After being explored by Russian explorers, Czar Peter I declared Alaska open for settlement. Many Russian and English settlers began to flock to the gold rich country. When the population boomed, Alaska became an administrative district of the Russian empire. But in order to make some more money in the Russian Treasury, the Rus. Government put a high tariff on Alaskan gold. With their market shrinking, the Alaskan miners declared their independence from Russia on November 12, 1855. In order to quell the rebellion, Czar Nicholas I sent troops across the Bering Strait. The Alaskan War Of Independence (1855-1857) had begun. In two years, and 2000 lives later, Russia recognized its former colony. In 1881, it ceded the Kamchatka Peninsula and the modern day Yukon.