John Smith’s map of Virginia, engraved by William Hole and published in 1612. Public domain.
The United States bought Alaska from Russia, a deal many people mocked until the territory’s resources were plain.
A poor household in the states did not move there, and the Native peoples of Alaska were not the sellers and were not paid.
A middling taxpayer helped fund a purchase that, in 1867, looked like ice and distance.
Fur traders and, later, fishing and mining investors were the private money that followed the flag.
Secretary of State William Seward signed a treaty in 1867 to buy Alaska for 7,200,000 dollars.
The Senate ratified it, and the House waited until 1868 to appropriate the money.
Russia wanted to shed a hard-to-defend colony, and the United States wanted the northwestern coast.
Treaty of Cession of Alaska, 15 Stat. 539 (1867); Ronald J. Jensen, The Alaska Purchase and Russian-American Relations (1975)