Alaska: Bridge Between U.S. and Russia

Signing the Alaska Treaty of Cessation: (L-R) Robert S. Chew, Secretary of State William H. Seward, William Hunter, Mr. Bodisco, Russian Ambassador Baron de Stoeckl, Charles Sumner, Fredrick W. Seward.
Russian America was the name of the Russian colonial possessions in the Americas from 1733 to 1867. Settlements spanned parts of what are now the U.S. states of California, Alaska, and two ports in Hawaii.
Russia signed a deal, selling Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million, on March 30, 1867.
Russian America was the name of the Russian colonial possessions in the Americas from 1733 to 1867. Settlements spanned parts of what are now the U.S. states of California, Alaska, and two ports in Hawaii.
Russia signed a deal, selling Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million, on March 30, 1867.
Archive / Wikicommons

Russian Orthodox Church and churchyard in Alaska.
Ash / Flickr

A postcard reads, "Russian Block House, Sitka, Alaska."
Henry Solomon / Wikicommons

The Old Russian Trading House in Sitka, Alaska.
Henry Solomon / Wikicommons

The red and green roof of a Russian-Orthodox-style church brings a spot of color to the mountainous winter landscape in this Unalaska scene.
Wanetta Ayers

The hides of polar bears curing on the mountainside of the Eskimo village of Little Diomede, Alaska with Russia's Big Diomede Island on the horizon.
Al Grillo / AP

Big Diomede Island in Russia, right background, as seen from Little Diomede Island in the U.S. state of Alaska, left foreground.
Residents from the tiny Alaska Native village on Little Diomede are trying to reconnect with their long-lost relatives from Big Diomede, who were moved to Russia's Chukotka Peninsula after the island became a Russian military base during World War II.
Three miles separate the islands, but it might as well be thousands of miles because Big Diomede is strictly off-limits.
Residents from the tiny Alaska Native village on Little Diomede are trying to reconnect with their long-lost relatives from Big Diomede, who were moved to Russia's Chukotka Peninsula after the island became a Russian military base during World War II.
Three miles separate the islands, but it might as well be thousands of miles because Big Diomede is strictly off-limits.
George A. Kalli / AP

The Chilkat Mountain Range is seen above the town of Haines, Alaska.
Bob Strong / Reuters