Beginning of Essay
We first learned about Alaska in 1741 when Captain Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator, landed on the Alaskan islands. Soon after his discovery, Russians established the first white settlement on Kodiac Island, in 1784. The Russian hunters and traders went there in ....

Middle of Essay
.... when Baranof was the leader, but after he was replaced in 1817, it declined. The people who took over were naval officers who hardly had any interest in the business, plus competition from the Americans, Canadians, and the British also made it hard to earn a profit. In addition, animals with fur were becoming more and more scarce, due to over-hunting. In 1824 and 1825, two separate treaties were signed by Russia, one dealing with Britain and the another dealing with America. In these treaties Russia recognized latitude 54 degrees 40' as the southern boundary of Russian territory in America. Russia also gave Britain and the United States o ....