# Was Alaska Leased Not Sold? The 1867 Truth

*History & War · Eleanor Hartwell · 2026-08-08*

## TL;DR

Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867 through a formal treaty signed in Washington, D.C. The sale was permanent and unconditional. No lease agreement of any duration was involved, and the United States has held undisputed title to Alaska since the formal transfer ceremony in Sitka on October 18, 1867.

## Key facts

- The Alaska Purchase treaty was signed on March 30, 1867, in Washington, D.C., by Secretary of State William Seward and Russian Minister Eduard de Stoeckl.
- The United States paid $7.2 million for Alaska, which amounted to roughly two cents per acre at the time of the transaction.
- The formal transfer of territory took place in Sitka, Alaska, on October 18, 1867, with the Russian flag lowered and the American flag raised.
- The treaty text explicitly states that Russia cedes "all the territory and dominion" to the United States, with no mention of any lease, term limit, or reversion clause.
- The myth of a 99-year or 100-year lease gained traction in Russian popular culture, but no historical document supports any lease arrangement.

## The Russian Myth That Alaska Was Leased, Not Sold

Ask a random person on the streets of Moscow about Alaska, and you might hear something surprising: that America doesn't actually own it. Many Russians genuinely believe their country only leased Alaska to the United States for 100 years, not sold it outright. This urban legend has taken deep root in Russian popular culture, even though the historical record tells a completely different story.

The belief follows a strangely familiar pattern if you're Turkish. It mirrors the conspiracy theory about the Treaty of Lausanne, which some in Turkey claim was a 100-year agreement that expired in 2023. Both myths share the same DNA: a powerful nation supposedly made a temporary deal, and the clock is ticking on getting their land back. The Russian version says Alaska's "lease" ran out in 1967, and the United States has been squatting on stolen territory ever since.

This isn't a fringe belief held by a handful of eccentrics. According to the original account, a genuine majority of Russians subscribe to the "rented Alaska" theory. The idea gained massive traction after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, when modern "folk history" exploded across the former USSR. Russian nationalism, especially under Vladimir Putin's leadership, combined with the spread of the internet to turn this odd historical claim into mainstream conviction.

Here's what actually happened: Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million. The Treaty of Cession, signed on March 30 of that year, uses the word "cede" in its first article, which means transfer permanently. There's no lease language anywhere in the document. The treaty was written in French and English, the diplomatic languages of the era, not Russian.

The myth's origin story goes something like this: the Russian word "vyechno," supposedly meaning "eternally," was mistranslated as "100 years." But records suggest this linguistic claim is pure invention. The treaty simply doesn't contain that word in any form that could be misread as a lease term.

Russia's real motivation for selling in 1867 was far more practical. The empire was reeling from its defeat in the Crimean War of 1853, financially drained and militarily exposed. Russian officials genuinely feared that Britain, which held the neighboring colony of British Columbia, would simply seize Alaska. Selling the frozen territory to a neutral power like the United States brought in cash and kept it out of British hands. For their part, the Americans saw an opportunity to gain strategic ground against Britain in the Pacific Northwest, possibly even positioning for future moves on Canada.

The irony is that both nations got what they wanted. Russia avoided losing Alaska to its enemy, and America expanded its territory at Britain's expense. No lease, no expiration date, no hidden debt. Just a straightforward real estate deal between two empires, one that Russia has been trying to rewrite in the popular imagination ever since.

## The Word That Started It All: 'Vyechno' and the 100-Year Mix-Up

Here is the engine that drives the entire rumor: a single Russian word, *vyechno*, that supposedly meant one thing to the negotiators and something entirely different to everyone who read it afterward. According to the story's believers, the treaty used *vyechno* to mean "for 100 years," a misunderstanding born from its resemblance to *vyek*, the Russian word for "century." The English translators, the tale goes, read it as "eternally" and locked in a permanent sale when a 100-year lease was intended.

That single misstep, as the story goes, set a ticking clock. If Alaska was leased in 1867, then the lease expired in 1967. The believers claim the Soviet Union simply failed to show up at the deadline because it refused to honor the debts and obligations of the Tsarist regime that had signed the deal in the first place. The new government, so the logic runs, pretended the whole arrangement didn't exist, and so the 100-year window closed with no one on the Russian side demanding the territory back.

But the story does not end there. The same believers argue that Russia's claim never actually lapsed, only the Soviet Union's willingness to press it. They say modern Russia can demand Alaska back at any moment, because the original deal was never a sale. And here is where the numbers get truly strange: they contend that since the lease ran for only 100 years, the United States paid for just a century of use. Yet the land has now been in American hands for well over 150 years, meaning the US owes Russia for the extra decades of occupation. The debt, by their arithmetic, has been compounding since 1967.

It is a neat, self-contained conspiracy, and it has a seductive symmetry: a mistranslated word, a missed deadline, an unpaid bill. But the story collapses the moment you look at the actual treaty, which was signed on March 30, 1867. Contrary to the popular version, records show the document was written in French and English, with no Russian version at all. The word *vyechno* does not appear anywhere in the text, and the first article uses the unambiguous term "cede," a permanent transfer with no expiration date. There is no lease clause, no 100-year term, and no hidden deadline for the Soviet Union to have missed in 1967.

## What the 1867 Treaty Actually Says

The Treaty of Cession was signed on March 30, 1867, and its text demolishes the lease theory in plain sight. The document was written in French and English, with no Russian version at all, which alone contradicts the myth that a Russian word got mistranslated. The first article states that Russia "cedes to the United States" all territory and dominion, using unambiguous language of permanent transfer, not lease.

Here is where the popular story falls apart. The myth claims the treaty used the Russian word "vyechno" meaning "eternally," which was somehow misread as "vyek" or "100 years." But the actual treaty contains no such word in any problematic context because the treaty was never written in Russian in the first place. The Russian court conducted its business in French, not Russian, which is why the treaty appears in French and English only. Russian appears nowhere in the document, not even in the preamble or closing sections.

The cession language itself is strikingly direct. The treaty's first article explicitly transfers "all the territory and dominion" to the United States, with no mention of any time limit, rental period, or return clause. The remaining pages of the document simply outline the geographic boundaries of the territory and determine ownership of existing properties. Nothing in the text suggests a 100-year arrangement or any future obligation on either side.

Contrary to the lease theory's claim that the $7.2 million was a rental payment covering only a century, the payment was a one-time lump-sum purchase price with no time limit attached. The treaty does not contain any provision for continued payments, nor does it establish any mechanism for reclaiming the territory after any number of years. The transaction was complete and final on the day it was signed.

## Why Russia Really Sold Alaska: The British Threat

The real reason Russia let go of Alaska in 1867 had nothing to do with lease terms or wordplay. Russia sold it because it was broke, beaten, and terrified that Britain would simply take the territory by force. Selling to the United States was a strategic retreat, not a business deal.

Russia limped out of the Crimean War in 1853 financially drained and militarily exposed. The empire's treasury was empty, and its Pacific holdings suddenly looked less like an asset and more like a liability. Right next door, in British Columbia, sat a colony of the very empire that had just humiliated Russia on the battlefield. British forces could have marched into Alaska almost without breaking a stride, and everyone in Saint Petersburg knew it.

Here is the part that often gets lost in the retelling: in 1867, Russia's sworn enemy was Britain, not the United States. The two nations had been sparring across Europe and Asia for decades. Alaska, from Russia's perspective, was a prize that Britain wanted badly. Rather than watch it get seized by an adversary, Russian officials chose to sell it to a neutral power and pocket real money in the process. A lump sum from Washington beat a stolen territory with zero compensation.

Secretary of State William Seward and his allies saw the purchase through a similar lens. They understood that owning Alaska handed the United States a strategic wedge against British interests in the Pacific Northwest. The Americans had no idea what natural wealth sat frozen beneath the ground. They were buying position, not potential.

So the sale happened because both sides were playing chess against London. Russia shed a vulnerable colony it could not defend, and the United States gained leverage over a rival empire. The treaty itself uses the word "cede" in its first article, an unambiguous transfer of permanent ownership. No lease, no expiration date, no hidden clause. Just two empires making a calculated trade.


## Frequently asked questions

**Why do many Russians believe Alaska was leased for 100 years?**

The belief that Alaska was leased rather than sold has deep roots in Russian urban legend and nationalist storytelling. According to the popular version, Russia only rented the territory to the United States for a century, a claim that has spread widely through internet forums and patriotic narratives since the Soviet era ended. The story persists despite overwhelming historical evidence to the contrary.

**What does 'vyechno' actually mean?**

The Russian word "vyechno" translates to "eternally" or "forever," but the urban legend claims it was somehow confused with "vyek," meaning "century." This linguistic mix-up is completely debunked. The 1867 treaty text simply doesn't contain the word "vyechno" in any passage that could plausibly be misread as a 100-year term.

**Why did Russia sell Alaska in 1867?**

Russia sold Alaska because it was in a vulnerable position after the Crimean War, which ended in 1856. The empire was financially strained and militarily weakened, and Russian officials genuinely feared that Britain, their main rival, would seize the territory. Selling to the United States seemed smarter than letting an enemy take it for nothing.

**Was the treaty written in Russian?**

No. The Alaska Purchase treaty was drafted entirely in French and English, with no Russian version at all. Interestingly, the Russian imperial court conducted its diplomatic business in French, not Russian, which is why the Tsar's own copy existed only in those two languages.

**How is this similar to the Treaty of Lausanne conspiracy?**

Both stories follow the same pattern: a persistent claim that a treaty expires after exactly 100 years. Just as some in Turkey believe the Treaty of Lausanne signed in 1923 had a secret 100-year clause, the Alaska legend claims a similar hidden expiration. Neither treaty contains any such provision, yet both myths refuse to die.

**Who was Russia's main enemy?**

Britain was Russia's primary adversary at the time of the sale. The British had a colony in British Columbia right next to Alaska, and Russian officials worried constantly about British expansion. America, by contrast, was seen as a neutral party and a better buyer than a rival empire.

**Did the Soviet Union ever claim Alaska back?**

There is no historical record of the Soviet Union ever attempting to reclaim Alaska in 1967 or at any other time. The story that the USSR declined to reclaim it because it didn't recognize Tsarist obligations is pure fiction. No Soviet government ever seriously considered such a move.

**What language was the official treaty in?**

The official treaty was written in French and English only. The first article clearly states that Russia "cedes to the United States" all territory and dominion, using unambiguous language of permanent transfer. The word "lease" appears nowhere in the document.

Canonical: https://curio.madeda.com/was-alaska-leased-not-sold-the-1867-truth/