[geotag277]

Would Russia have even sold Alaska if it wasn't for US pressure? Scary thought.

I don't know how much you can say about Seattle if it was always in Canada. Much of it's history is due to being an American city, with an American push to be settled for security reasons, and the gold rush was one of the most significant expansions of Seattle, which wouldn't have happened without Alaska.

I imagine it would have been quite a bit smaller and less important if it was always part of Canada under a columbia river scenario.