Alaska Purchase

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 , (Left, top) 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 , (Left, bottom) The American check, and the Russian transfer agreement. National Archives and Records Administration , (Center) Artist's rendition of the transfer ceremony. , (Right) USS Ossipee. U.S. Navy Historical Center , (Background) Map of Alaska 1867 showing territory ceded by Russia to the United States. National Archives and Records Administration