In 1867, WIlliam Seward arranged for the U.S. to buy Alaska from Russia. It was going to cost $7.2 million but was less then 2 cents per acre. People thought Seward was nuts because little was known about Alaska except that it was cold which was how it got its nicknames "Seward's folly" or "Seward's icebox". That was before anyone knew about the abundance of timber, minerals (including gold), and oil.
Alaska has two official state holidays: Seward's Day and Alaska Day. Seward's Day is usually the last Sunday in March and it recognizes and celebrates Seward's signing of the treaty.
Alaska was admitted to the United States on January 3rd 1959. It was the 49th state to become part of the country. A new flag was chosen and approved by President Eisenhower. It had seven staggered rows of stars and seven stars in each row, but still had the traditional 13 stripes.
In the 2000 census, Alaska's population was 626,932 people but their native population was 119,241. They had their populations broken up into their tribes as well.
The highest peak in Alaska is on the top on Mount McKinley and the lowest peak at the Pacific
Ocean which boarders the west coast of Alaska as long as it's other boarders such as Canada, The Bearing Sea, the Chukchi Sea and the Arctic Ocean.
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Good summary but be sure to include personal thoughts!