The Spanish, Russians, and British charted the coastline throughout the 1700’s and 1800’s. The Russians only gave a shit about shooting otters for furs. And shooting Inuit for fun. Once they wiped out all the otters between Alaska and San Francisco, they pretty much pulled up stakes and sold Alaska to The USA as a big Fuck You to the British which was colonizing Canada. The Russian Empire wanted a buffer between Siberia and the British. The War with Mexico added pretty much everything north of the Rio Grande to the US. The Gadsen Purchase added a bit more land in Southern Arizona to build a railroad. This is a short-ass version of history. I left out the Indian Wars and the near extinction of the deer and elk herds.