Alaska Travel Guide — Things to Do, Food & Hotels
state of the United States of America
About Alaska
In 1867 (two years after the end of theCivil War), the territory of Alaska was purchased from theRussian Empirefor $7.2 million (or about 2 cents an acre). For many years people referred to the acquisition as "Seward's Folly", named for Secretary of State William H. Seward (1801–1872) who made the deal. They viewed Alaska as a frozen wasteland, not realizing it would turn out to be one of the United States' richest resources for gold and oil. It took until 1959 for the territory to become a state of the Union. Most of the land is still wilderness; nicknamedThe Last Frontier, Alaska keeps the spirit of theWild Westalive. Most maps of the US represent the size of Alaska inaccurately, inserting it at a smaller scale in some corner. On the other hand, Mercator maps make northern regions such
Alaska Travel Guide Sections
Our comprehensive guide covers 15 sections including: