In 1867, the territory of Alaska was purchased from the Russians for $7.2 million (or about 2 cents an acre). For many years people referred to the acquisition as "Seward's Folly", named for Secretary of State William H. Seward (1801-1872) who made the deal. They viewed Alaska as a frozen wasteland, not realizing it would turn out to be one of the United States' richest resources for gold and oil. It took until 1959 for the territory to become a State of the Union. Read more from Wikitravel »