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====Russian Settlement====
After 1581, the Russian Empire began sought to greatly expand eastward across Siberia. By the early 1600s, it had reached the Bering Sea. Some sources claim that the first Russia Russian settlement in Alaska was established by Semyon Dezhnyov, a Russian explorer who was the first Russian to cross the Bering Sea. The settlement may have been near the Koyuk River near Seward , Alaska. By the early 18th century, Peter the Great had begun to renew Russian expansion and colonization interests.
In 1741, Vitus Bering, the man who would lend his name to the Bering Sea, navigated across the the sea and arrived near Yakutat, Alaska. Bering would eventually die from scurvy during his second expedition , but his travels were successful as it showed enough to determine that Alaska to could be very wealthy, attracting fur traders and missionaries beneficial to AlaskaRussia. The first permanent Russian settlement was founded in 1784. Throughout the remainder of the 18th century, Russian colonies, mostly small and along the coastal regions of Alaska, were established.
The Spanish also became increasingly interested in the Pacific Northwest in the 1780s, establishing a fort in Nootka Sound in modern British Columbia. Areas in southern Alaska, such as around Valdez, Alaska, became temporarily explored and trading areas for the Spanish, although within a few years , the Spanish had effectively left the region. This Spain's interest prompted Russian interests as well efforts to expand southward in Alaska.
In 1799, the Fort of Archangel Michael, later becoming Novo-Arkhangelsk and later modern-day Sitka, Alaska, was established as the capital of the Alaskan colonies. The old fort was destroyed in 1802 when native Tlingit attacked the fortification, but the site was returned to Russia control after an invasion in 1804 (Figure 1). Russian efforts became more concentrated in southern Alaska. This was also a time of great expansion of Russian interests, as Russian settlers reached modern-day areas of California by 1812, settling what is today's Fort Ross about 90 miles north of San Francisco.<ref>For more on Russian colonization and settlement in Alaska, see: Black, L. (2004). <i>Russians in Alaska, 1732-1867</i>. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Fairbanks.</ref>
By the 1840s, US expansion across North America increased in earnest with the American-Mexican war. California and Oregon were also soon purchased, and future (after the Civil War) Secretary of State William Seward once stated: "Our population is destined to roll resistless waves to the ice barriers of the north, and to encounter oriental civilization on the shores of the Pacific." This belief signaled interest in areas north of modern Washington, although expansion into these regions had to wait until after the Civil War. During this time, the Russian colonies in Alaska were financially struggling, as because the fur trade suffered from overexploitation, while . Russia itself 's expansion efforts were sidelined after it became deeply embroiled with the Crimean War in 1853. This put conflict created a major financial strain on for Russia , and it began was forced to look for ways to raise revenue as its . Russia's colonies were not profitable, and they were costing it money.<ref>For more on the period right before the purchase of Alaska by the US, see: Farrow, L. A. (2016). <i>Seward’s folly: a new look at the Alaska Purchase</i>. Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press.</ref>
====US Purchase====
