Alaskan people were like this: Alaska was controversially purchased by the US from Russia in 1867.
Critics called the transaction “Seward’s Folly” after William Seward, the US secretary of state.
Alaska was officially made the 49th state in January 1959.
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Alaskan people were like this 150 years ago
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.
Alaskan people were like this: 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.
Alaskan people were like this
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.
1884: These two Inuit children were part of the exploration of the Kobuk River in northern Alaska.
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.
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.
