The Russians’ coffers were drained from the Crimean War, and rather than let their imperialist neighbor England (Canada) take it, they convinced the United States to buy it. So, they sold it to a friend so an enemy couldn’t take it.
Anyways, Russia had long ago extracted the resources they wanted, so it was just a matter of time before they shuttered the costly colonies and the Russian American Company.
There are still at least two Russian colonial buildings standing in Alaska. The best preserved is by far the Russian Bishop’s House in Sitka, Alaska.
The U.S. National Park Service now owns the house that the Russian American Company built for the Russian Orthodox Church with the money they were raking in from sea otter pelts sold to China.
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