Welcome to You Ask Andy

Nannetto Roberts  age 11 of Salt Lake City, Utah

Who claimed Alaska?

A good map can give you clues as to who might be interested in Alaska. You have such a map in volume I of your gift books. See how the vast territory$ twice as big as Texas. sprawls up into the Arctic Circle. Its jagged coast line defies the North Pacific. The Aleutians hang like a necklace from its chin.  Notice the neighboring countries that might want to lay claim to Alaska.

To the east is Canada. To the west is the Bering Sea and across that chilly stretch of water is Siberia, Russia. Alaska’s lush furs and rich fisheries might interest either of these countries; But the first claim was made long before either of these countries existed. It happened when mankind was a wanderer. He paid no attention to countries. He did not even know about continents.

Alaska is a land of rugged mountains. Geologists tell us that it has had an adventurous history. Several times the seas invaded its lowlands and retreated. It has known seething volcanos. Several times its land mass has been raised high above sea level. The area under the Bering Strait was included in these upheavals. There were times when that sea area was land. A natural bridge joined Alaska to Siberia Asia to Americas the Old World to the New. And plenty of people took advantage of it.

Human beings wandered from Asia to America in search of shelter and food. New World horses and camels trotted over the bridge to Asia. It was a busy two‑way street. The very first human being to cross. was the very first Americans though he did not know it. H e may have claimed Alaska as his hunting ground. More likely he wandered south or eastward over the vast New World.

Some of these wanderers however did claim Alaska as their homes They were the Eskimos. They were still there when Alaska was re‑claimed many thousands of years later by other men from the Old World. The Spanish were first to lay some claim to Alaska. They made a few voyages in its direction  but never settled there. The climate may have been too cold for them.  The nearby Russians were more at home in such a climate.

In 1728 Vitus Bering sailed through his strain. He was a Dane in the service‑of Peter the Great of Russia. The mainland of Alaska was sighted three years later by Girosdeff' a Russian sailor. Bering followed up with a landing in 1741 and. gets credit for the modern discovery of Alaska. The Russians then moved in to trade and settle. Soon after the Hudson Bay Company sent explorers from the east. Disputes arose over fur and fish. Treaties were signed between Russia  America and England for Alaskan claims.

America offered to buy all claims to the territory from Russia way back in 1859  The Civil War delayed matters. The purchase treaty was signed in 1867. On October 8 of that year Alaska became American territory for the price of $7, 200, 000; How are things going? People are flocking to Alaska in 1867 30,000 people claimed it as home. In 1950 almost 130,000 people lived there the largest percentage of population increase of any American state or territory.

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