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Alaska, the Last Frontier

Home » Alaska » Alaska History and Overview » Alaska, the Last Frontier
Posted by Your Guide on April 21, 2006 8:34 PM

Alaska is a land known for its amazing natural wonders, abundant wildlife, and excellent fishing. It is thought that the first people to enter Alaska left Asia over 20,000 years ago by way of a land bridge that connected present day Siberia with Alaska over the Bering Sea. These first Alaskans followed animals that had crossed over into a place of great abundance; the Great Land contained oceans and rivers full of fish, landscapes covered with berries, and lakes teeming with nesting birds. Later, others visited the Great Land. Vitus Bering of Russia and his crew traveled over what is known today as the Bering Strait to explore and find shorter trade routes to Asia. In 1741, Bering found land and claimed all of it for the Russian Czar. He and much of his crew later died on what is now known as Bering Island, after becoming shipwrecked on their voyage home. Bering played a significant part in opening up Alaska and the North Pacific. He was followed into Alaska by Russian traders who were thrilled with the luxurious furs that his crew had returned with. Russians occupied present day Alaska for many years. Then it was known as Russian America. Sitka was the capital of Russian America, and Alaska's first state capital. The Russians also had headquarters in Kodiak and outposts all along the coastline. The strength of Alaska's Russian heritage is still visible in the onion-shaped domes of Russian Orthodox churches that rise above many Alaskan towns. Russian traders enslaved Alaska natives, the Aleuts, to hunt for them, taking them far into south, away from their homes. After much harsh treatment, the native people went from a population of over 20,000 to less than 3000 in the years between 1741 and 1800. By the mid 1850’s over hunting made the fur trade less profitable for Russia. They then sold the Great Land to the United States in 1867 for 7.2 million dollars, which comes to 2 cents per acre. William Seward, the United States Secretary of State, signed the papers on March 30. The United States’ purchase of Alaska was not taken well by Americans. It was known as Seward’s Folly or Seward’s Icebox. Later Americans would realize that the folly was in fact a place rich in fish, furs, and natural resources such as coal, oil, gold, and natural gas.

Alaska was mostly neglected by the United States for the latter part of the 1800’s, due to the toll taken by the Civil War. Slowly, more and more people came into Alaska. In 1896, gold was discovered in Canada on the Klondike River. Major gold strikes in Alaska followed which resulted in many miners making there way into the Last Frontier. Many that came north, stayed, making their homes and opening businesses in the mining towns. Alaska’s population doubled and word of its breathtaking beauty spread throughout the United States. Alaska became the 49th state on January 3rd, 1959.



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