Our stop in Sitka was longer. This is because of the Sergius Narrows. We had to wait for the tide to turn again. Instead of heading uphill to look at a muskeg because Karen thought we might find bear, we headed to the Starrigavan Estuary just north of town. Thus forgoing the option of riding a bus into town. The estuary has a boardwalk surrounding the edges. No bear sadly. No blue herons or belted kingfishers either. But we did see a goodly number of spawning humpy salmon.
https://www.aksalmonworld.org/where-the-river-meets-the-tides
At the mouth of the estuary is a park with historical markers noting that this area was a fish camp for the local Tlingit, called Gájaa Héen. Captain Vitus Behring ‘discovered’ the area in 1741and thus began the Russian presence, in the form of the Russian-American Company, which recruited western Alaskan native Alaskans for hunting sea otters. It also Included building a fort here called Redoubt Saint Michael.
The fort stood for about 2 years. Due to a series of insults to the Tlingit community, they attacked and burned the fort down.
But the Russian influence did not stop. Eventually Sitka, then called New Archangel became the Paris of the Pacific, thus dubbed as it was a cultural, educational and economic hub.
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