Fort Tongass facts for kids
Fort Tongass was an early United States Army base in Alaska. It was built on Tongass Island, in the very southern part of the Alaska Panhandle. The fort was right next to a village of the Tlingit people.
Fort Tongass was the first US Army base set up in Alaska. This happened after the United States bought Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867. Soldiers from the US Army were stationed there. A historian named Hubert Howe Bancroft said the location was a good choice. It had plenty of wood and grass, and lots of fish and game nearby.
The fort was opened in 1868 but closed just two years later, in 1870. After Alaska became a customs district in 1868, a special officer was sent to Fort Tongass. This officer helped control trade and stop people from sneaking into goldfields in British Columbia. A government boat was also placed in the nearby waters. In 1868, Jefferson C. Davis, who was in charge of the army in Alaska, visited Fort Tongass. He asked for an armed ship to help the soldiers, as they had no way to travel by water. So, USS Cyane was sent to Alaska in 1869 to support these bases.
In 1869, a newspaper called the Tongass Wa-Wa was published at the fort. "Wa-wa" means "talk" or "speech" in the Chinook Jargon language. Even after the fort closed, the name Fort Tongass was still used for the native village that remained. A Customs Inspector stayed there, but it was hard for him to control trade between the Tlingit tribes and the Hudson's Bay Company post at Fort Simpson, which was only 15 miles south. In 1879, about 700 Tongass people lived there, led by a chief named Ya-soot.
What Does "Tongass" Mean?
The name Tongass comes from the name of the people themselves. It has been spelled in different ways over time, like Tomgas or Tungass. The name of the Tongass people in the Tlingit language is "Taantʼa Ḵwáan". This means "Sea Lion Tribe." Today, most of these people live in Ketchikan.
In 1868, a British Navy captain named Daniel Pender was mapping the area. He accidentally wrote Captain Peirce's name as "Pearse." This is why a nearby island on the Canadian side of the border is called Pearse Island. The border actually runs through Tongass Passage, which is east of Tongass Island. Other officers who served at the fort included Lieutenant Lord, Lieutenant Murphy, and Surgeon Chismore.
The Tongass Pole in Seattle
In September 1899, a group of businessmen and artists from Seattle went on a trip to the Alaska Panhandle. They were sponsored by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper. While most of the Tongass villagers were away fishing, the group took a Raven clan totem pole from Tongass Village. They brought it to Seattle and put it up on October 18, 1899. This date was special because it was the anniversary of Alaska being transferred to the United States.
The Tongass people were very upset and asked for $20,000 in damages. A grand jury in Alaska supported them. They said that twelve people from the Seattle group had stolen government property. This was because the village was connected to Fort Tongass, which had become a small military base again during the Klondike Gold Rush and a border dispute.
However, the case eventually stopped moving forward. This was partly because politicians from the Pacific Coast states got involved. The Post-Intelligencer newspaper offered $500 as payment, but this money never reached the Tongass village or the Raven clan. The original totem pole was sadly burned by someone in 1934. A new, exact copy of the pole was made by carvers in Saxman, Alaska. It was shipped south and put up in the same spot on July 25, 1940. This replica pole still stands in Pioneer Square today.
Weather at Fort Tongass
Fort Tongass was known for its very wet weather. In 1880, a report for the Canadian Pacific Railway noted this. It said that the average rainfall each year was about 118.3 inches. Also, it rained or snowed about 200 days out of the year!
