Fort William H. Seward and a Tlingit Wedding

Saturday, May 23, 2009 – Day 23

We’re (actually just me) starting to get used to this laid back, relaxed method of travel.  (Travel for a few days, then set up camp for a few and get to know the town your staying in.)  Mrs “Type A Personality” Lewis is not coping nearly as well!  We got a late start this morning and decided to wander around town and then do a self-guided tour of Fort William H. Seward.  Seward, was the the Secretary of the Interior who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 for the then outrageous sum of $ 7.2 million dollars.  (That worked out to be less than 2 cents/acre – many people at the time called it “Seward’s Folly”.) I suppose history has proven Seward to be a genius. 

At the turn of the Century – sorry that is the 1900’s not Y2K; the USA was having a protracted border dispute with Canada and to exercise their sovereignty in the area, they established Fort William H. Seward.  With it’s white buildings on the green hillside, it dominates the bay in which Haines is located. Apparently when you arrive by boat, this is the first sight that greets you. The buildings of the fort surround a six acre, rectangular parade ground.  The officers quarters dominated the hillside, while enlisted men were housed in the barracks, lower down on the slopes.  Life in this frontier fort became more a battle with boredom than a battle of guns.  The fort was decommissioned by the army after WW2 and was sold as surplus to five war veterans from the east who bought it sight unseen.  They hoped to  turn it into a new utopian community. The years have not been kind to the fort.  It seems to be in a state of steady decline as parts have been sold to private interests, hotels, condos, B&B’s.  Some have been turned into private residences and these seem to be the most at risk.  We have visited a similar fort of similar vintage in Nebraska, Fort Robinson.  It has been restored with state money and is now a real gem.  The same kind of TLC is needed here.

Later in the day we visited the Sheldon Museum and Cultural Centre.  The highlight of this museum is the display of native arts.  Chilkat blankets and ceremonial robes are displayed along with early pioneer artefacts.  The staff were especially proud of their museum and were describing in detail how the old Tlingit halibut hooks worked when we heard the faint sound of drums outside.  As we continued to talk the drumming got louder and we heard some chanting.  (There is a beer fest going on this Memorial day weekend in Haines and Janet wondered if this was part of it. I thought it was a demonstration.) We went outside to investigate and it turned out to be a Tlingit wedding ceremony.

The bride and groom were dressed in ceremonial regalia as were a number of the wedding party.  They were beating their hand drums and chanting as they walked up main street.  We asked the museum staff if this was a regular occurrence and one person said that in the 17 years that he had lived here he had never seen anything like it.  We were indeed lucky to have witnessed this event.  Another staff member told us that this was Chief Dennis who was getting married.  Sadly though we had found out yesterday that the Chief’s son had died along with another fellow just last week.  Three teens had set out in a canoe for Skagway just up the Lynn Canal, ignoring a small craft warning that had been issued.  One of the boys survived  and was able to walk barefoot along the rocky coast for over 6 miles before finding a residence to summon help. This is a tragedy so often repeated, in different circumstances perhaps, by young people everywhere.  Getting back to my first observation at the beginning of this post; it is interesting to be able to stay in a place for a few days and get to know the people who live there.  We are all very similar.

Couple of housekeeping items: To enlarge a picture you should just have to double click on it.  To see if there is text associated with a picture simply hover over it.

Oceanside RV park in Haines, AK.