Story of a Hill

This hill, once practically an island during high tides, was an ideal and highly defensible site valued by three nations and a place where the course of Alaska's history changed. The Tlingit, who once controlled most of Southeast Alaska, knew it as Noow Tlein and used its strategic position as a lookout point for defending their home and resources; it is thought they built four important clan houses on top of it. In 1799, Russian fur traders led by Alexander Baranov established a fort on Tlingit land at nearby Gájaa Héen, now Old Sitka State Historical Park, but the Tlingit destroyed the fort two years later. Baranov returned in 1804 and, after six days of fighting at the Indian River, claimed Noow Tlein for Russia and called it Novoarkhangel'sk, or New Archangel; soon the new redoubt included living quarters, fortifications, and cannons. After decades of Russian rule, Russia sold Alaska to the United States, and on October 18, 1867, a transfer ceremony took place here and the American flag was raised over Alaska. Ninety-two years later, Alaska became the 49th state of the Union, and one of the first American flags with 49 stars flew over this hill, often called Castle Hill.

Sitka, Alaska · United States