 |
|||||||
|
|
Kenai History
Kenai
is one of the oldest communities in Alaska with evidence of prehistoric
people pushing the known human occupation of this area back to about 8,000
B.C. Kenai's original inhabitants, the Dena'ina, a tribe of Athabaskan Indians,
and later the Russians and Americans, all made the mouth of the Kenai River
the center of their presence on the peninsula.
In 1791, Russian fur traders landed near the mouth of the Kenai River and proceeded to establish a post close to the Dena'ina Athabascan Indian Village, Skitok. Kenai's first white settlement dates to 1791 when Russians, primarily after furs, established Fort St. Nicholas (Nikolaevsk Redoubt) on the bluff overlooking Cook Inlet and the mouth of the Kenai River. It was located near the Tanaina (Dena'ina) Athabascan Indian village of Shukituk. The town of Kenai at the mouth of the Kenai River on the Cook Inlet shore of the Kenai Peninsula began in 1791 as Redoubt St. Nicholas, a fortified trading post of the Lebedef-Lastochkin Company which later consolidated with the Shelikof interests to become a part of the Russian-American Company. The first colonization by white men at what is now Kenai was far from tranquil. The natives were victimized repeatedly by the rough-cut adventurers. Kidnapping, assault, rape, torture and murder finally earned the post foreman a recall to Siberia to stand trial. Alexander Baranov, company manager at Kodiak, soothed relations by marrying a chief's daughter from the Kenai area. Shortly after establishing Kodiak as a trading center in 1784, the colonizing Russians began to look for other places where similar communities could be set up as "controls" for area rule. Kenai was the first of these "controls." In 1791, Russia built Fort St. Nicholas (also known as Saint Nicholas Redoubt) in the midst of an Athabascan Dena'ina community near the present site of Kenai. This became the Russians' second permanent settlement in Alaska. The Dena'ina hunted, fished, farmed, and trapped in this area but the Russians were only interested in the fur trade. A Russian Orthodox missionary, Father Juvenaly, brought Christianity to Kenai in 1795, four years after the post was founded. He left to carry his message across Cook Inlet but was killed by the Iliamna Indians. So it fell to visiting priests and lay persons to keep the religion alive in Kenai until 1844 when the church assigned Father Nicolas as the community's first resident priest. Alaska Purchase Alaska was purchased by the United States from Russia in 1876 for $7.2 million. The next year, an American company, later reorganized as the Alaska Commercial Company, bought the assets of the Russian American Company, including the post at Kenai. Shortly after the purchase, the station became Fort Kenay when American troops landed there on April 17, 1869 to establish the outpost. A post office soon followed and a village grew up around it. Choosing not to use Russian buildings, they put up 11 of their own hand-hewn spruce. It was manned by Company F of the 2nd Artillery under the command of Brevet Captain John McGilroy and, later, under Lt. M. Crawford. It was evacuated, by the military on September 18, 1870 after a desultory occupation of only 17 months. The soldiers were relocated to put down Indian uprising in the American west. Traders in the 1890s Small independent hunters and traders often acted as intermediaries between Native hunters and the established trading stations operated by the Alaska Commercial and the Western Fur and Trading companies on the Kenai Peninsula, on Kodiak Island and at Nuchek. Similar practices supported Native hunters on Cook Inlet and throughout the Dena'ina region of southwestern Alaska. Porter reported in the 1890 census that "the scattered white traders were lavishly supported with ‘outfits', comfortable houses, and native hunting parties, all on long credit, in order to secure their trade and custom." On the outer coast of the Kenai Peninsula, Frank Lowell maintained a local hunting and trading network that was for many years affiliated with the Alaska Commercial Company's English Bay station. In 1911 Benjamin L. Johnson, a USGS surveyor, mentioned a second independent trader, a man he only referred to as Kimball, who "handled furs for the Natives..." and "had several trading stores here." Lowell and his extensive family traded and sold furs on the coast for approximately fifteen years. Kenai Fjords - Lowell Bay Landing 
In 1898 Walter Mendenhall, USGS geologist, met a group of Natives at the
head of Resurrection Bay who were planting potatoes and other vegetables.
These people were probably members of the Lowell family. Mendenhall noted
four or five houses along the bay. The Lowells provided Mendenhall with
a small boat to reach the head of the bay, approximately four miles north
of where they docked a steamer ship.
Frank Lowell worked as an independent trader and as an Alaska Commercial Company agent. He maintained a long-term relationship with the ACC's English Bay Station. He also worked with Charles Smith at the Western Fur and Trading Company. From 1877 to 1895 if not longer, Lowell kept both personal and business accounts at the English Bay Station. His private accounts reflected a need for a wide range of household supplies in addition to luxury and personal items. These purchases give a glimpse into Lowell's personal life and of the products available on the coast in the late 1800s. Lowell regularly bought silk, guitar strings, children's shoes, cakes of fancy soap, needles, smoking tobacco, tea, sugar, lead, and powder. He also purchased a chinchilla cap, a gold ring, cologne, lace brocade, and teapots. Kenai’s Next Century Kenai continued on as a native village with strong Russian influences to be seen in the church, chapel, school and steam bath house. Even the architecture of the buildings was Russian, consisting of hewn timbers rather than log construction. The present log building at the site today retains the name "Fort Kenay." It was built as an Alaska Centennial project to represent the original American barracks, but obviously is not a true replica. Historic Old Town Kenai features Fort Kenay, a replica of the Russian Orthodox School built in 1900. The new fort was constructed in 1967 in celebration of the Alaska purchase from the Russians 100 years earlier. It stands where the original fort was built in 1869, which also was the site of an earlier Russian fort (1791). The present Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church was completed and dedicated in 1895 and the small lot chapel nearby built about 1906. When oil was struck in the nearby Swanson River country on July 19, 1957 Kenai began to boom. Its population in 1960 was 778. Today the population is more than 7,000. 
Chronology
Pre-1700s Dena'ina Indian village of Skitok (pronounced shkiTUK from the Dena'lina word Shk'ituk't), which translates as "where we slide down," existed at the site of modern Kenai. 1778 Captain Cook sailed up Cook Inlet looking for the Northwest Passage from Pacific to the Atlantic. 1791 First colonization of Kenai by Russian fur traders. Arrival sometime between Aug. 20 and Aug. 31 (old style) refers to the Julian calendar, which Russia followed at the time. Converting to the Gregorian calendar, which we follow today, would make the founding of Kenai on or about Sept. 2 through Sept. 12. Approximately 300 inhabitants resided in Kenai at that time. In a letter to the Lebedev Company, it was advised that Grigorii Konovalov and company stop at Kasilof on Aug. 20, 1791 (old style calendar), and then proceed to the mouth of the Kenai River, where they established Nikolaevsk Redoubt. 1792 Kenai became headquarters for the Cook Intet Region for trade in the fish and furs. 1795 Father Juvenaly brought Christianity to Kenai (Russian Orthodox). 1841 The Russian American Company built a chapel in Kenai and a company representative led prayers until Kenai's first resident priest was assigned to take charge in 1844 ( Father Nicholas (Igumen Nicholai). 1867 The United States of America purchased Alaska from for $7,200,000. 1868-70 U.S. military established a fort at the present Orthodox Church. First Lt. John McGilvray was in charge. 1868 The Hutchinson, Kohl & Company of San Francisco, later reorganized as the Alaska Commercial Company, bought the assets of the Russian American Company, including the post at Kenai. They continued the fur trade of the Russian American Company. 1888 First cannery was built in Kenai by the Northern Packing Company. The Alaska Commercial Company had operated a small saltery at Kenai in 1878. 1888 Alexander King discovers gold on Kenai Peninsula. 1896 The church was dedicated and Father Bortnovsky was the first priest in the new church in Kenai. 1899 Kenai's first post office brought regular service to the area. 1906 The current chapel (shrine) was built as a tribute to Father Nicholas, which covers his grave and those of two church workers/members. 1906-08 New shipping companies made Kenai a regular port of call. One was Alaska Commercial Company. 1912 The libby Company Cannery was built at this time. 1913 The Bureau of Education built a school in the early 1900s which later became a part of the Alaska Territorial School Systems. The sit is now occupied by the Toyan Apartments in Old Town. 1918 Sailing ships brought in supplies each spring and hauled out the season's salmon pack each year after salmon fishing season terminated. The three early canneries in Kenai were the Northern Packing Company (built in 1888), the Pacific Packing and Navigation Company (originally built by the Pacific Steam Whaling Company in 1897) and the Libby, McNeil & Libby Company (built in 1912) 1930s Due to the Depression, on cannery, Northwest Company (site of City Dock area), closed its doors. This was also the end of sailing ships to this area. 1940s After World War II, homesteading rekindled Kenai's growth. 1949 The Kenai Civic League was formed to secure a new school for Kenai and to get title to the old school prospectus on Cook Avenue. Both came about in 1950-51. 1950 The new school (across from the present Kenai Carr's Mall) was built and title Cook Avenue School was signed over to the Kenai Civic League. 1954 The Kenai Library (on Main Street site of present preschool) was constructed with donated labor and supplies. 1954 In August, a federal land auction was held in Kenai so those not holding title to their lands could do so. The land was sold at appraised value or to the highest bidder, hence the small parcels of land in Old Town. 1957 In July, oil was discovered at Swanson River, which began a period of great economic growth of Kenai and a large population increase. 1956-57 Kenai saw its first pavement--the Kenai Spur through Kenai to the Army base in Kenai. 1959 ALASKA BECOMES THE 49th STATE.
|
||||||
| This site developed by Philip R. Gantt ©
2004-2006, Kenai River Professional Guide Association |
|||||||
