150 years ago, on March 30, 1867, the North American United States issued a check to the government of the Russian Empire for $ 7.2 million and acquired 1,518,800 square kilometers of new land in its possession, that is, at $ 4.74 per km².
Alaska, discovered for the Old World in 1732 by a Russian expedition led by M. S. Gvozdev and I. Fedorov, was the possession of Russia in North America. At first, it was mastered not by the state, but by private individuals, but, starting in 1799, by a specially established monopoly, the Russian-American Company (RAC).
Alaska, discovered for the Old World in 1732 by a Russian expedition led by M. S. Gvozdev and I. Fedorov, was the possession of Russia in North America. At first, it was mastered not by the state, but by private individuals, but, starting in 1799, by a specially established monopoly, the Russian-American Company (RAC).
1. Portland Canal in Alaska at the foot of the Halleck mountain range. 1888 year. (Photo by Michael Maslan | Corbis | VCG):
The sold territory was practically not inhabited - according to the RAC itself, at the time of the sale the population of all Russian Alaska and the Aleutian Islands was about 2,500 Russians and about 60,000 Indians and Eskimos. In the early 19th century, Alaska was generating income from the fur trade, but by the middle of the century it began to appear that the costs of maintaining and protecting this remote from Russia and vulnerable from a geopolitical point of view, territory would outweigh the potential profit. In short, it was sold.
2. (Photo Winter and Pond | Library of Congress | Corbis | VCG):
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3. Alaska Muir Glacier, descending into the ocean bay, 1892. (Photo by Michael Maslan | Corbis | VCG):
4. Laundry by the Klondike River. With the discovery of gold deposits on the Bonanza Creek in the Klondike River region in mid-August 1896, the Klondike "gold rush" began. Since then, the word "klondike" has been synonymous with "an unimaginably rich deposit, a source of enormous benefits." (Photo Bettmann):
The gold rush began in 1896-1897, i.e. about 30 years after the sale of Alaska for $ 7.2 million. Throughout America, news spread about the discovery of gold in 1896 on the Klondike River, in the Canadian territory of the Yukon.
In total, over a century since the vein was found, about 390 tons of gold have been mined and removed. As of 2008, its total cost is US $ 4.4 billion.
5. Alaska during the "gold rush". (Photo Bettmann):
6. Locals in Alaska between 1906 and 1915. (Photo by Eric A. Hegg | Library of Congress):
7. Seal hunter, 1930. (Photo by Edward S. Curtis | Library of Congress | Corbis | VCG):
8. Alaska is developing. New Farmers, June 16, 1935.
9. Cruise ships in Alaska, 1941. (Photo Bettmann):
10. The Alaska Highway, built during World War II, links Dawson Creek in British Columbia and Delta Junction in Alaska. The construction was completed in 1943. The length of the route was 2237 km. Unofficially, the Alaskan Highway is considered part of the Pan American Highway, which runs through North and South America and ends in southern Argentina.
Here you can see the stage of construction on October 9, 1942. If you consider that it was built in 1943, then quickly.
11. The plane of the Second World War on the Aleutian front.
12. First Governor of Alaska William Egan and US Senator Bob Bartlett. Alaska was declared a new state in 1959. (Photo Bettmann):
13. Downtown Anchorage, June 12, 1960. Awaiting the arrival of President Eisenhower.
15. The Great Alaska Earthquake - the strongest earthquake in the history of the United States and the second, after the Waldives, in the history of observations, its magnitude was 8.4 on the Richter scale. The source of the earthquake was located at a depth of more than 20 kilometers and was confined to the boundary of the immersion of the Pacific plate under the North American plate. The earthquake occurred on March 27, 1964. 139 people died.
16. Transalaska oil pipeline. It crosses the state of Alaska from north to south, the length of the oil pipeline is 1288 km. (Photo by Barry Williams):
17. Accident of the Exxon tanker "Exxon Valdez". The accident occurred on March 23, 1989 off the coast of Alaska. As a result of the disaster, about 10.8 million gallons of oil (about 260 thousand barrels or 40.9 million liters) poured into the sea, forming an oil slick of 28 thousand square kilometers. In total, the tanker transported 54.1 million gallons of oil. About two thousand kilometers of the coastline was polluted with oil.
The accident was considered the most devastating environmental disaster ever to occur at sea up until the DH rig accident in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. (Photo by Rob Stapleton):
18. Eagle in oil. While sitting in a box, waiting for help. (Photo by Natalie Fobes | Corbis):
19. The name “Alaska” comes from the Aleutian alaskaҳ - “whale place”. And here is the humpback whale. (Photo by Steve Kaufman):
20. Northern Lights in Alaska. (Photo by Lance King):
21. And this is our days. Moon over Anchorage, Alaska on February 3, 2015. (Photo by Dan Joling)
22. Bears in Alaska, August 30, 2009. (Photo by Saul Loeb):
23. The cruise ship goes near the Hubbard Glacier. The glacier originates from Mount Logan in the Yukon Territory, Canada and stretches for 122 kilometers. (Photo by Mark McElroy):
24. Bunny in Denali National Park and Preserve. (Photo by Tim Rains | US National Park Service):
25. Alaskan surfers and tidal wave.
26. (Photo by Dan Joling):
27. Knick Glacier, 2015. (Photo by Orjan F. Ellingvag | Corbis):
28. Pink salmon spawn upstream, August 8, 2008. (Photo by Lucas Jackson | Reuters):
29. It is widely believed in Russian journalism that Alaska was not actually sold, but leased for 99 years, but the USSR did not demand it back for certain political reasons. The same version is played up in the novel by Jeffrey Archer "A Matter of Honor". However, in the opinion of the overwhelming majority of historians, there is no basis for these versions, because, according to the 1867 treaty, Alaska is unequivocally, finally and irrevocably transferred to the full ownership of the United States. (Photo by Daniel A. Leifheit | US National Park Service):
30. Where did the money for Alaska go? Most of the money received was "spent abroad on the purchase of railroad accessories." So says a document written by an unknown employee of the Ministry of Finance in the second half of 1868, stored in the state historical archive of the Russian Federation. However, the version "The money was stolen" is also not excluded. (Photo by Cyrus Read | Alaska Volcano Observatory | US Geological Survey):
31. White bears. (Photo by Jeff Hutchens):
32. Sunset. (Photo by Dan Joling):
What would have happened if Alaska had not been sold, and it would have been Russian now? And would Russian soil be next to the United States? Would the world be different now? Maybe.
33. Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. (Photo by Tim Rains | US National Park Service):