The United States acquired Alaska on this day in 1867. Here’s Johnny Horton performing “North to Alaska”–the title track for the John Wayne movie playing off Alaska’s statehood–not long before his untimely death in 1960.

Ed Kilgore

Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York and managing editor at the Democratic Strategist website. He was a contributing writer at the Washington Monthly from January 2012 until November 2015, and was the principal contributor to the Political Animal blog.