Paul J. Sorvo 1970 <p><span>In t</span><span>he early hours of March </span><span>30, </span><span>1867, </span><span>Secretary </span><span>of </span><span>State </span><span>William </span><span>H. </span><span>Seward </span><span>completed </span><span>the </span><span>purchase </span><span>of </span><span>the </span><span>remote </span><span>and </span><span>unexplored </span><span>land </span><span>known </span><span>as Russian </span><span>America, </span><span>or Alaska. </span><span>Discovered </span><span>in </span><span>1741 </span><span>by </span><span>Vitus </span><span>Bering, </span><span>Alaska </span><span>progressed </span><span>from </span><span>a Czarist </span><span>colony </span><span>to a territory </span><span>of the </span><span>United </span><span>States, </span><span>and </span><span>finally, </span><span>to its </span><span>present </span><span>status </span><span>as the </span><span>largest </span><span>of the </span><span>50 States. </span><span>As </span><span>part </span><span>of the </span><span>commemoration </span><span>of the </span><span>centennial </span><span>of </span><span>Alaska's </span><span>purchase, </span><span>the </span><span>U.S. </span><span>Geological </span><span>Survey </span><span>published </span><span>the </span><span>Dictionary </span><span>of Alaska </span><span>Place </span><span>Names. </span><span>This </span><span>paper </span><span>is an </span><span>outgrowth </span><span>of my </span><span>opportunity </span><span>to </span><span>participate </span><span>in the </span><span>compilation </span><span>of </span><span>the </span><span>Dictionary. </span><span>It presents </span><span>a comparative </span><span>study </span><span>of the </span><span>geographic </span><span>names </span><span>of a relatively </span><span>small </span><span>area </span><span>comprising </span><span>11,000 </span><span>square </span><span>miles </span><span>in </span><span>the </span><span>central </span><span>part </span><span>of Alaska </span><span>lying </span><span>between </span><span>the </span><span>Tanana </span><span>and </span><span>Yukon </span><span>Rivers. </span><span>The </span><span>area </span><span>studied </span><span>was </span><span>generally </span><span>confined </span><span>to </span><span>the </span><span>Fairbanks </span><span>and </span><span>Livengood </span><span>1: </span><span>250,000-scale </span><span>maps, </span><span>which </span><span>are </span><span>centered </span><span>around </span><span>Fairbanks, </span><span>the </span><span>supply </span><span>center </span><span>for </span><span>interior </span><span>and </span><span>northern </span><span>Alaska.</span></p> application/pdf 10.1179/nam.1970.18.3.185 en Taylor & Francis Pedro, Livengood, and Tanana: A study of place-names near Fairbanks, Alaska article