Going down to the entrance to the native town, or "Ranche," there is a choice of two streets, one in front of the houses along the water front, the other at the rear. The one at the front is preferable. The houses are built of lumber and in general are constructed by the native workmen, who have been instructed at the mission school, at which there is an excellent manual training department. The great tribal houses of former days have long since disappeared. The older houses were named by the natives much as were the inns of old England; the _Gooch-haet_, or wolf house; the _Tahn-haet_, or sea-lion house; the _Kahse-haet_, or cow house, and others, named for different animals. The _Kahse-haet_ was named from the head of a cow being brought there from a wreck off the coast in which the animal was drowned. Formerly there were many canoes along the water front--as many as 150 at a time being often seen, but now their place is occupied by gas boats--generally built by the owners and the engines installed by them. The loss in the picturesque is partly compensated by the gain in utility, but the native canoe was a wonder of marine architecture, cut from a single log and shaped with fire and adzed into elegant lines. An occasional specimen is sometimes yet to be seen on the beach or carefully covered from the weather in some sheltered and secluded cove. There were no great house totem poles in front of the houses as there are at Wrangell, Kasaan and elsewhere. There were some mortuary columns near the grave houses which formerly stood on the ridge back of the village, but these have long been covered by the dense undergrowth which sprang up in recent years. In this village have lived some interesting and strong characters. Annahootz and Katlean both figured boldly in the history of the town, and Sitka Jack was noted for his great potlatch held in 1877, when he gave a housewarming at which he presented to his visitors over 500 blankets, not to mention the hoochinoo and whiskey which flowed liberally for all. He beggared himself by the feast, but his reputation was established above reproach for the rest of life. Princess Tom was another celebrity, whose fame was founded on her wealth which was estimated at ten thousand dollars, and which was acquired by skill in basket making and shrewdness in dealing in native manufactures on which she was a connoisseur--going out to the villages in her long canoe to gather the stock of baskets, bracelets, carved dishes, masks, dance hats, etc., which she disposed of to advantage upon her return to Sitka. Chief Tlan Tech was one of the prominent citizens and frequently might have been seen on the street in his frock coat, tall hat, with cane and kid gloves, cutting quite a dash. His English vocabulary was very limited and he was accustomed for many years to fly the Russian flag over his canoe when he went out to a neighboring village for a potlatch.