Sitka

What a pretty little place this is. It has a population of about 9,000 but the town is so spread out along the roads that go north and south along the water that it doesn't feel at all congested...rather like a really pleasant suburb that just keeps going and going, and with dramatic views of Sitka Sound and the Gulf of Alaska around every turn in the road. The way the mountains plunge down almost directly into the sea make it seem very "Hawaiian"...although about 30 degrees colder.



Looking thru the downtown area and past the onion domes of St. Michael's towards Mt. Edgecombe - a dormant volcano that hovers just beyond the city. The entire spine of Baranov Island is along one of the Pacific fault lines, so the mountains here are dramatic and there are even a few hot springs here and there up and down the coast.

I had thought about renting a car so we could see more of the island, but we made some inquiries and found out that there was a local bus system that pretty much did the same thing, so...rather than shelling out big bucks for a car we spent $6 for a couple of all-day bus passes and rode around most of the day seeing the sights. Most of the time we were the only ones on the bus so it was like taking a private tour. Rode it up north of town to the site of "Old Sitka" - the place where the Russian-American Company first established Redoubt St. Michael as their trading center back in 1799...much to the irritation of the local Tlinget Indians who in 1802 finally decided they'd had enough of the interlopers, attacked the fort and killed all but a few of the 250 Russian and Aleut settlers who were there.

There was a nice interpretive walk around the point where the redoubt once stood, and some explanatory signboards to tell the story of what had happened there. The little bay at the outflow of a small river close by the site was alive with jumping and jostling Pink Salmon - all migrating back up the stream to spawn. We walked around to a bridge and a viewing platform and were just amazed at the numbers of fish swarming in the shallows below us. I swear you could have walked across the little river on the backs of the Pinks. No sign of bears feeding on the harvest, but was told that they were around - usually in the early AM before the people show up.



Did one nice hike thru a section of rain forest just across from the site of the old fort.



The pink salmon were everywhere. All of the dark splotches in the water are fish - and it's like this for hundreds of yards in both directions.




A closer look at a couple of the fish laying and fertilizing their eggs in the shallows. Pink Salmon are also called "humpbacks" locally. If you look closely you can see why. Am told they're not as good eating as the Chinooks (Kings), Reds (Sockeyes) or Silvers (Cohos), but that if you eat them the same day they're caught they're really pretty good.



One of the markers commemorating the battle of Sitka, with the Russian Orthodox cross marking the spot where it all happened. The Orthodox cross differs from the Catholic in that they include a top and bottom crosspiece. The top crosspiece is the one where the Romans placed the INRI sign. The foot crosspiece has two explanations: one is that it's tilted to reflect the fates of the two thieves crucified with Christ - the one to his right saved because he repented at the end and the other condemned because he didn't. The other explanation is that, according to Orthodox doctrine, Christ in his agony physically twisted the foot-piece out of the horizontal. We've seen this symbol a lot in the old cemeteries in Alaska - the Russian Orthodox faith is still widely practiced here, especially among the first-nations people...a lasting legacy of the Russian presence.

There were actually two Battles of Sitka. The first one in 1802 was a Tlinget victory. The second one in 1804, when the Russians returned in force, didn't go so well for the native tribe. After winning the initial skirmishes they were forced to withdraw from their fort after a prolonged bombardment by the Russian warship Neva and her heavy cannon.. A proud and determined people, they marched out, up, and over the mountains behind present day Sitka rather than submit to Russian authority. To cover the nighttime withdrawal they killed all of their dogs and all of their babies so that no barking or crying would betray their movement. They then stayed away for over 10 years, and only returned to the area grudgingly. For years no Tlingets were allowed inside the Russian town of New Archangel. The Russians built a wall with several watchtowers (and cannon) to keep an eye on their neighbors in the Tlinget village right next door. A replica of one of the old watchtowers still marks the boundary between the Russian town and the Tlinget village.



The leader of the Tlingets in their fight with the Russians was a chief named Katlian...a member of the Raven clan (the other is the Eagle clan). This is the headpiece he wore in battle back in 1804. As a side note: the hotel we stayed in was owned and operated by the local Tlinget tribe...and was located on Katlian Avenue in Sitka.

The Russian-American company, operating under a charter from the Czar, centered their operations in the New World from here. They were pretty ambitious too, establishing one trading center in northern California...near San Francisco, and another on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. In fact it looked for a while like it would be the Russians, not the Brits or the Americans, who would win the colonial battle for supremacy in the Hawaiian Islands. Guess that for a few years at least they were pretty tight with Kamehameha I.

Part of their charter included a requirement that they support the establishment and maintenance of the Orthodox church in the region. It was their shipwrights who built St. Michael's Cathedral in Sitka, as well as the building below which is the Russian Bishop's house - the oldest structure in the town dating from 1842.




The house is now maintained by the National Park Service, which purchased it around 1980. It was built by Norwegian shipwrights working under contract to the Russian-American Company, and apparently their craftsmanship was so good that the building is as structurally sound today as it was when it was built 170 years ago.

There were lots of period artifacts that came with the house when it was sold - furniture and household items mostly - all of it purchased with Sea Otter pelts. There were 140 year old crates of tea in the pantry, purchased years ago from American Clipper ships returning from China.




The formal reception room on the second floor of the Bishop's house. The samovar came from Russia. The tea service was purchased from the British Hudsons Bay Company located at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia...our present home in Washington State. Small world, eh?

Sitka is supposed to be the most beautiful town in Alaska, and it would be hard to argue with that claim given its gorgeous setting. Problem for us is that every town we visit seems to be prettier than the last, and we haven't even been to Homer or Kodiak yet. Suffice to say that just about every city and town that we've visited in this beautiful state has been memorable, and that we've enjoyed them all.

Hard to believe that our trip is already winding down - seems as though we just got here.

Flying back to Anchorage today, then driving down to the Kenai peninsula...first stop the little town of Hope.