Old Sitka is the site of the historic Russian settlement Redoubt Saint Archangel Michael on the southern shore of Starrigavan Bay in Sitka Sound on the west coast of Baranof Island, about 232 miles (373 km) southeast of Yakutat and 5.5 miles (9 km) north of Sitka, Alaska. It is now an Alaska State Historical Park and a National Historic Landmark. The name ‘Sitka’ comes from Sheetʼká Xʼáat’i, the name of a Tlingit band that inhabited this area for thousands of years. The name ‘Starrigavan’ is a Russian word meaning ‘old harbor,’ first reported in 1809 by Ivan Vasiliev. The bay faces northwest toward Sitka Sound and is sheltered from the open ocean by several large islands to the southwest. To the east, forested mountain slopes rise to elevations of 3,000 to 5,300 feet (900–1,600 m). Below about 2,000 feet (610 m), temperate coastal rainforests—chiefly western hemlock and Sitka spruce—cover much of the surrounding land. Starrigavan Creek, a major salmon stream, enters the bay immediately north of the site. Anadromous fish, including pink and coho salmon, Dolly Varden char, and steelhead trout, spawn in the creek, while Pacific cod and halibut inhabit deeper offshore waters. Freshwater, a dependable fish supply, a sheltered deep bay, and accessible timber were key factors in choosing the site for the Russian settlement. Alexander A. Baranov of the Russian-American Company first visited Baranof Island in 1795 in search of new sea otter hunting grounds and paid the Tlingit for land rights to preclude other nations from entering the maritime fur trade. In 1799, he returned and built a fortified trading post on Starrigavan Bay consisting of log buildings—including a warehouse, blacksmith shop, cattle sheds, barracks, stockade, blockhouse, bathhouse, hunters’ quarters and the governor’s residence—all enclosed by a palisade.

Members of an Imperial Russian Navy expedition led by Danish explorer Vitus Bering were the first Europeans to visit Alaska’s Gulf Coast. Bering sailed aboard the Saint Peter from Petropavlovsk, Siberia, on June 4, 1741, accompanied by the Saint Paul under Captain Aleksei Chirikov. Their mission was to discover the reported American mainland. The two ships separated on June 19—Chirikov sailed east, later encountering the Tlingit on Chichagof Island, while Bering drifted northeast and sighted Mount Saint Elias on July 16. In 1774, Spanish pilot Juan Josef Perez Hernandez commanded the Santiago on a mission from San Blas, dispatched by Don Antonio Maria Bucareli y Ursua, Viceroy of New Spain, to claim the coast as far north as 60° latitude and forestall Russian expansion. The following year, another expedition sent the Santiago and the Sonora—under Second Lieutenant Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, who sighted the entrance to Sitka Sound. In 1778, Captain James Cook, on his final voyage with HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery, sailed up the coast from Nootka Sound and named Mount Edgecumbe, Cross Sound, Cape Fairweather, Mount Fairweather, and Mount Saint Elias. When his expedition reached Macao in 1779, Pacific Northwest sea otter furs fetched high prices, spurring further voyages by the Spanish, French, and British governments and private traders such as the ‘Boston Men.’ In 1786 LaPérouse explored the coast, followed by Dixon in 1787 and Colnett in 1788—each deemed an interloper by the Russians who claimed the fur trading territory from Kamchatka through the Aleutians, Prince William Sound, to Yakutat and Sitka. On July 7, 1799, Baranov and 100 Russians sailed into Sitka Sound aboard the galley Olga, the brig Ekaterina, the packet Orel, and 550 baidarkas carrying 700 Aleuts and 300 other natives, to establish the settlement at Starrigavan Bay.

The Tlingit initially welcomed the traders, but relations soured when they objected to the Russian practice of taking native women as wives without compensation. They also resented subjugation, quickly realizing that the Russian presence demanded allegiance to the Tsar and free labor. Baranov learned that the Tlingit were receiving firearms and ammunition largely from American traders operating in the Pacific Northwest. These ‘Boston Men’ paid far more for sea otter furs than the Russians could afford and provided the Tlingit with pistols, muskets, a four‑pound cannon and gunpowder. Once armed, the Sitka Tlingit’s friendly attitude toward the Russians changed markedly; some claim British traders further incited them, hoping to profit by eliminating their Russian competitors. In June 1802, a Tlingit attack destroyed the fort while most Russians were away hunting and fishing, leaving only 15 men with women and children at the barracks. Tlingit women who lived with the Russians knew the garrison’s routines and defenses. The attack’s careful planning resembled that at Yakutat three years later, when the Tlingit exploited Russian carelessness, lax discipline and low morale. At Sitka, some American or English seamen—deserters or marooned in 1799—may have aided the Tlingit. English Captain James Barber, aboard the Unicorn, and two other captains who arrived shortly after the fort fell, rescued survivors who had fled or been enslaved. Barber took 3 Russians, 5 Aleuts, 18 women and 6 children to Kodiak, releasing them to Baranov only after obtaining a large fur ransom. In 1804, the Russians returned to retake Sitka Sound from the Tlingit, who had built a defensive fort at the mouth of the Indian River. The Battle of Sitka ended in a decisive Russian victory, but they never rebuilt the old fort. Instead, they constructed a new one—New Archangel—on Castle Hill at Sitka’s present location. The old fort became known as Starrigavan, meaning ‘old harbor.’ Read more here and here. Explore more of Old Sitka and Starrigavan Bay here: