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Since white settlement, Alaska has both struck it rich and struck out with its natural resources. While fur was fur, picks struck gold, whales swum obligingly into harpoons and oil gurgled in pipes, Alaska seemed a bountiful
repository of raw resources. As each of these resources in turn has been discredited or exhausted, the state has fallen into disfavor, often portrayed as a bleak and thankless environment that only the polar bear or the Inuit could call home.

The first Alaskans migrated from Asia to North America from 40,000 years ago during an ice age that squeezed a 900mi (1449km) land bridge out of the ocean separating Siberia and Alaska. Although many of these nomadic tribes continued south, four ethnic groups remained to eke out their existence in the wilderness - the Athabascans, Aleuts, Inuit and the coastal tribes of Tlingits and Haidas.

The first Caucasian to set foot in Alaska was Virtus Bering, a Danish navigator sailing on behalf of the tsar of Russia in 1728, who quickly took notice of the pelt potential of the large local seal and otter populations. The Russians quickly established a base for the fur trade on Kodiak Island, a lawless cowboy trade, which spat and bit unregulated until the Russian-American Company was organized in the 1790s. Other European invaders, most notably the Spanish and the British, were seduced by this lucrative coast but Russian predominance extended well into the 19th century.

The fur trade hit hard times in the 1860s and, with European wars demanding both attention and resources, the Russians decided to downsize their territorial holdings: several offers for the sale of Alaska were made to an initially ambivalent USA. Eventually, in 1867, the Americans signed a canny treaty to purchase the region for US$7.2 million - less than two cents an acre. Despite the bargain buy out, Alaska remained lawless and unorganized, accessible (and interesting) only to a few hardy settlers until its natural riches began to be exploited one by one. First it was whales, taken mostly in the Southeast, and then the enormous salmon stocks, but the real explosion in Alaska's economy, population and profile came in the 1880s with the discovery of gold.

Alaska's only overland link to the rest of the USA, the Alcan, was built, a 1520mi (2447km) engineering masterwork completed in just over eight months. The injection of funds and personnel spurred post-war development, leading to a new drive for statehood. In 1959, President Eisenhower proclaimed the 49th State of the Union, spawning the cute Alaskan monikering of the 'Lower 48'.

Alaska's indigenous people are renowned for their traditional arts and crafts primarily because of their ingenious use of the limited natural materials available to them. Roots, ivory, birch bark, grasses and soapstone were used creatively to produce ceremonial regalia and other artwork.

The Aleuts are known for some of the finest basket weaving in North America, using the prized Attu grass of the Aleutian Islands. The Inupiat and Yup'ik Inuit made their objects out of sea-mammal parts; their ivory carving and scrimshaw work is world renowned. The best known example of Native Alaskan craft is the totemic art apparent in every community in the southeast. As well as the classic freestanding poles, totemic art is carved on houses and other clan structures. Totem poles were often raised to commemorate a 'potlatch', a major ceremony which drew clans from throughout the region.

English is spoken across Alaska but is tinted with Alaskan words and phrases that make it almost a tongue of its own. Most of these words are of Native Alaskan origin or a colorful combination coined by some local character (probably the same guy who asks you if you want to take part in a blanket toss, an activity in which a hunter is tossed into the air for whale-spotting purposes). Just so you don't embarrass yourself, remember
that a cheechako is a tenderfoot trying to survive the first year in Alaska, and if someone offers you a stinkhead it's as bad as it sounds.

Local seafood is renowned throughout the country, but it doesn't come cheap.  The most common catches are king salmon, Dungeness crab, prawns and halibut.  One popular eating event during the summer is the salmon bake. The salmon is grilled, smothered with somebody's homemade barbecue sauce and often served all-you-can-eat style. Alaskans take their coffee seriously as evidenced by the ubiquity of cafés: even in tiny towns you'll find somebody with an espresso machine. The dark winters are conducive to serious drinking, mostly of American and Canadian beer. Apart from 70 dry Native Alaskan towns, it is never very difficult to find an open bar or liquor store.