The Story of Sitka Part 5

Turning aside from Lincoln Street at the Mission, or at the street next westward, a walk of a quarter of a mile leads to the experiment farm of the Agricultural Department of the United States. There may be seen many products, including apples and strawberries of an excellent quality. Of the latter is a variety originated by Prof. Georgeson through hybridizing the cultivated berries with the wild native berry which grows luxuriantly at many places in Alaska.

On reaching the Cathedral a street turns northward along which one finds, at the right, on the little knoll in the town, among the scattered spruce trees, the spot where formerly stood the tea houses of the Russians. They were in the center of the public gardens which covered the knoll and were approached by beautifully bordered walks.

Farther along, on the left of the walk, is the remaining Russian blockhouse, the last of three which formerly stood on the line of the stockade that protected the town from the Kolosh. A little back of the blockhouse is the grave of the Princess Maksoutoff, marked with a marble slab lying on the raised mound above her resting place. At the end of the walk is the modern Russian cemetery, with its forest of Greek crosses, and in the center, at the highest point, is a platform from which is had an excellent view of the harbor, islands, Mt. Edgec.u.mbe, and of the lake and town.

Returning as far as the site of the tea gardens, then going westward toward the water, at the right is an enclosure in which there is a small building marking the site of the Kolos.h.i.+an Church, or the Church of the Resurrection, as it is called in the church records. This was the building occupied by the natives in 1855 when they made an attack upon the town. It was on the line of the stockade which formerly ran from the water front at the end of the "Ranche," east to the lake, then back to the water at the sawmill. On the line of the stockade were three blockhouses, the church being between the first and second of these.

Surrounding the site of the church are a number of graves, and among them are some interesting monuments dating back to the Russian days, for this is the older of the two cemeteries.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Russian Blockhouse.]

Going down to the entrance to the native town, or "Ranche," there is a choice of two streets, one in front of the houses along the water front, the other at the rear. The one at the front is preferable. The houses are built of lumber and in general are constructed by the native workmen, who have been instructed at the mission school, at which there is an excellent manual training department. The great tribal houses of former days have long since disappeared. The older houses were named by the natives much as were the inns of old England; the _Gooch-haet_, or wolf house; the _Tahn-haet_, or sea-lion house; the _Kahse-haet_, or cow house, and others, named for different animals. The _Kahse-haet_ was named from the head of a cow being brought there from a wreck off the coast in which the animal was drowned. Formerly there were many canoes along the water front--as many as 150 at a time being often seen, but now their place is occupied by gas boats--generally built by the owners and the engines installed by them. The loss in the picturesque is partly compensated by the gain in utility, but the native canoe was a wonder of marine architecture, cut from a single log and shaped with fire and adzed into elegant lines. An occasional specimen is sometimes yet to be seen on the beach or carefully covered from the weather in some sheltered and secluded cove.

There were no great house totem poles in front of the houses as there are at Wrangell, Kasaan and elsewhere. There were some mortuary columns near the grave houses which formerly stood on the ridge back of the village, but these have long been covered by the dense undergrowth which sprang up in recent years.

In this village have lived some interesting and strong characters.

Annahootz and Katlean both figured boldly in the history of the town, and Sitka Jack was noted for his great potlatch held in 1877, when he gave a housewarming at which he presented to his visitors over 500 blankets, not to mention the hoochinoo and whiskey which flowed liberally for all. He beggared himself by the feast, but his reputation was established above reproach for the rest of life. Princess Tom was another celebrity, whose fame was founded on her wealth which was estimated at ten thousand dollars, and which was acquired by skill in basket making and shrewdness in dealing in native manufactures on which she was a connoisseur--going out to the villages in her long canoe to gather the stock of baskets, bracelets, carved dishes, masks, dance hats, etc., which she disposed of to advantage upon her return to Sitka.

Chief Tlan Tech was one of the prominent citizens and frequently might have been seen on the street in his frock coat, tall hat, with cane and kid gloves, cutting quite a dash. His English vocabulary was very limited and he was accustomed for many years to fly the Russian flag over his canoe when he went out to a neighboring village for a potlatch.

Some of the silversmiths were skilled workmen. Sitka Jack, and Kooska, and Hydah Jake, all fas.h.i.+oned bracelets, spoons, and other articles, carved with totemic designs of delicate beauty and line of proportion, made from silver coins which they melted down.

Some of the shamans of the olden time acquired great influence and made life miserable for their fellow-citizens by the practice of witchcraft.

One of the most obnoxious of these, called Skondoo, was captured and his shock of matted hair, which, like that of Samson, was supposed to be the seat of his power, was shorn by the commander of the U. S. S. "Pinta," and in addition he was thoroughly scrubbed with soap and brush, perhaps for the first time in his existence.

Even to this day there are instances of the weird belief in the villages at Hootznahoo or at Klukwan. Not many years ago an Indian girl was rescued by the whites from a damp hole under a house where she had been confined to die of cold and starvation by the order of the shaman, or _Ekht_, as the Thlingit calls him.

Among the island and the inlet dented sh.o.r.es surrounding the town are many interesting places forming an opportunity for delightful excursions. The most desirable of these are:

Mount Edgec.u.mbe, 3467 ft.--Taking a launch from Sitka the trip may be made to Crab Bay, or to the landing behind the island of St. Lazaria on which is a populous bird rookery, and the ascent of the mountain is possible to be made in a day. Perhaps better that two days be taken to the trip, however. The first to go to the top was Lisianski in 1804.

From the summit of the mountain an unusually beautiful panorama is to be had of island-studded bay, and mountain ridges capped with glaciers on one side, while on the other spreads the expanse of the broad Pacific.

Old Sitka, and Katleanski Bay.--By launch the site of the Russian settlement of 1799-1802 may be reached and from that point a continuation of the excursion may be made to the head of Nesquashanski Bay, where the meadows are situated from which the Russians procured their provender for the cattle kept at the post. In the streams entering the bay may be seen, during the season of the salmon run, the strange spectacle of the brown bears in the role of fishermen, scooping salmon from the waters with their paws, if good fortune attend. This journey may be made in a day.

Silver Bay.--A veritable Norwegian fjord transplanted to Alaska--with picturesque waterfalls plunging into its waters, deep glacial valleys entering at right angles with Yosemite-like cliffs bordering them, the Scottish bluebells clinging to the dripping rocks which beetle overhead, Kalampy's Slide around which hangs a tale, the Stewart mine, etc.--about ten miles to the head of the bay, where a fine waterfall plunges from the mountainside.

The Redoubt and the Globokoe Lake.--Southwest from Sitka about ten miles was the location of the fishery of the Russians from which for more than sixty years they drew their stores of _krasnia ruiba_ (the red salmon), which provided so important a part of their subsistence. Here in the rocky wall which divided Globokoe, or Deep Lake, from the sea, and over which the outlet flowed, channels were blasted, forming reservoirs, and in these channels were placed _zapors_, or fences, which made traps into which the salmon swam and lay in the clear cold pools until they were removed for use. Here also was one of the Russian flouring mills, where they ground the wheat brought from California, or from the farms of the Hudson's Bay Company at Nisqually or on the Columbia.

The Sitka Hot Springs.--About four miles farther to the southwest than the Redoubt, is situated the Sitka Hot Springs, possessing valuable medicinal qualities, and used for more than a century as a health resort. Here Dr. G.o.ddard has established a sanitarium in the midst of a veritable nature lover's paradise, the forest behind, and the island-studded sea in front, with game in the deep woods and fish in the sea, all to be had for the taking.

Many other interesting and beautiful places may be visited. Lisianski Bay, Deep Bay, Herring Bay with the gorge of Sawmill Creek and the chain of lakes, Blue Lake, and others lying adjacent, are among the important ones.

Mt. Verstovia.--The ascent of this mountain comprises one of the most interesting excursions about the town. The trail leaves the sh.o.r.e of Jamestown Bay at the point where the trough of the watering place of the "Jamestown," came to the beach. This place may be reached by boat or on foot through the Park by the mouth of Indian River. The ascent should be under the guidance of one familiar with the route, for it is not plainly marked and none but an experienced woodsman can find the way alone. It leads through a forest, the first 800 or 1,000 feet through dense undergrowth under the trees, the mosses and ferns forming a veritable carpet; above that the woods are more open--at about 2,500 feet the forest ceases. It is called Koster's Trail. The first eminence or shoulder of the mountain is near the timber line and is often spoken of as the Mountain of the Cross, while above it towers the Arrowhead, or the summit of Verstovia, otherwise called at times Popoff Mountain, or the Ponce, to a height of 3,216 feet, nearly a Russian verst, and from this it derives its name. From the top an expanse of island-studded waters stretch toward the sea. Eastward crest after crest of glacier-capped peaks rise for a hundred miles, northward the lofty summits of Mt. Crillon and Mt. Fairweather may be seen at an elevation of over 15,000 feet, equal in height to the highest Alp of Switzerland.

Around the base of the Arrowhead, in July and August, are found a myriad of wild flowers, carpeting the earth--violets, daises, cyclamen, and a mult.i.tude of others.

These are the nearer points which may be visited, but more extended journeys full of new and varied interest, to Sergius Narrows and Peril Straits or to the Place of Islands and the Chicagof Mine to the northward, and to Redfish Bay to the southward, may be made.

Footnotes

[Footnote 1: January 20th, 1820, a letter written by the Directory at St. Petersburg to Chief Manager Muravief at Sitka enclosing instructions previously given to Hagemeister, instructing him to find the descendants of Chirikof's lost men, urging that it must be done, and expressing surprise that it had been neglected thus long. (Russian American Archives, Correspondence, Vol. II, No. 108.)]

[Footnote 2: In Wrangell, and at a few other places in Alaska may yet be seen some of these old tribal houses, built as in primitive days in most ways. The beams and planks were fas.h.i.+oned with an adze, and the evenness of the workmans.h.i.+p in hewing them is marvelous.]

[Footnote 3: The livestock taken to Sitka in 1804 consisted of "Four cows, two calves, three bulls, three goats, a ewe and a ram, with many swine and fowls." (Lisianski, Voyage Round the World, p. 218.)]

[Footnote 4: Lisianski made the surveys and named the islands of the archipelago which had not been charted by Vancouver, of which he says: "By our survey it appears that amongst the group of islands, which in my chart I have denominated the Sitka Islands, from the inhabitants, who call themselves Sitka-hans, or Sitka people, are four princ.i.p.al ones, viz.: Jacobi, Crooze, Baranof, and Chichagof." (A Voyage Round the World, Lisianski, p. 235.)]

[Footnote 5: The Russian sazhen is 7 feet.]

[Footnote 6: p.r.o.nounced Al-e-ut.]

[Footnote 7: These books and letters were brought by Resanof in the "Nedeshda," and upon reaching Kodiak Resanof established the library at that place. It was afterward removed to Sitka, probably by Baranof when he changed the chief factory to that place in 1807. After the United States took possession the library disappeared, whether taken to Russia or left in Sitka does not appear, but the books were likely left in Sitka and gradually disappeared through theft in the years when there was no custodian of such property.]

[Footnote 8: The "Neva" was long identified with the affairs of the colony. Bought in England for the first Russian expedition round the world, Captain Lisianski reached Sitka in time for her to partic.i.p.ate in the driving of the Indians from their fortifications. She returned to Russia later to be sailed to the colony in 1810, and was on her third voyage at the time of her loss.]

[Footnote 9: Golofnin, Voyage of the Sloop "Kamchatka," in Mat. Pt. 4, p. 103.]

[Footnote 10: Lutke: Voyages. Mat. Pt. 4, p. 147.]

[Footnote 11: The tows were large pieces of native copper from the Copper River hammered out flat by the natives. These were carried in front of the chiefs by slaves who beat them like gongs.]

[Footnote 12: In the church records appears the entry: "Died, August 27, 1832, Naval Captain of the 1st Rank and Cavalier Baron Ferdinand Wrangell's daughter--Mary." There is also to be found: "Died, December 29th, 1839, Priest Vasili Michaeloff Ocheredin, 23 years old."]

[Footnote 13: Narrative of a Voyage Round the World, 1836-1842, by Captain Sir Edward Belcher, Vol. 1, pages 95 et seq.]

[Footnote 14: Frederick Schwatka, the explorer, seems to have been one of the first to put the story in print, which he did in the early eighties. It appeared in the Alaska News, a newspaper of Juneau, on December 24th, 1896, and the time is fixed as being in the administration of Baron Wrangell. In 1891 Hon. Henry E. Hayden published it in verse in a small volume printed at Sitka. John W. Arctander, in his Lady in Blue, elaborates it to a small volume and ascribes it to Etolin's time.

There is a strange fact which gives some color to the story. In the Russian American Company's Archives now on file in the State Department, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., under date of September 23rd, 1833, a letter from St.

Petersburg refers to a report of Baron Wrangell of November 30, 1831, which reported the death of under officer Paul Buikof, and implicating one Col. Borusof. Unfortunately the records of 1831 are missing and so the report cannot be had. Baron Wrangell's daughter, Mary, died during his stay in Sitka.]

[Footnote 15: Between 1821 and 1862 there were s.h.i.+pped by the Russian American Company, from Alaska, 51,315 sea-otter, 831,396 fur-seal, 319,514 beaver, 291,655 fox. Fur-Seal Arbitration, Vol. 2, p. 127 (Was.h.i.+ngton, Government Printing Office).]

[Footnote 16: "For the largest deer, which weighs about four poods, five sazhens of calico are paid; for a duck, a quid of tobacco; for a goose, two quids; fish priced according to size all according to price list established by the commander of the post of New Archangel." Russkie na Vostochnom Okean (Russians on the Eastern Ocean), by A. Markof, St.

Petersburg, 1856.]

[Footnote 17: Hunters who disposed of their furs to an English s.h.i.+pmaster were arrested and sent to Siberia. Russian American Archives.

Corr. Vol. I, p. 275. In January of 1820 Muravief was ordered to watch certain officers of a s.h.i.+p who were suspected of trading for furs on their own account. Id. Vol. 2, p. 38.]

[Footnote 18: The mill on Sawmill Creek was located in the gorge below where the dam is situated which provides the power for the present light plant of the town. The timbers of the old mill were removed in 1916 to make way for the building of the present improvement.]

[Footnote 19: Golobokoe Lake was sounded to a depth of 190 fathoms by the Russians. Materialui, Pt. 3, p. 48.]

[Footnote 20: Obzor Russkikh Colonii iv Syevernoe-Amerika, Survey of the Russian Colonies in North America, by Captain-Lieutenant P. N. Golovin, pp. 72-73.]

[Footnote 21: Their names and dates of holding office are as follows: Alexander Andreevich Baranof, 1790 to January 11, 1818.

Leonti Andreanvich Hagemeister, Jan. 11, 1818, to Oct. 24, 1818.

s.e.m.e.n Ivanovich Yanovski, Oct. 24, 1818, to Sept. 15, 1820.

Matvei Ivanovich Muravief, Sept. 15, 1820, to Oct. 14, 1825.