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- Alaska was controversially purchased by the US from Russia in 1867.
- Critics called the transaction “Seward’s Folly” after US Secretary of State William Seward.
- Alaska was officially made the 49th state in January 1959.
Russia sold the territory known as Alaska to the US in 1687, but Indigenous people have been living on that land for thousands of years.
One commonly accepted theory was that the first people traveled to North America from Asia via the Bering Land Bridge, although more recent discoveries suggest they made their way by sea.
Russia began colonizing Alaska and other parts of North America in the late 1700s, establishing Russian America and making money off the fur trade. But by the 1860s, the fur trade had declined due to over-hunting.
US critics dubbed the purchase “Seward’s Folly,” named for then-Secretary of State William Seward because they felt the land, which they called an “icebox,” was useless. The transaction was also made against the wishes of some Native Alaskans, who argued it wasn’t Russia’s land to sell, according to the Alaska Native Foundation.
Three decades later, the Klondike Gold Strike brought thousands of migrants to the territory.
Alaska officially became a state 92 years after the transaction, in January 1959, making it the 49th state. Hawaii became the 50th state that same year.
Now, Alaska is a popular tourist destination, with thousands of people traveling there via cruise each year.
These vintage photos show what Alaska looked like before it became part of the United States.
Late 1800s: This is the town of Unalaska, on the island of the same name. It is still the main population center of the Aleutian Islands.
1880: A view of Sitka, Alaska. This city was under Russian rule until 1867.
1880: Alaska was populated by many Native tribes for thousands of years. Today, the two biggest tribes are the Yup’ik and the Tlingit.
Source: United States Census Bureau
Circa 1880: Sheldon Jackson, an American minister, traveled to Alaska after the United States purchased it in 1867. Here he is in Haines, Alaska.
1884: These two Inuit children were part of the exploration of the Kobuk River in northern Alaska.
1887: A ship sails the Salmon River under the watchful eyes of the mountaintops.
1890: A canoe called Brown Bear carries a funeral party to the docks at Wrangell Island.
1895: Even decades after the US purchased Alaska from Russia, structures built by the Russians remained for years, like this Russian Orthodox Church.
1896: The Klondike Gold Rush started in 1896. Thousands of prospectors trekked through the Chilkoot Pass, seen here, leading from Dyea, Alaska, to Bennett Lake, Canada.
Source: National Park Service
1897: This is what Juneau looked like in 1897, nine years before it was chosen as the territory’s capital in 1906.
1897: Prospectors continued searching for gold for the rest of the Klondike Gold Rush, which ended in 1899. The Nome Gold Rush then lasted from 1899 to 1909.
1897: Sailing through the icy waters of Glacier Bay, which is now a national park, could be dicey.
Source: National Park Service
1899: Totem poles like this one, seen outside an Alaskan lodge, tell the story of the family or tribe that constructed the pole.
1900: According to the handwritten note on this photo, this was the first log cabin built in Nome, Alaska, amid the gold rush.
1900: Reindeer have been inextricably linked with the Arctic and those that live in and around it for thousands of years — but they’re not indigenous to Alaska. They were introduced from Siberia.
1926: Photographer Frank Kleinschmidt and his family moved to Alaska during the gold rush. This is his wife holding two huge Alaskan king crabs.
1929: A mother carries her child on Nunivak Island. Today, the entire island only has one town, Mekoryuk.
1949: A group of Alaskan teenagers play what looks like an extreme version of a seesaw.
1950: By 1950, the city of Ketchikan had begun calling itself the Salmon Capital of the World.
1950: Two explorers take in the views of the Aleutian Islands, nine years before Alaska became a state.
1955: This photo of a group of Indigenous Alaskans was taken 70 years ago.
1958: Signs on the famous Alaska Highway mark the distances to other cities and states. Can you find yours?
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