Alaskan expansion .
The original colonial city of Anchorage was by the start of the 1890`s a radically different city from the one the settlers found originally .It had bustling docks and large warehouses .And commodities flowed in and out through the port as they either traveled from Alaska to Europe ,or from Europe to Alaska .
But Anchorage was far from the only town to be settled by the 10,000 odd colonists that first went to Alaska .And even before the colonists had arrives there had been a number of small settlements along the coasts and rivers .And these small settlements had quickly grown as colonists moved to them to escape what they viewed as a major city ,Even though Anchorage at the time had only three thousand people .
And the forts established by the Alaska company also bloomed into proper towns as trappers wives and children settled there .And Natives began to plant fields around them .Often giving the forts a very cozy look .As painters of the early nation would often show .
Hence by the 1790`s start the colony Catherine`s son Paul had foretold to be a disaster seemed to be thriving .It`s wealth had increased from the highly lucrative fur and whaling industries sprouting up .And small towns ans settlements extended all along the coast of the young colony .In addition the population of Alaska had grown to up to three times it number as settlers from Europe and India flocked to the area ,drawn by the promise of land and acceptance .And despite the cold climate their farms became quite productive ,as evidence by the colonies rapidly growing birth rate .Which by 1800 would be as high as twelve children per family ,Fathers not included .
First battle of Anchorage .1794
Despite the Alaskan companies policy of assimilating the Natives of Alaska into the colonists culture by introducing them to agriculture and permanent houses .So that the previously migratory tribes began to settle alongside the companies fort and supply them with food in exchange for goods such as sugar and fleece .Some tribes were not so accepting of the colonists good will .
Still others feared the European settlers would destroy the culture and tradition of the tribes ,which proved to be correct .
Especially vocal in their opposition of the settlers was were the Kiks .Adi of the Tlingit nation .Who in 1792 destroyed a company fort and killed and raped the women who had come to live with their husbands .
After the forts destruction the tribe retreated into the mountains ,conducting pinprick raids on other settlements for a year before they launched a major campaign designed to remove the Russian colonist by killing the head .Anchorage .
And the plan worked well for around a year as they worked up more of the Tlingit nation to side with their cause .They fought a number of battles with local farmers ,which although regrettable for the colonists .Did not really hurt them all that bad as it damaged no major settlements .Or left alot of dead .
For the Tlingit`s the clashes with farmers gave them a vastly overblown opinion of their fighting abilities .And very little trust with the tribes that had originally been in the area .Who thought of them as invaders rather than liberators as they claimed .
Hence by May of 1794 the Tlingit had arrived outside Anchorage ...
Battle is joined .
The two forces were very different numerically .The Tlingit had around four thousand men on their side ,while the Russian army corpse sent by the Tsarina Catherine only numbered around a thousand .Of which only three hundred were present for the battle .The others being located at a number of other towns and trade posts along the coast .However Johnathan Hunt called on all able bodied men to help in the defence of their city ,bringing the total number of Alaska men to around a thousand .With a few mounted troops thrown in .
The two opposing armies met less than a mile from Anchorage ,along a small valley were the colonial forces planned to use the valleys features to negate the numerical advantage held by the Tlingit .
One eyewitness describe the battle .
The Governor (Hunt) ordered his men to stand firm and do their best .
Then he asked that they remember the dead at the Skilig `sa fort that
had been brutally murdered or raped at the hands of these same men .
Then he asked that they remember their loved ones depending on
them back in the city .With that he raised his sabre high over his horse
and shouted "Long live Catherine !" which was met with great
enthusiasm by the assembled masses of men from Russia ,particularly
those hailing from the Imperial army .
Then the Governor ordered a charge into the enemy ,and led it himself .
Upon seeing the Governor and his party mounted upon their fine horses
,and not having seen a horse the great number of them .Began to panic
and flee in all directions from before them .
The Natives reformed though ,before a great many were killed and met
our charge head on .Yet the steep valley walls meant that their superior
numbers could not be brought to bear ,while our arms being of much
better quality than theirs quickly saw them defeated and running
from before us .
After the battle the Tlingit nation was systematically destroyed by the much feared Alaskan army .And Johnathan hunt was dubbed the Bear of the north by a estatic Catherine .
Another affect of the engagement was the closer relationship between the tribes and settlers .As without the Kiks .Adi to cause trouble the tribal cultures that had developed over ten thousand years ,were forgotten in the space of a half a century .And a dominant European one replaced them .
Less than a year after the battle Hunt ordered a wall built around the city so that should another war break out they would be able to fend them off far easier .Built mostly of wood at first ,most of it no longer stands .Only a few towers here and there ,with the central fort surviving at Castle hill in the center of the modern city .
Recreated tower of Alaskan fort ,the towers that formed part of the Anchorage defenses looked similar .