Into Alaska - Alaska and Points North: Tips and Tales from the Road - page 79

Haines
It was a cool and misty morning as we pulled into Haines. Low-lying fog drifted in an out of
the bays, softening the angularity of steep slopes sweeping up from the tiny town beneath.
We found breakfast by our usual method - look for pick-up trucks. The café we found is a
restaurant by day but a bar by night. Up since 4:45, we were starved. Poached eggs, corned
beef hash and biscuit - $12. Only downside was the mosquitoes - the café was full of them.
Apparently there had been a big 4 th of July bash in the “bar” the night before. Doors wide
open, dancing spilling out onto the streets. Wish we'd been there!
Situated on the Lynn Canal, back-dropped by towering, snow-clad peaks, Haines is a pretty
little town with some interesting history. In 1902 an ongoing dispute between Canada and
the US created the rationale for building Alaska's first permanent army post. Called Fort
William H Seward, it was named for the US Secretary of State who organized the purchase
of Alaska from the Russians in 1867. Bet they regret that. The Russians I mean.
According to some of the commentary I read in the museums along the way, it seems neither
Russia nor the US really wanted Alaska. Both saw it as a drain on their resources and too far
away from either seat of power to be of any use, ever.
Both governments had made some compromises in Europe which somehow led both parties
to believe they owed the other something. Russia believed the US actually wanted Alaska
and that they should sell it to them as a kind of “thank you.” The US seemed to think they
owed it to Russia to take it off their hands. At least that is how it went down in the comment-
aries I was reading.
In any event, when the US bought Alaska they did not treat it like an asset. They ignored
it, leaving its management to the church who treated it like a mission post and the Seattle
businessmen who milked it to make fortunes in fishing and transporting gold-fevered pro-
spectors north.