Alaska Colonial Records

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History

European contact with Alaska occurred in the early to mid-18th century although contact could have happened in the mid-17th century. Explorers and expeditions from Russia were among the first known contact. During the late 18th century, Spanish expeditions were made up the Pacific to Alaska to assert their claims to the Pacific Northwest, and during the early 19th century, the Russians began to colonize under the Russian-American Company and built a capital on Baranof Island. Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867.