Sitka was first inhabited by the Tlingit people and is recognized as the heart of Russian influence in Alaska. The Russians arrived by 1741 and in 1804 attacked a Tlingit fort. The regionÕs most famous battle eventually led to the creation of Sitka National Historical Park. Originally established as New Archangel, Sitka became the capital of Russian America in 1808. When Russia sold Alaska to the United States on October 18, 1867, the transfer ceremony took place on SitkaÕs Castle Hill.
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English, Tlingit, and Russian