When Alaska (Seward´s folly) was purchased by the United States in 1867 for the sum of $ 7.2 million few citizens could fathom what possible use or interest the 586,000 square miles of land would have for their country. The Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98 was the first event to garner significant exposure for the great, white North. Closer to us huge reserves of oil were discovered in the far North. On January 3, 1959, President Eisenhower signed the official declaration which made Alaska the 49th state.