HISTORY

Alaska was purchased from Russia on March 30, 1867 for $7,200,000. Alaska became the 49th state on January 3, 1959. The word Alaska comes from the Aleut term "Alyeska" which means "The Great Land". The 1,000 mile-wide continental shelf joining Alaska and Siberia was the path for America's first immigrants as the ocean level rose and fell during a time between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago.