ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses are three major economic or political frontiers that intruded upon the rural Alaska, sketching briefly the nature of the intrusions, their impact upon rural Alaska, and the residual left after they receded. It also discusses "frontiers" because we are describing developments that came from outside Alaska. Before contact with western civilization, a sort of balanced state had been reached between the residents of Alaska and the economic base. All of them were frontiers in the sense that the origin of the movement was outside the geographic boundaries of Alaska. The Russian trade followed the exploratory probes into the Alaska area. The Russian fur trade followed the last exploratory probes into the Alaska area. The harvesting of halibut and other bottom fish has had very little impact upon rural Alaska. In rural Alaska, there has been a decline in the resource base.
