DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 27 



The last of these regal festivities was on the 18th of October, 1867, 

 in honor of the transfer on that day of the Territory to the United 

 States. That night, a grand ball and dinner were given to the distin- 

 guished officials and naval officers of the United States and Eussia who 

 were present at the ceremonies, followed by an illumination and fire- 

 WOrkS. ■ 11 -/IK 



After the transfer this historic building was occasionally occupied by 

 American officials until, gradually falling into decay, it was abandoned. 

 Its portable furniture, lamps, brass chandeliers, and even the great, 

 quaint hinges on its doors, were stolen. Tourists cut out and carried 

 away its carved railings, and town boys amused themselves by throwing 

 stones through its windows. The doors and sash were boldly carried 

 off to do service in other habitations, and when I first saw the building 

 in 1879, many of its windows and doors were gone, and the floor of 

 the grand saloon covered with rubbish. It remained, however, until 

 the last a favorite resort for tourists from the steamers, and an oppor- 

 tunity to dance in the grand saloon was greatly prized. In late years 

 added interest has been given to the building by speaking of it as 

 haunted by the ghost of a beautiful Eussian lady, the daughter of a 

 former governor, who disappeared from the ballroom on her wedding 

 night, and was found dead in one of the smaller drawing-rooms. On 

 the anniversary of her wedding night, and again on Easter night, clad 

 in her wedding garments and wringing her jeweled hands, her spirit is 

 said to glide from room to room, leaving the perfume of wild flowers 



behind her. 



In 1893 the Government expended $14,000 in repairing the castle for 

 the uses of the United States district court. At 2 o'clock on the morn- 

 ing of March 17, 1894, flames were seen issuing from the building, and 

 in four hours the most noted landmark and historic building of Sitka 

 was a heap of ashes. 



With the erection of the first governor's residence and fort in 1804-5 

 the tongue of land at the base of the fortified rock was gradually 

 cleared of trees and stumps and a commencement made in the building 

 of the village. From time to time several large apartment houses 

 or flats were erected for the use of the employees of the company. 

 There was special activity in the erection of large public buildings 

 during the time that Count Eezanof was governor. Some of these log 

 buildings were 150 by 80 feet in size, and from two to three stories 

 high, with large attics under the roof. A heavy stockade was erected 

 around the whole village, with fortified blockhouses at the angles. 

 Upon the removal of the United States troops in 1877, the natives, 

 believing that the country had been abandoned by the Government, 

 arose in 1877, tore down the stockade, and would have murdered the 

 white inhabitants but for the timely arrival of a British gunboat. 



A small portion of the stockade remains in the rear of the governor's 

 garden, and also two of the blockhouses. 



