Alaska was controlled by Russia from the mid- 1700s until the U.S. purchased it in 1867. Sitka was the capital of Russian America so there are a lot of Russian influences here. Below is the Russian Bishop's house.
Next was a hike through the Sitka National Historical Park where we hiked the one mile Totem Trail.
The totem poles in this park are carved by the Tlingit and Haida people. There were a few really old ones, but most were carved much more recently and show some modern touches. Some of the totem poles are replicas of those made in 1904 for the St. Louis World's Fair.
This is a part of a totem from a much earlier time.
We saw a lot of bald eagles on this trail as well as around Sitka.
We came upon a large open grassy area with this totem pole. This is the site where the Tlingit Indians fought their battle with the Russians in 1804.
After we finished the Totem Trail loop, we headed on over the Indian River to the Alaska Raptor Center.
The birds in the following pictures are all injured, most of them will not ever be released back into the wild as their injuries were too severe.
We listened to a short talk on the mission of the Alaska Raptor Center. This bald eagle is around 30' tall and could weigh from 7-14 lbs. Our speaker held the bird with the support of a pole for her arm.
Half way through the show the bird got a little excited and knocked the pole over. She finished the talk fully supporting the bird which looked very tiring.
On our walk back to the ship.
Downtown Sitka.
The very Russian looking St. Michael's Cathedral right in the middle of town.
that hike looks like it was super fun. I love raptors and I recognize funnily many of the same bird we saw in Germany
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