All photos submitted by Gene Alston

And now, Gene gives us his continuing tale of his and Barbara's trip to Alaska!

Sitka, Alaska

A little history: Sitka was the first settlement in Alaska. It was settled by the Russians who claimed Alaska at the time. The Russians occupied the site of Sitka in 1804. Before the Russians came it was inhabited by the Tlingit Indians. According to the tour guide it was Russia’s major port on the Pacific.

The Russian-American Company was the most profitable fur trading company in the world. Russia ceded Alaska to the United States in 1867. The deal was called Seward’s Folly at the time. Andrew Johnson was president. We bought all that oil and all those mountains, glacial valleys, gold, eagles, salmon and grizzly bears for $0.02 per acre. 

I guess the Russians didn’t charge us for the snow, since they have plenty of that back home in Russia. A copy of the check is shown to the right.

Sitka remained the territorial seat of government until 1906 when it was moved to Juneau.

Today’s population is about 9,000.

We arrived at Sitka on June 4. The day was warm but overcast with a slight threat of rain.

Here are a few sights along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 Several views of the beautiful landscape…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you like solitude this is the place for you.

Magnificent views are everywhere.

This is the way we traveled from the ship to the dock and back. (Right below)

 

This is a picture of the Sitka skyline.

We took a paid walking tour of Sitka which included the Alaska Raptor Center that treats injured eagles and other birds and when they recover, the birds are returned to the wild.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we left the Raptor Center, we toured just about everything in Sitka. Sitka is not that big. We saw Princess Maksoutoff’s grave in the Lutheran cemetery. She was the wife of the last Russian Governor of Alaska, Dimitrii Maksoutoff. We walked through the Sitka National Historical Park, Totem Square, Castle Hill, and the Sheldon Jackson Museum, St. Peter’s By the Sea Episcopal Church and the Isabel Miller Museum. We didn’t get any photos of this because the batteries died in the camera.

The last place we visited was the St. Michael’s Cathedral. This is the Russian Orthodox Church. “Cathedral” sounds imposing but it was a wooden structure that resembled old Methodist churches in Eastern North Carolina. The Russian artifacts were fascinating.

The photo of the church is from the travel guide All About Sitka.

We bought batteries at the Visitor Center and took this photo from the ferryboat taking us back to the ship. (below)

How’s this for a remote get-a-way? (House at right)

 

 

 

 

 

Our view as we pulled out of the harbor.

This greeted us when we returned to our stateroom. (below)

Gene Alston