| "Where
the Eagles' Wings Are" Ketchikan reportedly derives its name from the native term “Katch Kanna,” which roughly translates to “spread wings of a thundering eagle” due to the abundance of eagles in the area. Tongass and Cape Fox Tlingits were the area’s first inhabitants. They used the banks of Ketchikan Creek as a fish camp.
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Some of Ketchikan's points of interest
include:
• Tongass Historical Museum
• Dolly's House
• The Saxman
• Totem Bight and the Totem Heritage Center
• Art and Craft Galleries and Shops
• Additional Activity Information
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The history of Ketchikan’s white settlement began in 1883, when a man named Snow established a salmon saltery. Two years later, a businessman from Portland, Oregon, hired Mike Martin to investigate the possibility of building a salmon cannery on the banks of Ketchikan Creek. The cannery opened in 1886. By the early 20th century, Martin and the cannery’s manager, George Clark, opened a saltery and a general store. The fishing trade flourished and with a population of 800, the town incorporated in 1900.
For centruries, people have traveled the Inside
Passage and shared in the heritage of the Native people here;
the skill and artistry of the ancient Tlingit, Tsimshian and
Haida craftsmen. The theatrical recreation of timeless legend
is very memorable, as are the handwoven Chilkat quilts. The
pride and culture of old live on in Ketchikan's modern day
residents.
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 Most historians are of the opinion that,
if there were one person who initiated a changing point in the
history of Ketchikan, that person would be Mike Martin. Martin,
a footloose Irishman, arrived in Ketchikan Creek in 1885. Legend
has it that, at the time, Martin was scouting for sites to set
up canneries, having been sent by the Oregon canning industry.
Martin bought a campsite from a Kwakiutl Indian named Paper-Nose
Charlie. It is debated today how Charlie, a Flathead Indian
from Canada, could sell the Tlingit Indians' traditional summer
camp to a white settler. The U.S. District Court incorporated
the town's boundaries in 1900. |
Mike Martin, and those
who followed him, had great plans for the Ketchikan,
Alaska area. In addition to setting up a huge salmon packing
and canning industry, Ketchikan Creek was considered for setting
up a mechanical source of power. Here was a deepwater port,
and a chance to mine the precious ores scattered over the
region. Meanwhile, great steamships packed with adventurers,
settlers and prospectors of every kind found their way up
the coast to Ketchikan, Alaska. Martin and his partner soon
set up a saltery near Ketchikan Creek in the early part of
1890. The first trading post was also constructed there. Martin
was distinguished as the first mayor of the city, having been
elected from the one hundred and three property-owning voters
in 1900. The first Common Council met in their own homes,
the Red Men fraternal hall, or in Martin's Sideboard Saloon.
In this way, Ketchikan grew quickly. Many families
cut their way into the forest to build homes. The citizenry
hired police. The working girls from the north end of town
were moved to the south of Ketchikan Creek, to the precinct
which was, for the next fifty years, the Creek Street brothel
area. When Ketchikan passed the Bone Dry Law in 1917, Creek
Street's layout and connections became a desired outlet for
trapdoor liquor deliveries and riotous consumption.
Ketchikan was an important trading community when mining began in the late 1890s. After mining declined, the fishing and timber industries began to grow. Ketchikan Spruce Mills was established in the early 1900s and in 1954, the Ketchikan Pulp Mill was completed, providing more jobs in and around town. Today, the logging industry has nearly disappeared with the closing of the pulp mill in 1997, prompting the community to turn to another economic mainstay, tourism. |
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