Phil C
09-16-2008, 03:54 PM
Soon the Alaska commemerative quarter will be coming out. I will be the next to last one in the series.
Alaska became a State in 1959 after being a territory for many years. It was purchased in 1867 from Russia for $7.2 Million dollars. This was done when the agreement between Russia and U.S. Secretary of State William Seward was reached. Most Americans were positive about the purchase but some of the newspapers criticized Seward for paying so much money for a big "wasteland." They referred to it as Seward's follie but it turned out to be a major bargain.
The Russians sold it to us because they needed money for some other projects and didn't want to spend the money to keep Alaska. They also didn t want Great Britain to get it as the British were expanding their empire in the Pacific at the time and the Russians considered them competitors.
There was a great Gold Rush to Alaska in the late 1800s so the money was recovered many times over. Not only gold but other minerals and industry adds to the great bargain.
Also after WW2 the Cold War started and it was much better for Alaska to have been in our hands than the Russian (called Soviet Union until 1989).
We were fortunate indeed to have this great state in our boundaries.
The great 1960 movie North to Alaska starring John Wayne was set there in the gold rush in 1901. The title song was sung by Texan Johnny Horton.
Alaska became a State in 1959 after being a territory for many years. It was purchased in 1867 from Russia for $7.2 Million dollars. This was done when the agreement between Russia and U.S. Secretary of State William Seward was reached. Most Americans were positive about the purchase but some of the newspapers criticized Seward for paying so much money for a big "wasteland." They referred to it as Seward's follie but it turned out to be a major bargain.
The Russians sold it to us because they needed money for some other projects and didn't want to spend the money to keep Alaska. They also didn t want Great Britain to get it as the British were expanding their empire in the Pacific at the time and the Russians considered them competitors.
There was a great Gold Rush to Alaska in the late 1800s so the money was recovered many times over. Not only gold but other minerals and industry adds to the great bargain.
Also after WW2 the Cold War started and it was much better for Alaska to have been in our hands than the Russian (called Soviet Union until 1989).
We were fortunate indeed to have this great state in our boundaries.
The great 1960 movie North to Alaska starring John Wayne was set there in the gold rush in 1901. The title song was sung by Texan Johnny Horton.