Fort Tongass (Tongass Island, Alaska Panhandle, Alaska)
Tongass Island, Alaska Panhandle · Alaska · Post-Alaska Purchase
History & Significance
Fort Tongass was the first U.S. Army base in Alaska, garrisoned by Company E, 2nd U.S. Artillery under Captain Charles H. Peirce, established immediately after the 1867 U.S. acquisition of the territory. When Alaska became a customs district in 1868, a deputy collector was stationed at Fort Tongass to intercept prospectors bound for British Columbia's Stikine River goldfields, with a revenue cutter supporting operations.
In 1868, Military District Commander Jefferson C. Davis visited the fort by ship and requested an armed steamer for supply; USS Cyane was dispatched to Sitka in 1869 for that purpose. A newspaper titled the Tongass Wa-Wa was published at the fort in 1869.
By 1870, the Army determined that supplying multiple coastal outposts proved too costly, so Kodiak, Wrangell, and Tongass were deactivated on October 7, 1870, with resources concentrated on Sitka, though a customs official remained on site. The location witnessed a historical grievance in 1899 when a Tlingit totem pole was removed and later became the subject of a legal dispute. After the fort closed, the name became current for the native village that remained.
Key Facts
Map
View larger map ↗ · © OpenStreetMap contributors
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Tongass
- https://coastview.org/2024/12/14/ketchikan-revillagigedo-island/
- https://coastview.org/2023/12/04/tongass-island-nakat-bay/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongass_Island