1887 Alaska and Adjoining Territory

This is a large and striking map of Alaska published as a 2nd edition map by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1887, which was twenty years after William H. Seward, the 24th United States Secretary of State, negotiated the Alaska Purchase (also known as Seward's Folly) with the Russians for $7.2 million. The map also comes just ten years prior to the discovery of gold in the Klondike Region around Dawson City.  Much of Alaska's interior remains unexplored and it is marked as such. Several forts and small settlements can be found throughout the territory, mostly along rivers, such as Fort Yukon, Fort Alexander, Reid House, Fort Selkirk, Fort Reliance, and John's Village, to name a few. Many topographical features such as buttes, ranges, low and rolling hills, great plains, and ice fields are also marked throughout the map. Indian villages labeled as such can also be found.  Below the title is a history of the many exploring parties and data compiled for both the 1884 and 1887 editio