Sitka's location was originally settled by the Tlingit people over 10,000
years ago. The Russians settled Old Sitka in 1799 under the name Redoubt Saint
Michael. The governor of Russian America,
Alexandr Baranov, arrived under the auspices of the Russian-American Company, a
colonial trading company chartered by Tsar Paul I. In 1802, Tlingit warriors
"clad in animal-headed helmets and armour" destroyed the original
establishment, killing 24 Russians and 200 Aleuts, enslaving the rest, with
only a few managing to escape. Baranov was forced to levy 10,000 rubles in
ransom for the safe return of the surviving settlers
