锡特卡在阿拉斯加闪耀

为了纪念阿拉斯加日，我们来到了阿拉斯加的锡特卡港，锡特卡港在19世纪曾是俄美的首都，当时被称为诺沃阿尔汉格尔斯克。就在1867年的这一天，俄罗斯帝国的官员以720万美元（约合每英亩2美分）的价格正式将阿拉斯加的领土转让给美国。这在今天看来是一个惊人的小价格，但在当时，反对者称之为“西沃德的愚蠢”，因为当时的国务卿威廉H.西沃德，谁谈判的协议。起初，很少有美国人迁移到“最后的边疆”，但在19世纪90年代，当育空和阿拉斯加发现金矿时，大批勘探者和其他人开始在这片领土上掀起移民潮。从那时起，拥有巨大自然资源和惊人美景的阿拉斯加一直是美国的一块宝贵领土，是美国荒野的永恒象征。
原文：
In honor of Alaska Day, we're in the harbor of Sitka, Alaska, which was the capital of Russian America in the 19th century, when it was called Novo-Arkhangelsk. It was here on this day in 1867 that officials of the Russian Empire formally transferred the Territory of Alaska to the United States in a sale for $7.2 million, or just around 2 cents per acre. It seems an astonishingly small price today, but at the time, opponents called it 'Seward's Folly' after then-Secretary of State William H. Seward, who negotiated the deal. Few Americans moved to the 'Last Frontier' at first, but in the 1890s, when gold was discovered in the Yukon and Alaska, a rush of prospectors and others began a wave of settlers in the territory. Ever since, Alaska, with its vast natural resources and staggering beauty, has been a prized American domain and an enduring symbol of American wilderness.
《© Blaine Harrington III/Alamy》