Picturesque Alaska - a journal of a tour among the mountains, seas and islands of the Northwest, from San Francisco to Sitka (1893) (14597598559)

Identifier: picturesquealask00wood (find matches)
Title: Picturesque Alaska : a journal of a tour among the mountains, seas and islands of the Northwest, from San Francisco to Sitka
Year: 1893 (1890s)
Authors: Woodman, Abby Johnson, 1828-1921
Subjects: Alaska -- Description and travel Northwest Coast of North America
Publisher: Boston : Houghton, Mifflin Cambridge : Riverside Press
Contributing Library: New York Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN



Text Appearing Before Image:
in water, flowing from glacier-crowned summits behind Sitka into thecanon below, and thence into the harbor,making an island of the level area uponwhich Sitka stands. It is a wildly roman-tic stream, at some points overarched bybirches and white and yellow cedars, andalong its banks were alders and thickclumps of willows springing from the softgreen moss which grows beneath them. There are beautiful young Norwayspruces and fine groves of primeval fir-trees growing all over the six hundred andforty acres appropriated by government tothe Mission School. The harbor of Sitka has deep water, butis dotted over with lovely small islands androcky islets all covered with low greenshrubs and trees. The water is moderatelycalm, and oftentimes reflects like a mirrorthe beautiful islands and mountains on theshores. Across the harbor are great snowymountains, behind which the sun sets,shedding over all such a golden light thatin beholding it, one feels almost as if trans-ported to enchanted realms.
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H (f) SITKA. 165 We saw such a sunset shining overSitka and its beautiful harbor as we re-turned from Indian River with Dr. Jack-son ! We did not visit the Palace at Sitka.It was too stormy while we were there toundertake an excursion promising so littlesatisfaction. It is a large three-storywooden structure with a square roof,standing upon a little elevation by theshore, and very neglected. It looks morelike an old warehouse than a palace, andis, I think, used for the purposes of stor-age, offices, etc. The population of Sitka numbers elevenhundred people, one hundred of which arefrom the States, three hundred are Rus-sians, and seven hundred are native Alas-kans. The Indian village stands on the shoreupon one side of the town, and behind itis a burial-place. It is like other burial-grounds before described ; one tomb, prob-ably containing the ashes of a chieftain,has the carved image of an eagle perchedwith drooping wings upon a small polerising from the middle of the roof. Witchcra