“The government does not care for the country. They have abandoned it. It belongs to us, anyway; why not take the town and do as we wish with it?” said Katlean.
The Kokwantons, under Annahootz, their chief, opposed the outrage. For months there was danger of an outbreak. Insult after insult was placed upon the citizens. The stockade was cut down and carried away by the Indians. Every male inhabitant was armed and expecting a call to battle at any time. A man was killed at the Hot Springs by a Keeksitty. The murderer was arrested through the assistance of the Kokwantons under Annahootz.[[26]] The Keeksitties assembled to rescue the criminal, but the citizens of the town rallied for defense, the Kokwantons joined them and the murderer was safely placed on board the Steamer “California” and taken to Portland for trial where he was afterward hanged.
On the same boat went an appeal for assistance, directed to the United States Government, but it fell on deaf ears. Another petition was sent to Victoria, B. C., and was heeded. Captain A. Holmes A’Court, of H. M. S. “Osprey,” at once set out for Sitka, arrived on March 1st, 1879, anchored opposite the Ranche and trained his guns for immediate use. The danger was averted. Captain A’Court remained until the arrival of the U. S. S. “Alaska,” on April 3rd, then departed for Esquimault with the blessings of the grateful people of Sitka.
On June 14th into the harbor came the U. S. S. “Jamestown.” Her Commander, Captain L. A. Beardslee, assumed control of affairs in the community and administered them in a manner which brought credit on his name. He found everything at the lowest ebb; every woman and child who could leave, had gone to escape the danger of Indian massacre; witchcraft prevailed among the natives and anarchy among the whites. He took a census[[27]] upon his arrival, and the result was 325 people, exclusive of the Creole population. He appointed an Indian police; established more sanitary conditions in the “Ranche,” numbered the houses, and compelled the attendance of the Indian children at the Mission School.
A school was opened in the old Russian barracks building on April 17, 1878, by Rev. John G. Brady and Miss Fannie E. Kellogg, of the Presbyterian Mission, which was later followed by the present Sheldon Jackson Mission School. George Kostromitinoff, afterward known as Father Sergius, was the interpreter. The opening of the school was a great event for Sitka and nearly everyone in the town attended. Annahootz, the friendly Kokwantan war chief, made a speech. Mr. Cohen, the brewer, hunted up another interpreter to assist. Hymns were sung and the events were auspicious. The Indians stole in one at a time, some with their faces blackened, all in blankets, but they squatted by the wall and listened attentively. The school was continued until December, when it was given up, but in the spring of 1880 Miss Olinda Austin, from New York City, reopened it on April 5th, in one of the rooms of the guardhouse, with an attendance of 103 children. The school thus established was the beginning of the present Sheldon Jackson Training School. The support of the naval officers at the station was such that the missionary teacher was moved to say: “It is not often that the Government sends out a missionary, but they have sent one in this young commander and his lieutenant, Mr. F. M. Symonds,” in referring to Captain Glass, who succeeded Captain Beardslee.
Some form of local government giving the residents a right to regulate their civil affairs was favored by the Commander, who had not even a code under which to act. A meeting was called, ordinances were drafted, a magistrate and councilmen elected for a town government. But all were not agreed upon these acts and opposition arose against it from the very inception of the movement. One of the traders of the town, Caplin, said: “De Captain may go to — wid his tam government; I’ll bay no daxes.” And from Silver Bay where he was mining, Geo. E. Pilz sent in a protest against the proceeding. The dealers who traded molasses to the Indians, from which the villainous liquor called “hoochinoo” or “Hooch,” was distilled, objected to the ordinances restricting the trade. Finally an English miner named Roy was shot by his partner, “Scotty,” and the inability of the self-made government to try the offender brought a crisis. The next day a notice appeared stating the organization had been dissolved, and the second attempt at self-government by the people in Alaska passed into oblivion.
Scotty was sent to Oregon for trial and was discharged because of lack of a law to punish a man for assault with a dangerous weapon in Alaska.
But the dawn of a better day was at hand, Alaska’s darkest hours were past, and morning was breaking. The rule of the Navy Department continued until 1884, then, although the warships still remained in Alaskan waters, by Act of Congress of May 17th, a form of civil government was granted, and the official Capital was placed at Sitka. The terror of the Indian outbreaks was past; schools were in reach, for the same act provided for the establishment of a system of public education, and the Code of Oregon was adopted as the law of the land.[[28]]
Then some of the life of the former years returned to the beautiful village by the sea; there were pleasant parties among the residents, the Governor held receptions, the officers of the warships added to the social life, many a gay ball was celebrated on the top floor of the court house, and for more than twenty years it was the Capital of Alaska.[[29]]
With the influx of the Americans prospecting began, for in the vast wild mountains of Baranof and Chicagof Islands there is a wealth of mineral stored in the ledges.