Russian Territory
In the Colonial Despatches, Russian Territory refers to the lands owned and worked
by Russia on the North American continent—roughly, the lands covered by present-day
Alaska.
Perhaps most relevant to the years covered by the Colonial Despatches are the treaties
between Russia, the United States, and Britain in 1824 and 1825, which fixed Russia's
southernmost border on the continent at 54° 40'; this line became the northern boundary
of British settlements, and later, the divide between
British Columbia and the State of Alaska.