Alaska is the northernmost and westernmost state in the U.S. In 1867, the United States bought Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000. Many Americans thought the Secretary of State William Seward was crazy to spend money on this frozen wilderness. Some people called it "Seward’s Folly" and "Walrussia." Alaska was a huge uninhabited area and Americans didn’t think it was worth very much.

William H. Seward was the Governor of New York from 1839 to 1843. After practicing law he served in the senate from 1849 to 1861. Seward was opposed to slavery and went on to serve as Secretary of State for President Abraham Lincoln and President Andrew Johnson. Seward was in favor of expansion which means that he wanted America to get bigger. He tried to get congress to buy Hawaii and some islands in the Caribbean but congress did not want to buy it. He did get congress to buy Alaska.

Alaska is a rugged, wild, and beautiful land with beautiful mountains. It has slow moving glaciers and volcanoes that are still active. Alaska is also rich in oil reserves. There are still fur trappers and dog teams in Alaska toady. In 1912 Alaska became a territory and on January 3, 1959 Alaska became the 49th state.

Alaska is home to many Americans today and has a stable economy. There are modern cities connected to the world by advanced communications. It turns out that the purchase of Alaska was a good investment.

For more information:
http://library.state.ak.us/hist/cent/home.html

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