New Westminster (Russian America)

New Westminster (: Нью-Уэстминстер, N'yu-Uestminster) is the capital city of Columbia:0:0 and the second largest city of Alaska:0:0. Initially established as the capital for British-controlled Columbia in 1858, the settlement came under Russian-control after the Columbia Purchase:0:0 of 1872. The settlement would become a city in the 1890s, due to the city's importance as a railway center between the north and south, and the use of the city being a gateway for the trek to the northern gold rushes. Due to its mixed English and Russian population and culture, many have referred to the city as the "New Orleans of Alaska."