In this season finale of 50 States in the Rearview, I leave Ike behind and trade the open road for the open ocean as we head to Juneau, Alaska—the only state capital on the North American mainland that cannot be reached by road.

Along the way, we explore the Inside Passage, the understated Alaska State Capitol, Juneau’s gold-mining roots, and the complicated history behind Seward’s Folly. We travel to Sitka, once the capital of Russian America, and look at the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian traditions that shaped Southeast Alaska long before Russia or the United States arrived.

From monumental cedar poles and canoe routes to Denali, earthquakes, salmon runs, and the limits of modern technology, Alaska keeps returning to the same lesson: people may build the roads, write the laws, and draw the maps—but here, the land still sets ...