Seward’s Folly, also known as Seward’s Icebox, was the derogatory nickname given to the area known as Alaska, purchased by the United States from Russia in 1867. The $7.2 million purchase, heavily encouraged by Secretary of State William Seward, was criticized by many, thus dubbed “Seward’s Folly.” The Alaskan Gold Rush of 1900 proved Seward to be a very wise man. In 1959, Alaska became the forty-ninth state.