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Alaska holds a special place in the American psyche. An incomprehensibly vast mass of cold unknowns, it is the least-visited state by Americans due in large part to the extreme climate and its hard-to-reach factor. (It is, famously, less than 3 miles from Russia at its closest point.) In 1867, when the Russian Empire, broke and eager to neutralize the threat its archrival Britain posed, wanted to get out of the Alaska business, the US government saw potential: a way to expand trade and influence, maintain its friendship with Russia, and capitalize on a potential gold mine (no pun intended) of resources.
