Ripinski, Solomon

Association: Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men's Igloo

Role: Charter Member

Biography

Colonel Solomon Ripinski was a charter member of the Juneau Men's Igloo of the Pioneers of Alaska.

Ripinski was born on April 15 in Rypin, Poland. He received a European education and attended several military schools where he studied drafting and developed considerable skill in sketching, drawing, and painting.

He graduated with the rank of second lieutenant of cavalry. Because he was too young to enter service immediately, he traveled through many of Europe's principal cities before immigrating to the United States.

After arriving in America, he traveled through the eastern and southern states before settling in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he engaged in merchandising. He later moved to Sacramento, California, where he opened an art studio and produced several oil paintings.

In 1878, he relocated to Salem, Oregon, where he became active in the Oregon State Militia and quickly rose to the rank of colonel. That same year he received first prize from the Oregon State Fair Association and the Mechanics Fair in Portland for an emblematic Masonic chart.

During the administration of Governor W. W. Thayer, he was appointed aide-de-camp on the governor’s staff with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Ripinski was also active in fraternal organizations, serving as a High Free Mason, a Sir Past Chancellor Commander of the Knights of Pythias, and later as a member of the Arctic Brotherhood.

Ripinski came to Alaska in 1884 with the noted Arctic explorer Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka. Under Attorney General Haskett, he was appointed a clerk and, in 1885, was commissioned to establish a United States Government school in western Alaska. After being transferred from Unalaska to Chilkat, he served as principal of the government school there for one term.

He later founded and owned the townsite of Haines Mission. From 1887 to 1890, he was associated with the Pyramid Harbor salmon cannery, and in 1890, he opened a general merchandise store in Chilkat, Alaska.

In recognition of his work in the region, one of the nearby mountains was named for him. Mount Ripinsky, overlooking the Haines area, rises to an elevation of approximately 3,680 feet.

Sources

• Biographies of Alaska-Yukon Pioneers 1850–1950, Volume 1, pp. 270–272, Ed Ferrell