1869 Bombardment to be studied

A largely forgotten piece of Wrangell history may soon come to light, with the awarding of a Sealaska Heritage Institute grant to research the 1869 Bombardment of Wrangell.

SHI received a one-year National Park Service Battlefield Preservation grant to document the 1869 bombardment through oral history work with elders. The work will be done in partnership with the Wrangell Cooperative Association.  

“This is the first ever Battlefield Preservation Grant awarded to an organization in Alaska to study a U.S. military conflict with a Native American tribe,” said WCA’s Tis Peterman.

The 150-year-old conflict between the U.S. Army and Tlingits of Wrangell was a national news story at the time, but it was not a story that was retold to generations of Wrangellites.  

According to a report compiled by Vincent Colyer, Secretary to President Ulysses S. Grant, on Christmas night in 1869, just over a year after Alaska became a U.S. Territory, a member of the Stikine tribe bit off the finger of white woman. The stunt eventually led to the deaths of two Stikine men, a white male killed in retaliation named John Smith, and saw the military threatening to completely destroy Fort Wrangell until Smith’s murderer was captured and hanged.   

The final report generated through the grant will be given to the WCA and community of Wrangell to allow them to determine what could be done to preserve, market, develop or memorialize the conflict for the community’s advantage.  

Some grant recipients in years past have gone on to build memorials, or be recognized as a National Historic Site, like the Chief Shakes Tribal House.

Zachary Jones, an Archivist and Collection Manager for SHI, and PhD student in Ethnohistory at University of Alaska Fairbanks, will be focusing on Tlingit and Russian relations and will serve as the primary investigator on the bombardment.

“Past writings do not do the situation justice,” Jones said. “Reports out there now largely represent only one side of the story. They didn’t go far enough. One needs to understand Tlingit law, the cultural context and aspects of Federal Indian policy to address the whole situation. I look forward to working with and serving the WCA and community of Wrangell in bringing this complex issue forward.”

The $31,718 grant given to SHI to study the bombardment was one of 27 projects to receive part of the $1.3 million in National Park Service grants which will be used to help preserve, protect, document, and interpret America’s significant battlefield lands.

“We are pleased to provide these grants to help safeguard and preserve these significant American battlefields,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “Preserving these sites for future generations and providing a means for research and interpretation is a fitting way to honor our nation’s military heritage and the courage and service of our armed forces.”

According to Peterman, the WCA will be working with a local researcher to assist Jones, who will be operating out of his office in Fairbanks.