Russian Colonies
Russia explored the area that became Alaska starting with the Second Kamchatka expedition in the 1730s and early 1740s. Their first settlement was founded in 1784 by Grigory Shelikhov. The Russian-American Company was formed in 1799 with the influence of Nikolay Rezanov for the purpose of buying sea otters for their fur from native hunters. In 1867 the U.S. purchased Alaska and nearly all Russians abandoned the area except a few missionaries of the Russian Orthodox Church working among the natives.
Read more about this topic: Colonial History Of The United States
Famous quotes containing the words russian and/or colonies:
“To be born in a new country one has to die in the motherland.”
—Irina Mogilevskaya, Russian student. “Immigrating to the U.S.,” student paper in an English as a Second Language class, Hunter College, 1995.
“So that’s our new flag. The thing we’ve been fighting for—thirteen stripes for the colonies and thirteen stars in a circle for the union.”
—Lamar Trotti (1898–1952)