- Alaska was purchased by the United States from Russia in 1867 under controversial circumstances.
- Critics called the transaction “Seward’s Folly,” named after U.S. Secretary of State William Seward.
- In January 1959, Alaska was officially declared the 49th state.
Russia sold the area known as Alaska to the United States in 1687, but the indigenous people have lived on this land for thousands of years.
A widely accepted theory is that the first humans reached North America from Asia across the Bering Land Bridge, but recent discoveries suggest that they moved by sea.
Russia began colonizing Alaska and other parts of North America in the late 18th century, establishing Russian America and making money from the fur trade. However, by the 1860s, the fur trade had declined due to overhunting.
Critics in the United States called the purchase “Seward’s Folly,” named after then-Secretary of State William Seward, because they considered the land, which they called an “icebox,” useless. The transaction also went against the wishes of some Alaska Natives, who argued that it was not Russia’s land that could be sold, according to the Alaska Native Foundation.
Three decades later, the discovery of gold in the Klondike brought thousands of migrants to the area.
92 years after the transaction, in January 1959, Alaska officially became a state, becoming the 49th state. Hawaii became the 50th state the same year.
Today, Alaska is a popular tourist destination, visited by thousands of people on a cruise each year.
These old photos show what Alaska looked like before it became part of the United States.
