The Purchase of Alaska

The Purchase of Alaska was one of the great political triumphs of post-colonial America, when the impoverished Russian Tsar sold 1.5m square kilometres for $7.2m, which at the time was called ‘Seward’s Folly’, so-called after Secretary of State William H. Seward, who brokered the deal and is pictured here at the formal change-over ceremony in Sitka on 18 October 1867.

The Purchase of Alaska. The formal change-over of ownership was conducted with due ceremony at Sitka on 18 October 1867. by Angus McBride

Many more pictures of Alaska can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.