In Sitka, Alaska
by Dave Gibson
First discovered by Tlingit peoples over ten thousand years ago, what would come to be named Sitka, Alaska, has been continuously inhabited by the Tlingit for the last fifty centuries. Called “Paris of the West,” Russia controlled the area in the early 1800s when it was the dominant port in western North America. Sitka acted as Capital of the Alaska Territories from 1884 until 1906, when the seat of government moved to Juneau. The Pacific Coast Steamship Company began running tourist cruises to Sitka in 1884, and by 1890, five thousand people visited each year. With access only by airplane or boat, cruises remain an affordable and popular method of getting there, although just one day off a cruise ship won’t do the town and surroundings justice. Once on the ground, Sitka offers a wide selection of activities for the adventurous traveler.
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