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SITKA |
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One of the highlights of an Inland Passage ferry ride is negotiating
the 46 tight turns of the 22-mile-long Wrangell Narrows between Wrangell
and the "Norwegian" fishing town of Petersburg on the route north. At
times it feels like you can reach out and touch the steep-walled shore,
and at night the ferry has to negotiate a slalom course of navigation
lights.
Perched on the seaward edge of the Inside Passage and eleven hours from
Petersburg, SITKA ranks as one of Alaska's prettiest and most historic
towns. The Fuji-like Mount Edgecumbe volcano rises menacingly across
Sitka Sound from the spot where Russian colonists established a fort in
1799. Three years later Tlingit warriors massacred the imperialist
troops and their Aleut slaves, but were themselves cannoned into
submission in 1804. Under Russian occupation the town was rebuilt and
christened Novaya Archangelsk (New Archangel), the capital of Russian
America - a role it retained beyond the 1867 transfer of ownership to
the US, until federal powers passed control to Juneau in 1906. Sitka
today earns its keep mostly from fishing and tourism; it's all too keen
to flog tacky "Russiocana" - you'll find more nesting dolls here than
the rest of the US put together - but the town also has a wealth of
great outdoor opportunities and a fine reputation for its festivals,
especially the chamber-oriented Summer Music Festival each June and the
Alaska Day Festival (celebrating the Russia-US transfer) on the days
leading up to October 18.
The Town
The best place to get a grasp of Sitka's Russian past and the lay of the
land is from the rocky vantage point of Castle Hill , where Alaska was
officially transferred to the US on October 18, 1867; an informative
plaque marks the spot |
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