Editing Sitka, Alaska (section)

==History==
As part of [[Russian America|Russia]], it was known as '''New Archangel''' ({{langx|ru|Ново-Архангельск / Новоaрхангельск|Novo-Arkhangelsk'' / ''Novoarkhangelsk|links=no}}).

The current name ''Sitka'' (derived from ''{{lang|tli|Sheetʼká}}'', a contraction of the [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]] ''{{lang|tli|Shee Atʼiká}}'')<ref name="Joseph">{{cite web|last1=Joseph |first1=Charlie |last2=Brady |first2=I. |last3=Makinen |first3=E. |last4=David |first4=R. |last5=Davis |first5=V. |last6=Johnson |first6=A. |last7=Lord |first7=N. |title=Sheet'kwaan Aani Aya |publisher=[[Sitka Tribe of Alaska]] |year=2001 |url=http://www.sitkatribe.org/placenames/ |access-date=October 27, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725064527/http://www.sitkatribe.org/placenames/ |archive-date=July 25, 2008}}</ref> means "People on the Outside of Baranof Island", whose Tlingit name is ''{{lang|tli|Sheetʼ-ká Xʼáatʼl}}'' (here contracted to ''{{lang|tli|Shee}}'').

===Russian America===
[[File:New Archangel, 1805.jpg|thumb|left|New Archangel, 1805]]
[[File:View_of_New_Archangel,_1837.tif|thumb|left|The Russian-American Company's capital at Novo Arkhangelsk in 1837]]
[[File:1827 illustration of Castle Hill (Old Sitka, Alaska) by Postels.jpg|thumb|''{{lang|tli|<u>G</u>ajaa Héen}}'' (Old Sitka), {{Circa|1827}}. The new Russian palisade atop "[[Castle Hill (Sitka, Alaska)|Castle Hill]]" (''{{lang|tli|Noow Tlein}}'') that surrounded the Governor's Residence had three watchtowers, armed with 32 cannons, for defense against [[Tlingit]] attacks.]]

Russian explorers settled [[Old Sitka Site|Old Sitka]] in 1799, naming it Fort of Archangel Michael ({{langx|ru|форт Архангела Михаила}}, <small>[[transliteration of Russian|t]]</small> ''{{lang|ru-Latn|Fort Arkhangela Mikhaila}}''). The governor of [[Russian America]], [[Alexander Andreyevich Baranov|Alexander Baranov]], arrived under the auspices of the [[Russian-American Company]], a colonial trading company chartered by [[list of Russian tsars|Tsar]] [[Paul of Russia|Paul I]]. In June 1802, Tlingit warriors destroyed the original settlement, killing many of the Russians, with only a few managing to escape.<ref name=Khlebnikov>Khlebnikov, K.T., 1973, Baranov, Chief Manager of the Russian Colonies in America, Kingston: The Limestone Press, {{ISBN|0919642500}}</ref>{{rp|37–39}} Baranov was forced to levy 10,000 [[Russian ruble|rubles]] in ransom to Captain Barber of the British sailing ship ''Unicorn'' for the safe return of the surviving settlers.<ref name=Chevigny>{{cite book |last=Chevigny |first=Hector |title=Lord of Alaska: Baranov and the Russian adventure |year=1942 |publisher=Viking Press |location=Cornell University |page=320 |isbn=9780832304064 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qPg9AAAAYAAJ |access-date=March 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811114137/https://books.google.com/books/about/Lord_of_Alaska.html?id=qPg9AAAAYAAJ |archive-date=August 11, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Russians in Alaska|last=Black|first=Lydia|publisher=University of Alaska Press|year=2014|isbn=9781889963044|location=Alaska|pages=158–159}}</ref>

Baranov returned to Sitka in August 1804 with a large force, including [[Yuri Lisyansky]]'s ''[[Russian warship Neva|Neva]]''. The ship bombarded the Tlingit fortification on the 20th but was not able to cause significant damage. The Russians then launched an attack on the fort and were repelled. Following two days of bombardment, the Tlingit "hung out a white flag" on the 22nd, deserting the fort on the 26th.<ref name=Khlebnikov/>{{rp|44–49}}

Following their victory at the [[Battle of Sitka]] in October 1804, the Russians established the settlement "New Archangel", named after [[Arkhangelsk]]. As a permanent settlement, New Archangel became the largest city in the region. The Tlingit re-established their fort on the [[Chatham Strait]] side of [[Peril Strait]] to enforce a trade embargo with the Russian establishment. In 1808, with Baranov still governor, Sitka was designated the capital of Russian America.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The City & Borough of Sitka Alaska - About Sitka |url=https://www.cityofsitka.com/about-sitka |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=www.cityofsitka.com}}</ref>

[[Saint Innocent of Alaska|Bishop Innocent]] lived in Sitka after 1840. He was known for his interest in education, and his house, the [[Russian Bishop's House]], parts of which served as a schoolhouse, has since been restored by the [[National Park Service]] as part of the [[Sitka National Historical Park]].

The original [[St. Michael's Cathedral (Sitka, Alaska)|Cathedral of Saint Michael]] was built in Sitka in 1848 and became the seat of the [[Orthodox Church in America|Russian Orthodox]] bishop of Kamchatka, the Kurile and Aleutian Islands, and Alaska. The original church burned to the ground in 1966, losing its handmade bells, the large icon of the [[Last Supper]] that decorated the top of the royal doors, and the clock in the bell tower. Also lost was the large library containing books in the [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]], and [[Aleut language|Aleut]] languages. Although the church was restored to its original appearance, one exception was its clock face, which is black in photographs taken before 1966, but white in subsequent photos.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Swaney |first=Deanna |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/794289670 |title=Alaska |date=2012 |publisher=DK |others=Inc DK Publishing |isbn=978-0-7566-9191-2 |location=London |pages=140 |oclc=794289670}}</ref>

Swedes, Finns and other nationalities of Lutherans worked for the Russian-American Company,<ref>[http://www.sitkalutheranchurch.org/archangel.htm Sitka Lutheran Church] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602012055/http://www.sitkalutheranchurch.org/archangel.htm |date=June 2, 2013}}</ref> which led to the creation of a Lutheran congregation. The [[Sitka Lutheran Church]] building was built in 1840 and was the first [[Protestant]] church on the [[Pacific coast]]. After the transition to American control, following the purchase of Alaska from Russia by the United States in 1867, the influence of other Protestant religions increased, and [[St. Peter's by-the-Sea Episcopal Church (Sitka, Alaska)|Saint-Peter's-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church]] was consecrated as "the Cathedral of Alaska" in 1900.<ref name=NRHP>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=78000538}}|title=NRHP nomination for St. Peter's Church|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=October 24, 2014}}</ref>

===Territorial Alaska===
[[File:Sitka chiefs 1868.jpg|thumb|Group of Distinguished Chiefs in Sitka (1868)]]
[[File:SitkaAlaska1886.jpg|thumb|Looking past downtown Sitka, up [[Indian River (Alaska)|Indian River]] valley, in an 1886 postcard. Probably taken from Castle Hill.]]
[[File:Sitka (Alaska) - NARA - 297241.jpg|thumb|Sitka in 1901]]

Sitka was the site of the transfer ceremony for the [[Alaska purchase]] on October 18, 1867. Russia was going through economic and political turmoil after it lost the [[Crimean War]] to Britain, [[France]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1856, and decided it wanted to sell Alaska before British Canadians tried to conquer the territory. Russia offered to sell it to the United States. Secretary of State [[William Seward]] had wanted to purchase Alaska for quite some time, as he saw it as an integral part of [[Manifest Destiny]] and America's reach to the Pacific Ocean.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/intldl/mtfhtml/mfak/mfaksale.html |title=Meeting of Frontiers: Alaska — The Alaska Purchase |access-date=July 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730204803/http://memory.loc.gov/intldl/mtfhtml/mfak/mfaksale.html |archive-date=July 30, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> While the agreement to purchase Alaska was made in April 1867, the actual purchase and transfer of control took place on October 18, 1867. The cost to purchase Alaska was $7.2&nbsp;million, at 2 cents per acre.

Sitka served as both the U.S. Government Capital of the Department of Alaska (1867–1884) and District of Alaska (1884–1906). The seat of government was relocated north to [[Juneau, Alaska|Juneau]] in 1906 due to the declining economic importance of Sitka relative to Juneau, which gained population in the [[Klondike Gold Rush]].

===Alaska Native Brotherhood, Alaska Native Sisterhood===
The [[Alaska Native Brotherhood]] was founded in Sitka in 1912 to address racism against Alaska Native people in Alaska.<ref name="Hope"/> By 1914, the organization had constructed the [[Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall]] on Katlian Street, which was named after a Tlingit war chief in the early period of Russian colonization.<ref name=SMHS/>

===World War II===
In 1937, the United States Navy established the first seaplane base in Alaska on [[Japonski Island]], across the [[Sitka Channel]] from the town.<ref name="RayHistDist">{{Citation|last=Yarborough |first=Michael R. |title=Statement of Significance for the Fort Ray Historic District (Charcoal and Alice Islands) and the Mermaid Cove Mausoleum |publisher=Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities |date=April 10, 2009 |url=https://www.nps.gov/akso/history/PDF/Fort%20Ray%20Historic%20District%20CRC%20Report.pdf |access-date =October 24, 2016 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20161025112834/https://www.nps.gov/akso/history/PDF/Fort%20Ray%20Historic%20District%20CRC%20Report.pdf |archive-date =October 25, 2016 |url-status =live}}</ref> In 1941, construction began on Fort Ray, an army garrison to protect the naval air station.<ref name="RayHistDist"/> Both the army and navy remained in Sitka until the end of WWII, when the army base was put into caretaker status. The naval station in Sitka was deactivated in June 1944.<ref name="RayHistDist"/>  A shore boat system was then established to transfer the approximately 1,000 passengers a day until the O'Connell Bridge was built in 1972.{{r|yesterday}}

===Economy===
The Alaska Pulp Corporation was the first Japanese investment in the United States after WWII. In 1959, it began to produce pulp harvested from the [[Tongass National Forest]] under a 50-year contract with the US Forest Service.<ref name="Paxton">{{cite web|url=http://www.sitka.net/sawmillcove/Park/History.html |title=The Evolution of a Marine Industrial Park |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=www.sitka.net |access-date=October 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025111352/http://www.sitka.net/sawmillcove/Park/History.html |archive-date=October 25, 2016}}</ref> At its peak, the mill employed around 450 people before closing in 1993.

Sitka's Filipino community established itself in Sitka before 1929. It later became institutionalized as the Filipino Community of Sitka in 1981.<ref name="Klaney">{{cite book |last=Klaney |first=Carol Kelty |title=Gunalcheesh! |publisher=Ptarmigan Press |year=1995 |location=Haines, Alaska |pages=77–78}}</ref>

Gold mining and fish canning paved the way for the town's initial growth. Today Sitka encompasses portions of Baranof Island and the smaller [[Japonski Island]], which is connected to Baranof Island by the [[John O'Connell Bridge]] (which uses the [[cable-stayed bridge | cable-stayed]] suspension method as its means of support). Japonski Island is home to [[Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport]] ([[IATA|{{abbr|IATA|International Air Transport Association}}]]: SIT; [[ICAO|{{abbr|ICAO|International Civil Aviation Organization}}]]: PASI), the Sitka branch campus of the [[University of Alaska Southeast]], [[Mt. Edgecumbe High School]] (a state-run boarding school for rural Alaskans), Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium's Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital, [[List of United States Coast Guard air stations|U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka]], and the port and facilities for the [[USCGC Kukui (WLB-203)|{{abbr|USCGC|United States Coast Guard Cutter}} ''Kukui'']].<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 21, 2017|title=Japonski Island|url=https://visitsitka.org/member/japonski-island|access-date=November 11, 2020|website=Visit Sitka}}</ref>