Pioneering Spirit: The Sisters of Providence in Alaska

A Place of Promise and Peril
and assum ed jurisdiction of the territory.
Although it enjoyed greater popularity than the
army, an increasing white population clamored
for civil government.
The American acquisition of Alaska encouraged
speculators. As the center of American activity,
Sitka quickly developed. In 1870 the Alaska Commercial
Company acquired a twenty-year lease to
hunt seals in the Pribilof Islands, and quickly
became the primary force in the territory. It provided
the few social services that existed, and
encouraged the development of mining in the
interior. Critics charged the com pany with
obstructing the drive for self-government for its
own economic ends, but a congressional committee
decided that the accusations were unfounded.
During the 1870s, the growth of the mining and
cannery industries led to the creation of the first
civil government in 1884.
But the limited home rule granted by the federal
government made little impact on Alaska. Social
order was a luxury on the remote frontier, one
that took a long time to develop. After 1884, what
one historian described as "a makeshift government"
assum ed nominal control of the territory.
Economic opportunities continued to foster
gradual growth of the Alaskan population, but
the territory needed a catalyst to move forward.
The discovery of gold provided ample impetus.
People flocked to Alaskan shores, and their
presence increased the need for organized
government and social services. The gold rushes
of the turn of the twentieth century set the stage
for the enhance of the Sisters of Providence.
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