For centuries, Sitka was the ancestral home of the Tlingit Indian Nation. Russian territorial Governor Alexander
Baranov came to covet Sitka for its beauty, mild climate and economic potential. In the island's massive timbered forests
he saw materials for shipbuilding. Its location offered trading routes as far west as Hawaii and the Orient, and as far
south as California. In 1799, Baranov negotiated with the local chief to build a wooden fort and a trading post some six
miles south of the present town. The Tlingits soon took exception to the ambitions of their new neighbors, and in 1802
they attacked Baranov's people, burned his buildings and assumed they were done with the troublesome outsiders.
Baranov returned in 1804 with a formidable force, including shipboard cannons, and attacked the Indians, forcing them to
the eastern side of the island. When Russia sold Alaska to the USA for $7,200,000 in gold, the transfer was formalized
here on October 18, 1867. From 1867 until 1912, Sitka acted as the Capital of Alaska.
Residents of Sitka, Alaska were alarmed when the long-dormant volcano neighboring them, Mount Edgecumbe, suddenly began
to belch out billows of black smoke. Did this mean that the volcano was active again and would soon erupt? Terrified residents
spilled out of their homes onto the streets to gaze up at the volcano, and calls poured into the local authorities. Luckily it
turned out that man, not nature, was responsible for the smoke. A local prankster, a contractor, had flown hundreds of old tires
into the volcano's crater and then lit them on fire, all in a (successful) attempt to fool the city dwellers into believing that
the volcano was stirring to life. This stunt occurred on April Fool's Day, 1974! The contractor was fined upwards of $20,000.00,
but a smoking Mount Edgecumbe now appears on his business logo (cheap advertising!)
