Alaska 2014

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.