Lincoln St ends at this 113-acre park, Alaska’s smallest national park, at the site where the Tlingits were finally defeated by the Russians in 1804.
Totem Trail leads you one mile past 18 totems first displayed at the 1904 Louisiana Exposition in St Louis and then moved to the park. It is these intriguing totems, standing in a beautiful rainforest setting by the sea and often enveloped in mist, that have become synonymous with the national park and even the city itself.
Eventually you arrive at the site of the Tlingit fort near Indian River, where its outline can still be seen. You can either explore the trail as a self-guided tour or join a ranger-led ‘Battle Walk.’
The visitors center displays Russian and indigenous artifacts, and a 12-minute video in the theater provides an overview of the Tlingit and Russian battle. You can also dial into a cell phone tour that will guide you through the park and center.
Here, the Tlingits defended their wooden fort for a week.The Russians’ cannons did little damage to the walls of the Tlingit fort and, when the Russian soldiers stormed the structure with the help of Aleuts, they were repulsed in a bloody battle. It was only when the Tlingits ran out of gunpowder and flint, and slipped away at night, that the Russians were able to enter the deserted fort.
