Changes

Since the late 1700s trip by Captain James Cook, British interests in the western North American increased. This did prompt concerns in the US over British interests in the region. US fur traders, originally restricted in trading in Alaska by the Russo-American Treaty of 1824, ignored this treaty and increasingly traded with Alaska after the 1820s. Native populations, particularly Aleut, were decimated by the Russians through disease and war. Russian continued to face stiff native resistance through the 1850s, with the Tlingits never being conquered and threatening key Russia settlements. Native populations, in fact, rebounded in the 1850s as Russian power declined. With the Civil War over, and Russia still facing financial problems, the stage was set in 1867 for the United States to purchase Alaska. While expansion north of Washington state eluded the United States. The United States purchases Alaska for US$7.2 million, about $132 million in 2020 US dollars. The first day the US gained power in Alaska was October 18, 1867, today known as Alaska Day. The importance of Alaska as a defensive possession was evident in how it was governed, with US Army, US Department of the Treasury, and US Navy tasked with governing the territory until 1884.