History of Alaska

This website provides several time lines that each deal with a different era of Alaska history. The website offers a time line of Russian occupation, events dealing with the purchase, and Alaska after the purchase. Included in the website are maps and links to other websites which offer both primary sources and more images. The website is great as a reference tool allowing a broader scope of Alaskan history as opposed to websites which focus solely on the purchase.

The Alaska Purchase Centennial Collection

This website is one of the best places to find photographs of Alaska and its history. The website has cataloged a huge assortment of photographs and digitized them allowing the viewer to choose a subject and view a number of pictures pertaining to it. The images provided include portraits, newspapers, maps, and pictures of subjects dealing with the gold rush, native life, fishing and many more. The website also offers links to other websites that provide accompanying historical narrative which couple to complete the historical experience.

Alaska's History & Cultural Studies

This website is geared towards those without much extensive background in Alaska history. It is a great teaching tool in providing and visualizing Alaska’s history. Essentially this website provides a brief history of Alaska broken up into the major eras. Instead of providing just simply an overview of the era the website allows the viewer to choose a specific area of interest and then links to the reading involving that subject. Alaska's History & Cultural Studies also has accompanying links to websites that pertain to the subject area but are not part of the website providing an even more in depth review when needed.

The Purchase Treaty

One of the most important primary documents concerning the purchase of Alaska is the actual treaty transferring what had been Russian-Alaska to the United States. The Avalon project at Yale law school has provided this source in full text. The website provides a digital copy of the treaty word for word and additionally provides links for other diplomatic documents relevant to the subject such as links to Russian-American diplomacy, 19th century diplomacy and American diplomacy. Although the actual treaty can be found on a handful of other websites the Avalon project provides the most accessible and easy to understand version.

The Meeting of Frontiers

The "Meeting of Frontiers" website is a terrific jumping off point for any research done on the subject of the Alaska Purchase. The website was built as an effort to bridge Russian and U.S. studies of Alaska and the entire website is transcribed in both Russian and English. The website contains links to an abundant array of primary documents on the purchase including memoirs, photographs and maps. The links contained on the subject are not only diverse but numerous as well. In addition to the many primary documents the website also includes a very detailed narrative history of Alaska beginning with Russian colonization on up through the present. Overall this website succeeds in the mission that it set out to accomplish, its intention of bridging the gap between Russian studies of Alaskan history and U.S. studies of Alaskan history is followed through with great success.