While it would still be extraordinarily difficult to see Russia from home in any part of Alaska, the two are indeed close together, and thousands of years ago America and Russia were connected via a small strip of land. While on the southeastern coast of North America the British colony in America was raising tobacco and fighting the Indians, Russian explorers crossed the narrow waterway separating Seward Peninsula of Alaska from the Chukotsk Peninsula in Siberia and began settling the opposite side of the continent.

On this day, June 11, in 1788 Russian Explorer Gerasim Izmailov began his exploration of the southern coast of Alaska, claiming the land for Russia. Russian fur traders already had permanent outposts in the region, and a thriving, if contentious commerce with the native people.

Alaskan natives received and still have many Russian-made heraldic symbols, which became part of their own folklore. After Russian fur traders subdued rebels near Sitka, Alaska, they gave the villagers a number of gifts, including a nine-pound Russian crest, the double headed-eagle, made of copper. That one, of another presented around the same time, is now in the Alaska state museum.