Quarto ca. 30.5 х 20.3 (12 ½ x 8 in). 1 p. Black ink on wove paper. Wax seal residue in the lower left corner. Fold marks, but overall very good.

A historically important, original autograph liquor license granted and signed by the first Mayor of Sitka, William S. Dodge, just a year after the US purchased Alaska from Russia and only a few months before the Act of Congress of 27 July 1868 prohibited the sale and import of alcohol to the inhabitants of the territory.

Alaskan Natives were introduced to hard liquor in the early 1800s by Russian traders, who used alcohol both as a trade item and to gain advantages during bartering. By 1867, when the territory was purchased by the US, alcohol abuse was considered one of the most significant problems in Alaska. As a result, in 1868, the US Congress adopted the Customs Act, which, among other things, prohibited the sale and import of liquor. Though largely ineffective, the official ban on alcohol was exercised until 1899, when the Congress repealed all prohibition laws and again enacted the ban in 1917. Fifteen years later, Territorial Governor George A. Parks signed the bill finally annuling the bone dry law in Alaska.

Dated 7 March 1868, this extremely rare, historically important liquor license is both one of the first and last alcohol certificates issued in Alaska before the adoption of the booze prohibition law.

The certificate is signed by William S. Dodge, who “came to Sitka as special treasury agent in the summer of 1867 and opened the customs office. He served as the town’s first mayor under the consent government and played an important part in getting the town started under the American flag.” (Daily Sitka Sentinel. 20 September 1988. P. 5) Alaska’s first-ever Collector of Customs (1867-1868), Dodge invested in a brewery business and financed a newspaper. He also bought real estate, at least eight parcels of land and buildings, ranging from dwellings to business properties.

In the document’s text, William S. Dodge grants S.W. English the right to carry one of the first wholesale liquor businesses in Alaska from 1 February 1868 to 31 March 1868. Importantly, Sitka’s first Mayor also mentions the amended version of the second American revenue bill that imposed an increased tax of 5% on incomes between $600 and $5,000. Dodge states that S.W. English has officially paid all the License fees levied by the act, adding that the license must be renewed after 31 March or “it will be null and void.”

Overall, a historically important, one of the first manuscript liquor licenses signed by the first Mayor of Sitka just a year after the US purchased Alaska from Russia and only a few months before the Act of Congress of 27 July 1868 prohibited the sale and import of alcohol to the inhabitants of the territory.

The text of the certificate (original spelling and punctuation preserved):

“Whereas S. W. English has in pursuance of and in conformity with an act entitled an Act for the Increase of Revenue from Licenses for the City of Sitka, made application to me as Mayor for a License for the wholesale of Liquors, and having exhibited to the certification of the City Treasurer, that he has paid the License fee for the same for one month from the 1st day of February 1868 to the 31st day of March 1868.

Now therefore, be it known, that I do hereby grant a License to the said S. W. English to carry on the business above specificed, and to the extent specified in conformity with law for the period of one month dated from the 1st day of February 1868 to the 31st day of March, 1868. At which time this License must be renewed or it will be null and void.”