A Short History of Sitka

The area was originally settled by the native Tlingit Indians. Old Sitka was founded in 1799 by Alexander Baranov, the governor of Russian America. Baranov arrived under the auspices of the Russian-American Company, a "semi-official" colonial trading company chartered by Tsar Paul I.

In 1802, a group of Tlingit destroyed the original establishment known as Redoubt Saint Michael and massacred most of the Russian inhabitants. Baranov was forced to levy 10,000 rubles in ransom for the safe return of the surviving settlers. Baranov then returned to Sitka in 1804 with a large contingent of Russians and Aleuts aboard the Russian warship Neva. The ship bombarded the natives' village, forcing the Tlingits to retreat into the surrounding forest.

Following their victory at the Battle of Sitka, the Russians established a permanent settlement in the form of a fort, named New Archangel in honor of the largest city in the region where Baranov was born. In 1808, with Baranov still governor, Sitka was designated the capital of Russian America.

To learn more about Sitka, Alaska, see the Tifton Gazette online article, Sitka, Alaska: A little city with a big heritage.