Phillip McKay, a Tsimshian Christian whose Indian name was Clah, was the first teacher at Fort Wrangel. He started a school for 30 children in one of the fort buildings which had been used as a dance hall. McKay arrived in Fort Wrangel in 1876 with his brother and a few friends in search of work cutting fire wood. He is credited with being the first missionary for the Presbyterian Church at Fort Wrangel. By 1877 Clah had already started the school and had already begun preaching the Christian Gospel to the native people in the area. Clah became ill with tuberculosis that winter and died.