Alaska

In 1867 The United States purchased Alaska for $7.2 million, or about 2 cents an acre from Russia. Ten years later, after lax military administration had only worsened the territory's moral condition, an army private stationed in Alaska begged, "Send out a shepherd who may reclaim a mighty flock from the error of their ways, and gather them into the true fold." Presbyterian missionary Sheldon Jackson (1834-1909) answered the call and spent decades founding numerous schools, chuches and training centers that served these native people, and crusading for better laws. (Source Christian History and Biography)