What happens
In 1867, Secretary of State William Seward receives a midnight visit from the Russian minister, who offers the sale of Russian America for $7,200,000. The program traces Alaska's history from its Russian fur trading era through its purchase by the United States. It describes the territory's gold, fur, fish and mineral wealth, and Japan's interest in the region in the years before the Second World War. It then covers America's buildup of defenses in Alaska and the construction of the Alaska Highway. The program is the second in The Pacific Story series, broadcast by the National Broadcasting Company on July 18, 1943, and it includes commentary by Owen Latimore of Johns Hopkins University.
Washington, D.C., and Alaska, from 1867 through the Second World War
Characters: William Seward, Russian minister, Owen Latimore, Billy Mitchell
Listen for: The midnight meeting between Seward and the Russian minister, and Latimore's closing remarks on Alaska's place in future air travel and world highways.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.