Tongass Island
| Tongass Island | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
| Geographical location | 54 ° 46 ′ N , 130 ° 44 ′ W | |
|
||
Tongass Island , formerly also Tongas Island , is an island belonging to the United States of America on the southern tip of the Alaska Panhandle , near the border with Canada . On the island was Fort Tongass , which was built shortly after the Alaska Purchase , the acquisition of Alaska by the United States of Russia , as a customs post for travelers traveling from British Columbia to the Stikine River . This trade route was very important during the Cassiar Gold Rush in the 1870s.
The island is located west of Port Tangass in Nakat Bay, near the Dixon Entrance, and is 0.8 miles in length. The name "Kut-tuk-wah", which was borrowed from one of the languages of the indigenous people of Alaska , was initially in use . The name Tongass Island has been in use since 1891.
Tongass Island is the place of origin of the Seattle Totem Pole , the reproduction of which, made in 1939/1940, can still be seen in Pioneer Square in Seattle , Washington . Seattle merchants on an Alaska expedition stole it from a Tlingit village on the island in September 1899 . The totem pole was erected in Seattle on October 18, 1899, the anniversary of the Alaska Purchase.
Single receipts
- ↑ Aldona Jonaitis: Discovering Totem Poles . University of Washington Press, Seattle 2012, ISBN 978-0-295-99187-0 , pp. 3-6.