Alaska is worth fighting for

Some people are saying Russia should take Alaska back from America.

Though such musings are actually quite silly, it does get one’s mind moving in interesting directions. One obvious question that pops up is where America and Alaska might be today if things had gone differently.

At one time Alaska, California, Hawaii and numerous parts of what we now call the Lower 48 were Russian territories. When the Russians decided that supporting and defending their North American properties would not be worth the cost, they unloaded them on the United States in 1867.

The selling price was $7.2 million which in today’s terms would be $133 million. That seems like a small price but Alaska was then more a burden than anything and just defending it would cost a fortune, perhaps one not so small.

Alaska’s most valuable properties, including its fish, furs, oil, minerals and wild country, all came with significant costs and liabilities. Today, presumably, those costs and liabilities would seem insignificant.

And we can be glad that the United States of America agreed to take them on. Otherwise my books and newspaper columns — if we were still here — would presumably be edited by somebody in Moscow. (Surely even my critics would not try to claim that such editing is going on now. I’m not that liberal.)

I’m still very glad that my wife and I launched out of New England 55 years ago and came here to build our lives. Otherwise I would presumably be typing my projects these days on a typewriter or computer in Boston or New York.

Alaska is still very much a frontier and life on any frontier is vastly different than that on the East Coast of the United States. Over the years several friends from those days have visited us in Alaska to see how things really are in the nation’s far northwest. And most have gone away with positive impressions which they have written and talked about through the years.

We are very glad we came here and were fortunate to arrive in the early years of Alaska’s statehood. That has given us a perspective on this part of the world that could not be matched without coming here.

And the timing of our arrival was also fortunate since it gave us a unique perspective on the challenges of a new state in a distant place. At the time of our arrival we had no idea what might lie ahead. One never does in such a situation but we had enough lucky breaks to make it possible to stay here, deal with what came and live to see the results — at least so far.

Once here we made new friends who had been here for years and were already engaged in taking on the challenges of such a place. They helped us in finding our own way, especially in avoiding mistakes they made and learned from the hard way.

Alaska is one of the world’s great places and still offers many of the same opportunities we came here for. We didn’t get rich, as our bankers will attest, but we did make a living sufficient to keep us going and welcoming the challenges of the Far North.

If somehow Russia did manage to take Alaska back, I’m uncertain whether we would stay here and continue the fight or give up and move somewhere like California. At my age I struggle to avoid battles that can be avoided and only take on those that cannot be bypassed.

But uf the fight must go on, count me in. I may not have many battles left in me but I would certainly do what I could. That’s easy to say from the comfort of an armchair but Alaska and the family and friends we gained here are certainly worth whatever they take.

Alaska is our life now and it’s a life worth fighting for.

Tom Brennan is an Anchorage columnist and author of six books. He was a reporter/columnist for The Anchorage Times and an editor and columnist at The Voice of The Times.