Sailing Southward.—Sitka, Capital of Alaska.—Transfer of the Territory
from Russia to America.—Site of the City.—The Old Castle.—Russian
habits.—A Haunted Chamber.—Russian Elegance and Hospitality.—The Old
Greek Church.—Rainfall at Sitka.—The Japanese Current.—Abundance of
Food.—Plenty of Vegetables.—A Fine Harbor.
From Glacier Bay our serpentine course lies southward through the
countless sounds, gulfs, and islands of various shapes and sizes to
Sitka, the New Archangel of the Russians, Sitka being the aboriginal
name of the bay on which the town is situated. This is the most
northerly commercial port on the Pacific coast, and lies at the base of
Mount Vestova on the west side of Baranoff Island. The island is
eighty-five miles long by twenty broad, situated thirteen hundred miles
north of San Francisco.
On the 18th of October, in the year 1867, three United States men-of-war
lay in the harbor, namely, the Ossipee, the Jamestown, and the Resaca.
It was a memorable occasion, for on that day the Muscovite flag was
formally hauled down and the Stars and Stripes were run up on the
flagstaff of the castle amid a salvo of guns from the ships of both
nations, thus completing the official transfer of the great Territory of
Alaska from Russian to American possession. Up to this time the
government of the country had been virtually under the control of the
rich fur company chartered by the Tzar. Any policy at variance with its
purposes was treason; immigration, except for its employees, was
rigorously discouraged; the imperial governor was actually salaried by
this great monopoly, while his public acts were subject to its approval
or otherwise. With the date above given this condition of affairs ceased
and a new régime began. Though no radical change immediately took place,
still the atmosphere of our Union gradually permeated these regions, our
flag freely floated everywhere, and our few officials assumed their
responsibilities, administering the laws of the Republic mercifully as
regarded the natives, but still with that degree of firmness which is
imperative in dealing with a half-civilized race.
One cannot but conjecture what must have been the secret thoughts of the
thousands of aborigines on this occasion, as they witnessed the ceremony
of transferring Alaska from their former to their new masters. It was an
event of immense interest, of most vital import to them, but yet one in
which they were entirely ignored. They knew the significance of that
change of flags, of that roar of artillery, emphasized by other naval
and military movements, but they had no voice whatever in the agreement
by which they were virtually bought and sold like so many head of
cattle, and their native land bartered for gold. We leave the reader to
moralize over this aspect of the matter, a fruitful theme for the
political economist. With this change of government came a new people;
the majority of the Russians promptly left the country, and their places
were taken by Americans.
Sitka, the capital of the Territory, is sheltered by a snow-crowned
mountain range on one side, and protected from the broad expanse of the
Pacific on the other by a group of many thickly wooded islands. The
waters of the harbor are as clear as a mountain stream, so that, as in
sailing over the Bahama Banks, one can see the bottom many fathoms down
with perfect distinctness, where the myriad curiosities of submarine
life attract the eye by their novel and varied display. Among other
tropical growth, sponges, coral branches, and long rope-like algæ are
seen, planted here doubtless by the equatorial current which so
constantly laves these shores. The town lies clustered near the shore,
forming a pleasing picture as one approaches from the sea. The most
prominent feature is the castle, not a battlemented, ivy-covered,
mediæval structure, but a severely plain, weather-beaten, moss-grown,
dilapidated affair, which crowns a rocky elevation of the town. It is a
hundred and forty feet long by seventy deep, constructed of huge cedar
logs which are securely riveted to the rock by numerous clamps and
bolts. This was for many years the grand residence of the Russian
governors,—after the capital was removed from St. Paul, on the island of
Kodiak,—several of whom were of the Muscovite nobility and brought
hither their wives and daughters to live with them in this isolated
spot. One can hardly conceive of a greater social contrast than
naturally existed between St. Petersburg and this half savage hamlet of
Baranoff Island. For delicate and refined ladies, such a change from
court life must have been little less of a hardship than actual
banishment to dreaded Siberia.
It is not surprising that resort was had to rather desperate means
whereby to beguile the weary hours. Many fell victims to gambling and
strong drink. The Russians, under nearly any circumstances, fail to be
good examples of temperance, and here cognac and vodhka flowed free as
water. To some of their official feasts and celebrations the native
chiefs were invited, and terribly demoralized by the potency of the
viands to which they were totally unaccustomed. Nor can it be wondered
at that, being occasionally supplied with this fire-water, the natives
now and again broke out in open revolt, which ended more or less
seriously both to the Russians and themselves. It will be remembered
that once during the early times the natives rose in a body and
massacred or drove every foreigner off the island, an act of savage
patriotism which cost them dearly.
Every “castle” must have at least one haunted chamber, and we are told
that this of Sitka was no exception to the general rule. The story
concerning the same is variously told by different persons, but we will
give only the version we heard. It seems that half a century and more
since, the Russian governor’s family included a beautiful and
accomplished daughter named Eruzoff, who was, at the time the event
occurred which we are about to relate, but twenty years of age. There
were on her father’s official staff two young noblemen of St.
Petersburg, Nicholas and Michael Burdoff, about twenty-five years of age
respectively. They were cousins, and had been ardent and intimate
friends from childhood. Both of the cousins fell deeply in love with the
governor’s daughter, who, in her delicacy, showed no preference between
them. The young men grew desperate in their feelings. Never before had
they disagreed about the simplest matter; it was their delight to yield
to each other; but now their love for the beautiful Eruzoff made them
open rivals. One day they went into the neighboring forest together, as
they said, to hunt, and were absent for two days. On the evening of the
second day Michael returned unaccompanied by his cousin, whom he said he
had lost in the forest. He retired at once to his own room in the
castle, where he was found dead in bed on the following morning, without
a wound or any sign to explain the cause, though the post surgeon
pronounced it to be a case of heart disease. A few days afterwards, by
means of his favorite dog, the body of Nicholas was discovered in the
forest with a bullet through his brain. The actual truth regarding the
death of the cousins cannot be known on earth, but the chamber where
Michael Burdoff breathed his last is said to be often disturbed by a
ghostly visitor at midnight. Eruzoff was forced by her father to marry
an official of his choice, though she was broken-hearted at the loss of
Michael Burdoff, who proved to have been the one whom she loved best.
She died in her bridal year.
Interesting stories are told of the grand hospitality—characteristic of
the Russians—which was so liberally dispensed within this castle, in
entertaining celebrated voyagers of various countries, and especially
those of the United States. It has always been the policy of the Tzars
to cultivate kindly feelings with our government, and Russia is still
our constant friend. The upper part of the old castle was arranged for
theatrical representations, while in the other apartments the nights
were rendered merry with cards, dancing, and music. Rich furniture,
valuable paintings, and costly plate had been brought all the way from
Russia to equip this grand household among a savage race. The toilets of
the ladies were perhaps a twelvemonth behind those of St. Petersburg,
but their diamonds and laces were never out of fashion. Elegant
chandeliers were left by these former masters of the castle, which show
what the rest of the furniture must have been to have harmonized with
such gorgeous ornaments. The visitor is shown the apartment occupied by
the venerable Lady Franklin at eighty years of age, who came hither in
search for her lost husband, the Arctic explorer.
The quaint old Greek Church with the sharp peak of Vestova as a
background is a prominent and interesting edifice. Its emerald-green
dome and Byzantine spire, after the home fashion of the Russians,
together with its elaborately embellished interior and its ancient chime
of bells, strongly individualize the structure. Some pictures of more
than ordinary merit are to be seen within its walls. One representing
the Madonna and Child is pronounced to be very valuable. It is kept in
perfect condition by the government of St. Petersburg, which is the sole
owner of all the churches of the empire, at home and abroad. The Tzar
expends more money for church and missionary purposes in Alaska to-day
than all the Christian sects of our country combined. For the three
churches in Sitka, Kodiak, and Unalaska the sum of fifty thousand
dollars annually is set aside and appropriated. Nevertheless, we believe
the Training School at Sitka exercises a much higher civilizing
influence, where the simplest Christian principles are taught, combined
with common school studies, and where instruction is given in the daily
industries of life. All concede that education and general intelligence
are the mainsprings of our system of government, and that the perpetuity
of its institutions depends thereon. In view of these indisputable facts
let our rulers at Washington bestow liberally from out the plethoric
national treasury for educational purposes in Alaska.
Most of the houses of Sitka are heavy log dwellings, some of which are
clapboarded outside and smoothly finished within. In the winter season
about a thousand Indians live here, the white population being composed
of the usual government officials and agents, with a few storekeepers
engaged in the fur traffic and general trade with the aborigines. Four
or five hundred miners and prospectors gather here also in the winter,
when it becomes too cold to prosecute their calling far inland, where
the thermometer often falls to 20° below zero. Even this occasional
extreme could be easily endured, and the work be little retarded, were
suitable quarters provided. In midwinter daylight continues at Sitka for
only six hours in the twenty-four, though by the first of June there is
virtually no night at all; the stars take a vacation, while the evening
and the morning twilight merge into day.
The author had thought, heretofore, that the rainfall at Bergen, on the
coast of Norway, exceeded that of any other spot he had visited, but
here at Sitka “the rain, it raineth every day.” We have seen it rain
harder in the tropics, but not often. The brief downpour, however, is so
quickly followed by a flood of delicious sunshine that the contrast is a
charming revelation. Still another effect is observable that, as rainy
as it is, at certain seasons the atmosphere is still peculiarly dry. The
writer was told that clothes would quickly dry under a shed during the
heaviest rains. The fair weather is most likely to occur during the
excursion season, so that the stranger is not apt to meet much annoyance
in this respect while at the capital. The annual rainfall is recorded as
being ninety inches upon this island, a degree of humidity which is
attributed to the heated waters of the equatorial regions, which warm
the whole coast-line of southern Alaska, insuring the mild winters it
enjoys.
Scientists tell us that the effect of this warm current is equivalent to
twenty degrees of latitude, that is to say, the same products which are
found in latitude 40° north on the Atlantic coast thrive in this region
at 60° north, which is a little higher than the latitude of Sitka. This
beneficent stream, arising off the coast of southern California, crosses
the Pacific south of the Sandwich Islands, and on the coast of Asia
turns northward in a grand sweep, striking the shores of America, and
returning finally to its starting-point. “It is this,” says H. H.
Bancroft, in his “History of the Pacific States,” “that clothes
temperate isles in tropical verdure, makes the silkworm flourish far
north of its rightful home, and sends joy to the heart of the
hyperborean, even to him upon the Strait of Behring, and almost to the
Arctic Sea.”
The abundant moisture causes all vegetation to grow most luxuriantly.
“The enemies of this region, some of whom,” said an official to us,
“have been paid for sinister purposes to write it down, declare that it
cannot be made to support a population, as vegetables will not grow
here, but vegetables have been successfully grown all about us for more
than fifty years.” There are a plenty of domestic cattle at Sitka, where
we partook of as sweet and rich milk as can be produced on our choice
dairy farms at the East. The southern portions of the Territory, both
the islands and the mainland, are better adapted to support a civilized
white population than are the larger portions of Norway and Sweden. It
may be doubted if there is anything finer in color than the June
greenery of Sitka. Our first day at this unique capital had been varied
by alternate rain and sunshine, but the closing hours of the day were
clear and beautiful, emphasized by such a grand and brilliant sunset as
is rarely excelled, the afterglow and mellow twilight lasting until
nearly midnight, causing the turban of snow upon the head of Mount
Edgecombe to look like Etruscan gold.
John G. Brady, United States commissioner at Sitka, writes from there as
follows: “Though Alaska is no agricultural country, yet there is plenty
of land for growing vegetables for a vast population which can be easily
cleared and cultivated. The food of this coast is assured unless the
Pacific current changes and rain ceases. Perhaps there is not another
spot on the globe where the same number of people do so little manual
labor and are so well fed as in Sitka.” The capacity of the island to
produce a large variety of garden vegetables, and of good quality, is
abundantly demonstrated by a resident who gains a successful livelihood
through the use of these products grown on his own land.
The bay is very lovely and naturally recalls that of Naples, with its
neighboring Vestova and its beautiful islands. Though Mount Edgecombe
with its great truncated cone, situated fifteen miles away upon Kruzoff
Island, is not now in active condition, a century ago, more or less, it
poured forth lava, fire, and smoke enough to rival the Italian volcano
which buried Pompeii in its fatal débris nearly two thousand years ago.
We were told that smoke and sulphurous vapor occasionally issue from the
old crater of Edgecombe, but saw no distinct evidence of the fact. As we
looked at the sleeping giant we wondered if it will one day awake in its
Plutonic power. The bay is said to contain over one hundred islands,
which are mostly covered with a noble growth of trees, rendered
picturesque and lovely by green sloping banks and shores fringed with
golden-russet sea-weed, bearing long, banana-like leaves. Many of these
islands are occupied, some by whites, some by Indians. Japan Island,
so-called, is the largest in the bay, and is situated just opposite the
town. It was once improved by the Russians as an observatory, and now
contains some fine gardens cultivated both by whites and natives, from
whence the citizens obtain their supply of fresh vegetables. Baranoff
Island itself is mountainous and thickly wooded, though there are large
arable spots distributed here and there near to Sitka, dotted with wild
flowers in white and gold,—Flora’s favorite colors in this latitude.
Never, save in equatorial regions, has the author seen vegetation more
luxuriant than it is in its native condition in these islands of
southern Alaska.
------------------------------------------------------------------------