Mount Edgecumbe in Sitka in Sitka Borough, Alaska — Northwest (North America)

Alaska Purchase

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, September 1, 2021

1. Alaska Purchase Marker

Inscription.

Alaska Purchase. . , On October 18, 1867, the Russian eagle ceded its perch on this hill to the American eagle., What a Deal! , By the 1860s, the Russian-American Company (RAC), which managed Russia's colonies in Alaska, was losing money, so Russia decided to sell its American territory. On March 30, 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed to Russian Ambassador Eduard de Stoeckl's proposal to purchase Alaska. President Andrew Johnson signed the treaty on May 28, agreeing to pay $7.2 million for Alaska , two cents per acre!, Pomp and Ceremony , On October 18, 1867 at 11:00 a.m., representatives for the U.S., Russia, and the RAC arrived in Sitka on the USS Ossipee. At 3:00 p.m., 150 Russian troops in flat glazed caps and dark uniforms trimmed with red assembled on the parapet in front of the governor's house. Two hundred American troops marched up the hill to the beat of their own boots., A Dramatic Beginning , At 3:30 p.m., Prince Maksutov and General Rousseau, the Russian governor and U.S. representative respectively, took their positions near the flag. Eyewitness, T. Ahllund stated, "Now they started to pull the [Russian double-headed] eagle down, but … it … entangled its claws around the spar so that it could not be pulled down …" Once freed, it fell onto the Russian bayonets and Prince Maksutov's wife fainted. General Rousseau's son hoisted the American flag. A new era began., [Captions:] , This painting, by Emanuel Leutze, fancifully depicts the major players in the Alaska Purchase signing the Treaty of Cessation peacefully, in a single room, on March 30, 1867. Shown left to right: Robert S. Chew, William. H. Seward (Secretary of State), William Hunter, Mr. Bodisco, Baron de (Eduard) Stoeckl (Russian Diplomat), Charles Sumner, and Frederick W. Seward. Alaska State Library, Alaska Purchase Centennial Collection, Emanuel Leutze, P20-181, The American check, and the Russian transfer agreement. National Archives and Records Administration, Artist's rendition of the transfer ceremony., USS Ossipee. U.S. Navy Historical Center, Map of Alaska 1867 showing territory ceded by Russia to the United States. National Archives and Records Administration

On October 18, 1867, the Russian eagle ceded its perch on this hill to the American eagle.

What a Deal!
By the 1860s, the Russian-American Company (RAC), which managed Russia's colonies in Alaska, was losing money, so Russia decided to sell its American territory. On March 30, 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed to Russian Ambassador Eduard de Stoeckl's proposal to purchase Alaska. President Andrew Johnson signed the treaty on May 28, agreeing to pay $7.2 million for Alaska — two cents per acre!

Pomp and Ceremony
On October 18, 1867 at 11:00 a.m., representatives for the U.S., Russia, and the RAC arrived in Sitka on the USS Ossipee. At 3:00 p.m., 150 Russian troops in flat glazed caps and dark uniforms trimmed with red assembled on the parapet in front of the governor's house. Two hundred American troops marched up the hill to the beat of their own boots.

A Dramatic Beginning
At 3:30 p.m., Prince Maksutov and General Rousseau, the Russian governor and U.S. representative respectively, took their positions near the flag. Eyewitness, T. Ahllund stated, "Now they started to pull the [Russian double-headed] eagle down, but … it … entangled its claws around the spar so that it could not be pulled down …" Once freed, it fell onto the Russian bayonets

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

and Prince Maksutov's wife fainted. General Rousseau's son hoisted the American flag. A new era began.

[Captions:]
This painting, by Emanuel Leutze, fancifully depicts the major players in the Alaska Purchase signing the Treaty of Cessation peacefully, in a single room, on March 30, 1867. Shown left to right: Robert S. Chew, William. H. Seward (Secretary of State), William Hunter, Mr. Bodisco, Baron de (Eduard) Stoeckl (Russian Diplomat), Charles Sumner, and Frederick W. Seward. Alaska State Library, Alaska Purchase Centennial Collection, Emanuel Leutze, P20-181

The American check, and the Russian transfer agreement. National Archives and Records Administration

Artist's rendition of the transfer ceremony.

USS Ossipee. U.S. Navy Historical Center

Map of Alaska 1867 showing territory ceded by Russia to the United States. National Archives and Records Administration

Erected by Alaska Department of Natural Resources • Alaska Department of Parks and Outdoor Recreation.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Political Subdivisions. A significant historical date for this entry is October 18, 1867.

Location. 57° 2.926′ N, 135° 20.278′

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, September 1, 2021

2. Alaska Purchase Marker

W. Marker is in Sitka, Alaska, in Sitka Borough. It is in Mount Edgecumbe. It can be reached from Lincoln Street. Marker is atop Castle Hill in Baranof Castle State Historic Site. It can be reached via a stairway from Lincoln Street or an accessible but steep paved path from Harbor Road. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Sitka AK 99835, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Southeast Alaska,

in Tlingit and Haida & Tsimshian Region.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

in the Inside Passage,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Russian Empire.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: American Sitka (here, next to this marker); History of Castle Hill (1867-) (a few steps from this marker); In This Place (a few steps from this marker); A Town for an Empire (a few steps from this marker); Noow Tlein (a few steps from this marker); History of Castle Hill (-1804) (a few steps from this marker); Men of the Hill (a few steps from this marker); American Flag Raising Site (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sitka.

Also see . . .
1. Seward's Bargain: The Alaska Purchase from Russia. By Milton O. Gustafson in the Winter 1994 edition of the National Archives' Prologue Magazine. (Submitted on September 8, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

2. Seward's gift to America was widely ridiculed. By Laurel Downing Bill in Senior Voice, posted March 1, 2017. (Submitted on September 8, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Marker detail (original): Painting depicting sale of Alaska image. Click for full size.

Emanuel Leutze / Public domain, 1867

3. Marker detail (original): Painting depicting sale of Alaska

This idealized and historically inaccurate depiction of Russia's sale of Alaska to the United States shows (left to right): Robert S. Chew, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward, William Hunter, Waldemar Bodisco; Russian Ambassador Baron de Stoeckl, Charles Sumner, and Fredrick W. Seward. Chew was Seward's chief clerk; Hunter was Assistant U.S. Secretary of State; Bodisco was Russian chargé d'affaires; Sumner was a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and Fredrick Seward was William Seward's son and an Assistant U.S. Secretary of State.

Marker detail (original): Czar's ratification of the Alaska Purchase Treaty image. Click for full size.

National Archives and Records Administration / Public domain

4. Marker detail (original): Czar's ratification of the Alaska Purchase Treaty

Marker detail (original): Treasury warrant for $7.2 million for the purchase of Alaska image. Click for full size.

National Archives and Records Administration / Public domain, 1867

5. Marker detail (original): Treasury warrant for $7.2 million for the purchase of Alaska

Marker detail (original): USS <i>Ossipee</i> image. Click for full size.

U.S. Navy Historical Center / Public domain

6. Marker detail (original): USS Ossipee

Credits. This page was last revised on March 15, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 8, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 8,758 times since then and 289 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on September 8, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.