United States, Alaska

Alaska is the northernmost, westernmost, and “easternmost” state in the United States (parts of the Aleutian Islands cross the 180th meridian). Because of its size and location, it encompasses many different geophysical areas, from rainy spruce and fir forests in southeast Alaska, to the desert of the Arctic. Alaska also contains many natural resources, and the exploitation of those resources has often been a point of controversy throughout its history.

Before its “discovery,” the Inuit people, Eskimos of non-Inuit origin, Aleuts (of the Aleutian Islands), and Native Americans populated Alaska. These included the Athabascans of central Alaska and the Tlingit and Haida tribes of southeast Alaska. Unlike most of the United States, the indigenous peoples of Alaska were not forced into reservations. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971 was an attempt to avoid the mistakes of past national policy toward indigenous peoples. ANCSA is also central to understanding the politics of land conservation in Alaska.

Russia, Spain, and Britain were the major powers in Alaska until 1876. Russia was most influential. Vitus Bering, a Dane working for the Russian Czar, “discovered” Alaska in about 1728, although there is evidence suggesting earlier Russian exploration. The Russian influence in Alaska is seen in numerous towns and villages throughout the Aleutians and coastal Alaska, many of which still have small and distinctive Russian Orthodox churches. The name of the state comes from the Russian interpretation of the Aleut Alyeska meaning “great land” or “mainland.” Russian exploration extended to northern California, raising concern in Spain, which pressed its explorations north to Alaska. Spanish names in Alaska still exist, including the cities of Valdez (pronounced Val-DEEZ) and Cordova. British explorer Captain James Cook, seeking the inside passage, explored what later became known as Cook Inlet, and named Turnagain arm, near Anchorage, because, having failed to find the northwest passage, he had to “turn again.”

Russians fur traders hunted sea otters to the brink of extinction. Timber and fish were also important, particularly as the otters became scarce. The Russian America company established its headquarters [Page 1818]at Sitka (New Archangel), which was the center of Russian colonial government until 1867, when the United States, at the urging of Secretary of State William Seward, purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars, or about two cents per acre. This purchase was made well after the otter population had withered. Of course, there was widespread ridicule of “Seward's Folly,” but most enlightened citizens and officials realized that Alaska contained considerable natural resources and provided strategic benefits for the United States in its competition with Great Britain over the Pacific Northwest.

Tourism, such as this cruise through Tracy Arm Fjord to view glaciers, has grown considerably since the early 1980s and is the second most important sector in the Alaskan economy after oil.