ected the affairs of the
Company at Sitka between the date of the founding in 1804 and the
surrender to the United States in 1867.[21]

Many of the officers resided long in the colonies and their record would
establish their right to be denominated as "Sourdoughs." Baranof was
manager 28 years; Zarembo was rewarded in 1844 for 25 years' service;
Krukof, the manager at Unalaska, was rewarded in 1821 for 40 years'
service; Banner remained at Kodiak for at least ten years, and he and
his wife both died there; while Kuskof came with Baranof in 1790 and
returned to Russia in 1821.

[Illustration: Sitka in 1869--During the Time of the Military Occupation.]

CHAPTER VIII

SITKA UNDER UNITED STATES RULE

Then came the day when the Russian was to withdraw from his colonies,
and the United States was to occupy them as Alaska. An area as broad as
an empire, equal in extent to Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark
combined, was to be handed over from the Imperial Ruler of all the
Russias to the Republic of the United States, and Sitka, the Capital of
the Colonies, was to be the scene of the actual transfer. The
statesmanship of Secretary Seward, aided by the eloquence of Sumner, had
secured for our country a domain one sixth as large as the whole United
States.

October 18th, 1867, Alexei Pestchouroff, the Commissioner of the Tsar,
appeared in front of the Baranof castle, and beside him stood Lovell H.
Rousseau, the Commissioner for the United States, who was to receive the
Territory.

The Russian soldiery were drawn up along the terrace which ran around
the Baranof Hill, and next to them were the men of the United States
Infantry.[22] The ensign of Russia was lowered, the flag of the United
States raised to the accompaniment of the salutes from the batteries and
of the guns of the ships in the harbor.[23] The few words of the
ceremony of transfer were spoken, and Alaska became a possession of the
United States.

Most of the Russian residents went back to their native land as soon as
they were able to do so, but some remained to cast their lot in the land
that had so long been their home.[24] Among those who remained are the
Kashavaroffs, the Kostromitinoffs, the Bolshanins, the Shutzoffs, and
others, whose descendants now live in Alaska.

The commanding officer of the American troops, Gen. Jefferson C. Davis,
made his headquarters in the building on the hill that had been so long
the residence of the Russian off