While it may surprise some people, the territory which is now called the state of Alaska, was actually colonised by the Russians. This nationality plays a crucial role in the history of Alaska, and were the first Europeans to settle the territory. Things did not always work out well for the local indigenous people who came into contact with the Russians though.

One of the Native groups who came into damaging contact with the Russians were the Aleuts, who suffered considerably from their lack of resistance to European diseases. Almost 80 per cent of the original inhabitants of the Aleutian Isles were killed by diseases, and there was also significant conflict with other Native groups too. Contact between the Russians and the Natives was not always disastrous though, and in some areas the two groups interacted reasonably well.

The first Russian colony was established in Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island, with the expedition led by the explorer Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov, in 1784. This did not well for the local indigenous people, with the Russians killing many hundreds of the local Koniag people. By 1788, there were several Russian settlements in place, especially in the area of mainland adjacent to Cook Inlet.

Much of the economic motivation for this colonisation was the presence in the area of sea otters with very high quality furs. There was a shortage of sailors and ships which hampered Russian exploitation of this resource though. Despite this hindrance, the Russians did manage to reach Yakutat Bay in 1794, and had built a small town which came to be known as Slavorossiya there by 1795.

Alexandr Baranov claimed Sitka Sound for Russia in 1795, and many hunting parties, chasing furs, followed in his wake. By the time the 19th century arrived, the vast majority of otter pelts produced by the Russian American colonies came from this specific area. Arkhangelsk, later the city of Sitka, would be established around this time, though it was destroyed by the Tlingit Native American nation in 1802.

It was rebuilt though, in 1804, and came to be known as Sitka, once the Americans had established control over Alaska. As Sitka, it would become the capital of Alaska Territory. The Russian presence in the area did not last long though, and by the mid-19th century there were only around 700 or so Russian settlers in the region, as American influence began to grow on trading arrangements, and the Tlingits continued to wage war on the Russians.

Although the Russian presence did not last long in Alaska, and is hard to detect in many places, they did leave behind one significant legacy. This was the presence of the Russian Orthodox religion, which would maintain a missionary presence in the area until the 19th century. The sacred texts of the faith were translated into Aleut at a very early stage in the missionary process.

The Russians actually played a reasonably significant role in the history of Alaska. Although they left little tangible sign of their presence, beyond the lingering presence of their religion in some places, they were an important part of the colonial era. Sadly, they also contributed to the decline of the Native American population in the region, with the diseases and conflict that they brought resulting in the deaths of large numbers of indigenous people.