North Western America Showing the Territory Ceded by Russia to the United States

An outline of Alaska about two decades after it was purchased from Russia.

This interesting map of Alaska was published in New York by Samuel Augustus Mitchell in 1884, who based the image off contemporary charts by the U.S. Coast Survey. Mitchell was one of the most prominent American mapmakers of the 19th century, and initially got involved with cartography as a school teacher who was frustrated with the quality of available maps. He collaborated with skilled engravers and produced high-quality maps and atlases that contained the most up to date information available. Mitchell’s son would take over the business after his death in 1860 and continue the tremendous output.

His attention to detail is evident within the image, which provides a straightforward overview of the territory about 17 years after it was acquired. The boundary with Russia is carefully noted. An interesting, but rather sparse, variety of place names and geographic features are labeled, reflecting a general ignorance of interior geography. According to the State Department;

“For three decades after its purchase, the United States paid little attention to Alaska, which was governed under military, naval, or Treasury rule or, at times, no visible rule at all. Seeking a way to impose U.S. mining laws, the United States constituted a civil government in 1884. Skeptics had dubbed the purchase of Alaska “Seward’s Folly,” but the former Secretary of State was vindicated when a major gold deposit was discovered in the Yukon in 1896, and Alaska became the gateway to the Klondike gold fields. The strategic importance of Alaska was finally recognized in World War II. Alaska became a state on January 3, 1959.”

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