
BLog
Presidential Passage: Warren G. Harding in Wrangell
President Warren G. Harding’s 1923 “Voyage of Understanding” is the only time a sitting U.S. president has ever visited Wrangell. Though he died a month later, his arrival was a defining moment in what Wrangell means to America.
The Eyes of Skak-Ish-Tin
Skak-Ish-Tin lived to be well over 100 years old. Although much of her life remains a mystery, the stories and images that survive offer glimpses into who she was.
Time Capsule: A.C. Pillsbury’s 1898 Photos of Wrangell
Arthur Clarence Pillsbury was a revolutionary inventor and photographer who captured Wrangell's homes, people, and totems during the Klondike Gold Rush.
War Clouds: Liquor, the Gatling Gun, and the Death of Shegan
As the population of gold miners in Fort Wrangel swelled into the thousands, the death of a Tlingit headman in U.S. Army custody threatened to spark a war that would upend it all.
High Hopes: Wrangell’s Wrecked Ship That Became a Home
When the steamer Hope was abandoned in Fort Wrangel during the Cassiar Gold Rush in 1875, it became part of the formation of the Wrangell waterfront.
LandBack 1899: The Right to Kick
When the Alaska Packers Association seized another salmon stream in 1899, Tlingit leaders from Fort Wrangel wrote a letter in protest, and passed the torch to a new generation.
“We Teach in Alaska:” A Handbook for BIA Teachers in Alaska
We Teach in Alaska is a BIA handbook published between 1957 and 1965. It documents the agency’s policies, practices, and advice for teachers across Alaska’s BIA schools.
LandBack 1898: Kadashan Confronts the Past
In 1898, John Kadashan of Fort Wrangel was among the Tlingit leaders to confront Governor John G. Brady about their stolen fishing streams.
LandBack 1890: The Tlingit Hire a Lawyer
In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison received a letter written by the lawyer representing “the Indians of South Eastern Alaska.” It is recognized as the first legal step in the fight for Alaska Native land claims.