Fort Tongass was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

base on

Tongass Island Tongass Island, historically also spelled Tongas Island, is an island in the southern Alaska Panhandle, near the marine boundary with Canada at 54–40 N. It was the site of Fort Tongass, which was established shortly after the Alaska Purchase as a ...

, in the southernmost

Alaska Panhandle Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska(n) Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part ...

, located adjacent to the village of the group of

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

people on the east side of the island.Sealaska Heritage website
Fort Tongass was the first US Army base established in Alaska following its purchase from the Russian Empire in 1867 and was garrisoned by the 2nd U.S. Artillery under the command of Captain Charles H. Peirce. Historian

Hubert Howe Bancroft Hubert Howe Bancroft (May 5, 1832 – March 2, 1918) was an American historian and ethnologist who wrote, published and collected works concerning the western United States, Texas, California, Alaska, Mexico, Central America and British Columbi ...

notes: "the site was well chosen, containing a plentiful supply of timber and pasture, while fish and game abound in the neighbourhood. The post was commissioned in 1868 and abandoned in 1870. After Alaska was established as a customs district by legislation in 1868, a deputy collector was posted to Fort Tongass as well as to Fort Wrangel, meant to intercept prospectors and commercial traffic bound for the goldfields of the

Stikine River The Stikine River is a major river in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States. It drains a large, remote upland area known as the Stikine Country east of the Coast Mountains. Flowing west and south f ...

inland in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, and a

revenue cutter A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or bor ...

was stationed in the area's waters.''Alaska's Heritage CHAPTER 4-1: AMERICANS COME TO ALASKA''
Alaska Heritage and Culture Course (online) In 1868,

Jefferson C. Davis Jefferson Columbus Davis (March 2, 1828 – November 30, 1879) was a regular officer of the United States Army during the American Civil War, known for the similarity of his name to that of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and for his kil ...

, commander of the army's Military District of Alaska, visited Fort Tongass as well as Fort Wrangel and Prince of Wales Island aboard , with Jefferson requesting an armed steamer be sent north to support troops in those garrisons, who had no water transport. was sent north in 1869, being fitted out for Alaskan service and stationed at Sitka, as support for these bases. In 1869 a newspaper was published at Fort Tongass named the ''Tongass Wa-Wa'' ("Wa-wa" in the Chinook Jargon means "talk, speech, conversation"). After the fort's closing the name Fort Tongass became current for the name of the native village which remained. Despite the army's withdrawal, a Customs Inspector remained in residence, though having difficulty in controlling trade between the various Tlingit tribes and the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

post at

Fort Simpson Fort Simpson (Slavey language: ''Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́'' "place where rivers come together") is a village, the only one in the entire territory, in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is located on an ...

, which was just 15 miles south. In 1879 there were 700 Tongass under a chief named Ya-soot.

Name origin and Tlingit village

The name Tongass is derived from the name of the people, which has been variously spelled Tomgas, Tont-a-quans, Tungass, Tungass-kon and Tanga'sh. The name of the

Tongass people Tongass may refer to: * Fort Tongass * Tongass people, or Taantʼa Ḵwáan, "Sea Lion Tribe", one of the main divisions of the Tlingit people and the namesake of all other "Tongass" names. * Tongass Highway * Tongass Island * Tongass Narrows, a ch ...

in the

Tlingit language The Tlingit language ( ; ''Lingít'' ) is spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada and is a branch of the Na-Dene language family. Extensive effort is being put into revitalization programs in Southeast Alaska to rev ...

is ''"Taantʼa Ḵwáan"'' (Sea Lion Tribe), today mostly reside in

Ketchikan Ketchikan ( ; tli, Kichx̱áan) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic District. With a population at the 202 ...

. Royal Navy Captain

Daniel Pender Daniel Pender was a Royal Navy Staff Commander, later captain, who surveyed the Coast of British Columbia aboard , and from 1857 to 1870. Pender was recorded as the second master of the admiralty survey vessel, HMS ''Plumper'', in 1857 when h ...

, in surveying and naming the region in 1868, misconstrued Captain Peirce's name as "Pearse", in the course of naming nearby

Pearse Island Pearse Island is an island in western British Columbia, Canada, in the Portland Inlet, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. The island was first charted in 1793 by George Vancouver during his Vancouver Expedition, 1791-95 expedition. It was named by Geor ...

, which is on the Canadian side of the boundary, which runs through

Tongass Passage Tongass Passage is a strait on the Canada–United States border between Alaska and British Columbia, located on the southwest side of Wales Island. Wales Island, and Pearse Island, to its northeast, were claimed by the United States prior to the ...

to the east of Tongass Island. Other officers stationed to the garrison were a Lieutenant Lord, Lieutenant Murphy and a Surgeon Chismore.

The Tongass Pole, Pioneer Square, Seattle

In September 1899, a tour by Seattle businessmen, artists and others of the Alaska Panhandle, sponsored by the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...

'' and aboard the vessel ''

City of Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...

'', removed a

Raven clan The Ganhada (variously spelled, but often as G̱anhada) is the name for the Raven "clan" (phratry) in the language of the Tsimshian nation of British Columbia, Canada, and southeast Alaska. It is considered analogous or identical to the G̱anada ( ...

totem pole from Tongass Village while most of the village was away fishing, and took it to Seattle, where it was erected on at First Avenue and Yesler Way on October 18, 1899, the anniversary of Alaska's transfer to the United States from Russia. The Tongass people pressed suit for damages, to the tune of $20,000, and were supported by a grand jury in Alaska which indicted twelve of the Seattle party for theft of government property (as the village was attached to Fort Tongass, then revived as a minor military base during the Klondike Gold Rush and associated

boundary dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources s ...

). The case was eventually shunted aside, partly due to intervention by state representatives and senators from all the Pacific Coast states, and while the ''Post-Intelligencer'' did offer $500 compensation, these funds never reached Tongass village or the Raven clan. The pole was burned by an arsonist on October 22, 1934. A new, replica, pole was commissioned and was created by carvers at

Saxman, Alaska Saxman (Lingít: ''T’èesh Ḵwáan Xagu'') is a town on Revillagigedo Island in Ketchikan Gateway Borough in southeastern Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 411, down from 431 in 2000. The city of Ketchikan lies just ...

and shipped south on , and was erected at the same location on July 25, 1940, and stands at Pioneer Square to this day.

Climate

The extreme rainfall at Tongass was noted in a report concerning for the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1880, with the mean annual precipitation having been recorded by that point as being 118.3 inches a year, with 200 days a year being either rainy or snowy.

Demographics

Fort Tongass appeared on the 1890 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village of 50 residents. 43 were Tlingit Natives, 6 were White and 1 was of "Mixed" race (White & Native ancestry).

References

External links

Totem posts, Ft. Tongas, AK, ethnology, 1888-89, NOAA Photo Library

* ttp://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/fish7805.htm Totem posts, Ft. Tongas, AK, ethnology, 1888-89, NOAA Photo Library