CHAPTER VIII

SITKA UNDER UNITED STATES RULE

Then came the day when the Russian was to withdraw from his colonies, and the United States was to occupy them as Alaska. An area as broad as an empire, equal in extent to Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark combined, was to be handed over from the Imperial Ruler of all the Russias to the Republic of the United States, and Sitka, the Capital of the Colonies, was to be the scene of the actual transfer. The statesmanship of Secretary Seward, aided by the eloquence of Sumner, had secured for our country a domain one sixth as large as the whole United States.

October 18th, 1867, Alexei Pestchouroff, the Commissioner of the Tsar, appeared in front of the Baranof castle, and beside him stood Lovell H. Rousseau, the Commissioner for the United States, who was to receive the Territory.

The Russian soldiery were drawn up along the terrace which ran around the Baranof Hill, and next to them were the men of the United States Infantry.[22] The ensign of Russia was lowered, the flag of the United States raised to the accompaniment of the salutes from the batteries and of the guns of the ships in the harbor.[23] The few words of the ceremony of transfer were spoken, and Alaska became a possession of the United States.

Most of the Russian residents went back to their native land as soon as they were able to do so, but some remained to cast their lot in the land that had so long been their home.[24] Among those who remained are the Kashavaroffs, the Kostromitinoffs, the Bolshanins, the Shutzoffs, and others, whose descendants now live in Alaska.

The commanding officer of the American troops, Gen. Jefferson C. Davis, made his headquarters in the building on the hill that had been so long the residence of the Russian officers. The American soldiers were quartered in the barracks of the Siberian Battalion, and the sentries of the United States walked the beats of the Russian guards. Sitka gradually adjusted itself to the new conditions, to the crowds of adventurers who thronged its streets seeking a profit in speculations in lands and furs. They were doomed to disappointment, for the titles to lands were withheld and the fur trade was overdone, so most of the newly arrived drifted away as they came. Distinguished visitors came and were entertained in the old castle where the Commandant dispensed hospitality. Lady Franklin, the widow of the famous Arctic explorer, was once a guest at the mansion on the kekoor, and Secretary Seward was entertained there in 1869 when he visited the land he added to the possessions of the United States.

While the military garrison were content with their conditions and were not troubled with the affairs of the world at large, the civil population wished for the law and authority of other communities, and set themselves to remedy the omission of the Government in far-off Washington so far as was possible to do, for there was no provision for an organization of civil government in the community. They organized a municipal association, drafted ordinances, elected councilmen, collected revenue for improving the Governor's Walk, changed the name to Lincoln Street, and in December opened a school. After five years the civil population declined until the revenue was insufficient to maintain the expense, the organization was abandoned, with it passed the school, and the first attempt at self-government closed.

Then followed dark days for Sitka.[25] Military rules for the garrison and no law or protection for the people. Soldiers from the fort are said to have robbed the church of its ornaments, tearing the covers from the richly bound Bible of the Cathedral. The offenders were apprehended, but there being no civil law all the punishment meted out was to be drummed out of the service and sent to the States on an army transport. The stolen property was hidden under the old hospital building and was discovered by some boys and nearly all was restored to the church.

On New Year's Day, 1869, Colcheka, a noted chief of the Chilkats who was visiting Sitka, was entertained by General Davis at the castle on the hill. The liquid refreshments served to him by the General raised his spirits and his pride of race. After it was over he descended the long flight of steps leading from the Commandant's quarters and strode across the parade ground with the dignity becoming to the hereditary chief of the Chilkats, the proudest kwan of the Thlingits. For some reason he crossed the part reserved for officers, was challenged by the sentry, and, not heeding, when he reached the stockade gate was kicked by the sentry stationed there. He was furious.

"Me, Colcheka, Chief of the Chilkats, kicked!"

He turned in a rage, seized the musket of the sentry, wrenched it from his hands, then carried it to his house in the Ranche.

The guard was turned out for his arrest and a skirmish ensued in which the guard was worsted and retreated to the barracks. The Sitkas were neutral. The Chilkats were too few in number to fight the troops, so next day Colcheka surrendered, was kept in the guardhouse for a few days and then released.

Meantime orders that no Indians be permitted to leave the Ranche were issued which were revoked upon Colcheka's surrender. Through some mistake in revoking the orders the sentries were not notified. A canoe load of Indians left the Ranche to get wood. The sentries fired on the canoe and killed two of the occupants, a Chilkat and a Kake. It was an unfortunate mistake. Those shots rang from Lynn Canal to Kuiu Island and the echoes vibrated for more than twenty years. By listening intently one might yet hear the vibrations. Two white men died and three Indian villages burned directly as a result, but it happened in places distant from Sitka, and, as they say, it is another story.

On a June day of 1877 the troops of the United States army embarked on a ship for the States and sailed away from Sitka. The buildings and property were left in charge of the Collector of Customs, who, with the Postmaster, constituted the only officials in the Territory. The presence of the military had guaranteed safety from attack by the Indians to the people of the town, and the officers had been a pleasant addition to the social life; with their departure both were lost.

The animosity of the Thlingits had been kindled by many wrongs, some real and others fancied. They saw in the new order of things an opportunity to recompense themselves for past grievances. All the old stories of the killing of their countrymen by the troops, the burning of old Kake and other villages, the loss of five Keeksitties, in the Schooner "San Diego" in Bering Sea and other tales were rehearsed and were used to stir the lust for vengeance. The Keeksittis, under the leadership of Katlean, openly advocated sacking the town, killing the men and making slaves of the women.

"The government does not care for the country. They have abandoned it. It belongs to us, anyway; why not take the town and do as we wish with it?" said Katlean.

The Kokwantons, under Annahootz, their chief, opposed the outrage. For months there was danger of an outbreak. Insult after insult was placed upon the citizens. The stockade was cut down and carried away by the Indians. Every male inhabitant was armed and expecting a call to battle at any time. A man was killed at the Hot Springs by a Keeksitty. The murderer was arrested through the assistance of the Kokwantons under Annahootz.[26] The Keeksitties assembled to rescue the criminal, but the citizens of the town rallied for defense, the Kokwantons joined them and the murderer was safely placed on board the Steamer "California" and taken to Portland for trial where he was afterward hanged.

On the same boat went an appeal for assistance, directed to the United States Government, but it fell on deaf ears. Another petition was sent to Victoria, B. C., and was heeded. Captain A. Holmes A'Court, of H. M. S. "Osprey," at once set out for Sitka, arrived on March 1st, 1879, anchored opposite the Ranche and trained his guns for immediate use. The danger was averted. Captain A'Court remained until the arrival of the U. S. S. "Alaska," on April 3rd, then departed for Esquimault with the blessings of the grateful people of Sitka.

On June 14th into the harbor came the U. S. S. "Jamestown." Her Commander, Captain L. A. Beardslee, assumed control of affairs in the community and administered them in a manner which brought credit on his name. He found everything at the lowest ebb; every woman and child who could leave, had gone to escape the danger of Indian massacre; witchcraft prevailed among the natives and anarchy among the whites. He took a census[27] upon his arrival, and the result was 325 people, exclusive of the Creole population. He appointed an Indian police; established more sanitary conditions in the "Ranche," numbered the houses, and compelled the attendance of the Indian children at the Mission School.

A school was opened in the old Russian barracks building on April 17, 1878, by Rev. John G. Brady and Miss Fannie E. Kellogg, of the Presbyterian Mission, which was later followed by the present Sheldon Jackson Mission School. George Kostromitinoff, afterward known as Father Sergius, was the interpreter. The opening of the school was a great event for Sitka and nearly everyone in the town attended. Annahootz, the friendly Kokwantan war chief, made a speech. Mr. Cohen, the brewer, hunted up another interpreter to assist. Hymns were sung and the events were auspicious. The Indians stole in one at a time, some with their faces blackened, all in blankets, but they squatted by the wall and listened attentively. The school was continued until December, when it was given up, but in the spring of 1880 Miss Olinda Austin, from New York City, reopened it on April 5th, in one of the rooms of the guardhouse, with an attendance of 103 children. The school thus established was the beginning of the present Sheldon Jackson Training School. The support of the naval officers at the station was such that the missionary teacher was moved to say: "It is not often that the Government sends out a missionary, but they have sent one in this young commander and his lieutenant, Mr. F. M. Symonds," in referring to Captain Glass, who succeeded Captain Beardslee.

Some form of local government giving the residents a right to regulate their civil affairs was favored by the Commander, who had not even a code under which to act. A meeting was called, ordinances were drafted, a magistrate and councilmen elected for a town government. But all were not agreed upon these acts and opposition arose against it from the very inception of the movement. One of the traders of the town, Caplin, said: "De Captain may go to ---- wid his tam government; I'll bay no daxes." And from Silver Bay where he was mining, Geo. E. Pilz sent in a protest against the proceeding. The dealers who traded molasses to the Indians, from which the villainous liquor called "hoochinoo" or "Hooch," was distilled, objected to the ordinances restricting the trade. Finally an English miner named Roy was shot by his partner, "Scotty," and the inability of the self-made government to try the offender brought a crisis. The next day a notice appeared stating the organization had been dissolved, and the second attempt at self-government by the people in Alaska passed into oblivion.

Scotty was sent to Oregon for trial and was discharged because of lack of a law to punish a man for assault with a dangerous weapon in Alaska.

But the dawn of a better day was at hand, Alaska's darkest hours were past, and morning was breaking. The rule of the Navy Department continued until 1884, then, although the warships still remained in Alaskan waters, by Act of Congress of May 17th, a form of civil government was granted, and the official Capital was placed at Sitka. The terror of the Indian outbreaks was past; schools were in reach, for the same act provided for the establishment of a system of public education, and the Code of Oregon was adopted as the law of the land.[28]

Then some of the life of the former years returned to the beautiful village by the sea; there were pleasant parties among the residents, the Governor held receptions, the officers of the warships added to the social life, many a gay ball was celebrated on the top floor of the court house, and for more than twenty years it was the Capital of Alaska.[29]

With the influx of the Americans prospecting began, for in the vast wild mountains of Baranof and Chicagof Islands there is a wealth of mineral stored in the ledges.

The Russians had attempted to find the mineral of the mountains, and in 1848 a Mr. Doroshin, a mining engineer, had been sent out from St. Petersburg to search for mineral wealth in the colonies. He was not successful enough to make it of profit to them, although he found coal on Cook Inlet, gold on the Kenai Peninsula, earth promising to bear diamonds near Kootznahoo, and copper was known to be on the Myednooskie, or Copper, River.

Discharged soldiers of the garrison were the first to take to the hills with pick and shovel. Nicholas Haley, an old-time prospector of Arizona, who came with the troops to Sitka, was one of the most energetic and daring of these. Year after year, with pick and shovel, with rifle and blankets, Nicholas attacked the rugged mountains. Rich specimens were brought in and yielded enough when brayed in a mortar to keep him in a grubstake, but it takes capital to develop a hard rock mine and capital was wary. So Nicholas toiled on year after year, keeping up his assessments and living on hopes until at last he passed over the Great Divide to a Better Diggings.

Others tried it. In 1878 a mining company was organized at Sitka, but there was not yet a law under which a claim could be legally taken. Ledges were found, small mills were placed on the ground at the Stewart Mine, the Lucky Chance and elsewhere, and later great fakes were promoted at the Pande Basin and elsewhere. But it was years after that when two Indian boys, hunting on Chicagof Island, lay down to drink at a stream, and, behold, in the shimmering water was white rock with yellow, glittering particles dancing in the clear stream. With the fear it was but fools gold they took specimens and marked the place where they were found. When they reached Sitka they submitted these samples to Judge DeGroff, and to Professor Kelly of the Sheldon Jackson School. It was pronounced to be gold, pure shining, yellow gold, and richer than the most sanguine had hoped for. After much labor and many disappointments the ledge was located from which the float came, and today that mine, the Chicagof it is called, is known as the richest and best paying mine in the United States in proportion to the money invested, and more than one fortune has been taken out of the tunnels in the mountain.

Off the shores of the continent, reaching far off to the westward almost to the shores of Asia are vast fishing grounds, perhaps the greatest in the world. A great submarine plateau stretches along shore, past the Aleutian Islands and into Bering Sea. There are estimated to be forty thousand square miles of cod and halibut banks that are known to the surveys. The fisheries of Gloucester and Cape Cod fade into insignificance and the famous Newfoundland Banks are but small in comparison.

Sitka goes back the farthest in historic memory of any city of the Northwest. When Lewis and Clarke came to the mouth of the Columbia River she was looking out over the Pacific from her stockaded walls and Resanof was sailing to search for locations for new colonies. When Astoria was founded she was placing her outpost on the Russian River in California. Before San Francisco was a city she sent her bidarkas to take the sea-otter from under the very noses of the Padres in their missions. Here the civilization of the East met the progress of the West, the Orient and the Occident met here and met without bloodshed. Sitka, with her wealth of fisheries in the waters at her doors, with her wealth of mineral in the ledges at her back, with the wealth of forest on the mountain slopes around her, is in the same latitude as Edinburgh, Scotland. The time is coming when she will have population, and wealth; beauty she already has. What more is wanted for the happiness of her people? Only energy, perseverance, and thrift, and those will be forthcoming.