Mexican ports. The British were furious over the temerity of Martinez's action and looked upon it as a possible casus belli. The Spanish made a desperate effort to secure French military assistance, but the latter were cool to the idea. Finally, Spain entered into negotiations which resulted in their paying an indemnity to Great Britain. Though each nation recognized the other's right to use Nootka Sound, Spain gave up any claim to exclusive jurisdiction over the north-west coast.

Martinez also came into contact with the Americans, but he did not bother them when the ships, Columbia and Lady Washington, called at Nootka Sound. The clash of rival fur groups, and the fear of foreign powers caused by the arrival of their ships, sorely worried Russian business interests. One of the leading figures was a Siberian merchant, Grigori Shelekhov. His efforts to establish a trading monopoly eventually led to his heirs receiving the Imperial Russian blessing for the formation of the Russian American Company. Like the East India Company's role in India. Russian fortunes in Alaska were to be tightly connected with the ventures of this commercial organization. Russian relations with the Indians were no more enlightened than those of other powers engaged in the grab for land. Even before the establishment of the Russian American Company, Shelekhov's manager at Kodiak, Aleksandr Baranov, moved south to secure new fur country. He built a fort on Baranof Island only to have the Tlingit Indians burn it in 1802. Baranov returned two years later and harshly subdued the Indians; then he re-established the settlement of New Archangel. There the Russians enjoyed a limited success in trying to foster industry.

Some ships were built and a foundry put into operation, but efforts to make Alaska self-sustaining in food were a failure. Cereals would not grow; and in 1806 there was a famine. This fact could have had far-reaching results, for it directly led to a Russian settlement at Fort Ross in California after Count Nikolai Rezanov made a journey to San Francisco to seek help. Outlying farms were set up, but the whole operation never functioned efficiently. In 1841 it was abandoned. Fortunately, this Russian spearhead in California was no more successful than the efforts of Baranov's agent in Hawaii, Yegor Scheffer. It was not until 1833 that Russia began to explore the interior of Alaska. To the east, the Hudson's Bay Company was pushing inexorably west. In 1847 Alexander Murray founded Fort Yukon inside Russian territory. Meanwhile, Russian fears of intrusion by foreign powers had long been building up.

In 1821, with what can only be described as wishful thinking, the Imperial Russian Government issued a 'ukase' which forbade all other nations to pursue commerce, whaling, fishing and other industry within an area stretching from the Bering Strait in the north to 51° of north latitude in the south. The ukase was impractical and unenforceable. The Russian settlements in Alaska had to buy from foreign traders or withdraw, and elements of the Russian navy rarely appeared. France and Spain had disappeared from the scene by this time; but the United States and Great Britain strongly protested against the ukase. In 1824 Russia and the United States concluded a treaty to set the south-eastern boundary of Russian America at 54° 40' N. The following year a similar treaty was signed with Great Britain. It is doubtful if Russia was yet thinking seriously of divesting herself of the great Alaskan land mass. Events were sweeping the Russians forward, however, into new conflict with Britons and Americans. It is not hard to imagine that more than one painful analysis was being made by Russian leaders after each new incident.

When Peter Skene Ogden of the Hudson's Bay Company was barred passage of the Stikine River by the Russians, the British Government protested and claimed damages as a violation of the treaty. Enterprising American whalers were also appearing off the Alaskan coast in increasing numbers along with ships from other nations. Russia considered these waters to be her own, and Governor Etolin repeatedly asked his Government to force the Americans out of the Bering Sea. With the coming of the Crimean War, relatively minor incidents of the past became truly insignificant, since Russia's Pacific empire was now in jeopardy. On the spot, Russian military power in Alaska was at best negligible, and her navy was hardly a match for the British. It is interesting that documents in the Soviet Foreign Office disclose three separate attempted moves by Imperial Russia to sell Alaska prior to 1867. The first was in 1854 to forestall a British seizure; the second in 1856 when the American Secretary of State Marcy and Governor Givin of California proposed its sale to America; and the third when President Buchanan considered purchase in 1860 just before the Civil War. Records in the U.S. Department of State do not confirm these three cases.

In any event, Russia definitely decided in December 1866 to sell Alaska to the United States. There were a number of reasons behind the move; but primary considerations must have included Russia's financial troubles, her inability to defend Alaska, diminishing returns from the Russian American Company and perhaps the feeling that Alaska was bound to cause eventual difficulties in relations with the United States. On March 9th, 1867, Baron Edouard de Stoeckl, acting for Tsar Alexander II, approached Seward. What an opportunity for the American Secretary of State! Here was Alaska on a platter. Seward agreed to the Russian offer immediately and sought to conclude matters as quickly as possible. The treaty was signed at four o'clock in the morning on March 30th, only three weeks after the initial discussions. Seward's brilliant stroke in capitalizing on the Russian difficulties could have come to grief in the Senate where treaties must be ratified. The end of the current Congressional session was near and Seward could not afford a delay. Luckily, the Senate gave its formal approval on April 9th.

One reason for the rapid endorsement of Seward's action may have been a feeling of gratitude to Russia for sending a fleet to American waters in 1863. In many quarters this demonstration was taken as a warning to France and Great Britain who, although they had not recognized the Confederacy, were quite openly sympathetic to the Southern cause. On June 20th, 1867 ratifications were exchanged and the treaty proclaimed on the same day. On October 18th Russia transferred Alaska to the United States in a ceremony at Sitka. Soon afterward most of the Russians left. Later, Walt Whitman was to write in his Democratic Vistas that, 'In vain we annexed Texas, California and Alaska and reach north for Canada or south for Cuba.' Precisely what Whitman meant by 'in vain' in lumping these five unique and different cases together is questionable. Certainly, American expansionists with an eye on Canada were to be completely frustrated. Alaska, however, was an entirely different matter; let alone Texas and California. The treaty settled Alaska's territorial limits. In doing so, it reconfirmed the eastern boundary with Canada as agreed in the 1825 treaty with Great Britain.

The Russians agreed to cede the 'right of property in all public lots and squares, vacant lands, and all public buildings, fortifications, barracks, and other edifices which are not private individual property. It is, however, understood and agreed, that the churches which have been built in the ceded territory by the Russian Government, shall remain the property of such members of the Greek Oriental Church resident in the territory as may choose to worship therein.' In view of the present Soviet Russian attitude to religion, the latter clause makes amusing reading. So now Alaska was American. The price had been $7,200,000 in gold. Fortunately, Baron Stoeckl was not able to look ahead only thirteen years to 1880 when Joe Juneau and Richard Harris discovered gold in the Juneau area. Nor could he see the great gold rush coming, or even remotely foresee that up to 1965 Alaska would give up $757,000,000 in surface (placer) and vein (lode) gold. The administration of Alaska was placed under the Department of War and a relatively haphazard political period followed.

Then came the chaotic rush to the north after the discovery of gold in Dawson (Yukon Territory, Canada), Nome and the Yukon-Tanana valleys. They came by the thousands, prospectors, claim-jumpers, con-men and gamblers like Soapy Smith, who eventually stopped a vigilante's bullet. Wide-open towns like Skagway, gateway to the Klondike, sprang into prominence. At the height of the rush, Nome had a population of over 12,000 with another 5,000 to 10,000 scattered in camps nearby along the coast. Then the bonanza ran out. The effect was shattering. Nome's population plunged to only 852 by 1920. While this was an exceptionally severe case, between 1910 and 1920 the decrease amounted to 15% for all of Alaska. The achievement of territorial status in 1912 was little consolation when one considers that Alaska had dropped to 55,036 people in the census of 1920.

This is less than the capacity of a moderately sized football stadium for a land bigger in area than Great Britain, Italy, France, West Germany, Austria, Benelux and Switzerland put together. Population has always been one of Alaska's foremost anomalies. Even today the total of approximately 250,000 represents a density similar to the American Wild West of more than a century ago. And of this figure, about one-sixth are Indians, Aleuts or Eskimos. Severe imbalance of the sexes has also plagued Alaska. This fact may have provided good jokes for those not there, but competition for women must have been nothing short of desperate in 1890 when there were 865 males for every 100 females. No stable society can be built on such a disproportionate ratio. By 1960, there were still 132 men to 100 women. The trend, however, is encouraging and Alaskans are younger than Californians, Iowans or residents of any other state. The great event which jolted Alaska out of its economic and population stagnancy was the Second World War. Seward's so-called 'folly' was now to pay off.

In 1942 the Japanese occupied Kiska and Attu, two remote islands in the Aleutian chain. The danger to America was not so important as the impact the event had on many people. The enemy was now on an adjunct of the North American continent; Alaska suddenly seemed much closer to home. A crash programme pushed construction of the Alaskan Highway in 1942. This famous route runs from Dawson Creek in British Columbia to Fairbanks, Alaska. Since that time the importance of Alaska's key strategic position has steadily increased. What if Baron de Stoeckl had not approached Seward about the sale? What if Seward had been an inward looking Secretary of State? It is entirely conceivable that the Soviet Union, as successor to Imperial Russia, might possess Alaska today. For Canadians it would mean an enormous common border with the Russians, stretching from the northernmost reaches of the Yukon at Mackenzie Bay half way down British Columbia to where Ketchikan lies just over the Canadian border. For Americans it would be far worse than a Cuba in the north; for though Cuba may be hostile, it is still a country that on its own represents an insignificant threat compared to a Soviet Union holding Alaska as her own sacred territory.

From the southern reaches, Russia would be able to launch missile and bomber attacks in a wide arc at vital industrial centres. What of the future? The military aspect will continue to play a large part in Alaska's development; but there are very serious drawbacks. In only ten years, 1940 to 1950, the population zoomed by more than 77%. This would not have happened without massive Federal expenditures. Since 1956, however, the number of military personnel has dropped because of improved techniques in warfare. This has helped to bring home to Alaskans the absolute necessity of putting their economy on a self-supporting basis. In doing this, they have to face another problem, unique to Alaska in comparison with the other states. Approximately 90% of the state is owned and administered by the U.S. Government. There is also a shortage of private capital to finance economic development. Yet, when President Eisenhower proclaimed Alaska to be the 49th state on January 3rd, 1959, few would not say that it was a land of the future. Capital is rapidly coming in from different sources, particularly from Japan among interested foreign parties.

The Japanese own the Wrangell Lumber Company which produces over 50% of Alaska's annual output, and almost all of it goes to Japan. They are also looking into the iron and coal deposits. In 1957 the Richfield Oil Company brought in a wildcat strike in the area of Swanson River. Since then, over $400,000,000 has been spent on development and search in this field. Just two years after the Swanson River find, natural gas was discovered at Kenai. As a result, methane gas is now being shipped to Japan. Whether one talks about the 140,000,000 acres of forest land or the estimated coal reserves of 100 billion tons, the fact is that Alaska possesses enormous wealth. It will unquestionably be developed in the years ahead. In 1967 Alaskans celebrated their centennial. A medallion was struck. Across the top it reads, 'North to the Future.' In the centre is the profile of William H. Seward, the American Secretary of State who ignored ridicule and committed 'Seward's Folly'.

Question: What did the U.S. buy from Russia for just two cents an acre?
Answer: Alaska