History of Alaska - Part 1

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A Brief History of AlaskaJames L Bradley - Kanook

Tlingit Nation, Raven Moiety, Dog Salmon Clan

Part One

The Russians

The European history of Alaska begins with the myth of Atlantis in the

Atlantic, and the myth of Gama land in the Pacific, a myth that was supported

in the reality of some by the remnants of some South Sea Islands and by the

fact that at the close of 18th century little was known about the North Pacific. Sir

Francis Drake1, having reached a undisclosed point north of San Francisco and

the Russians going eastward from Siberia reaching the Sea of Okhotsk, caused

tales and rumors about Gama land and the fabled Straits of Anian (known to the

English as the Northwest Passage), supported in fact by information from thevoyage of Juan de Fuca..

Native tradition in Southeast Alaska sometimes relates to these stories and

tales as the origination of the people as a significant part of their history. There

is an old story that relates the coming of strange people from the western

ocean, which had among them two sisters. They are said to have landed on

Dall Island where the sisters met and married men whose people had migrated

down the rivers from the interior of North America. One sister went with her

new family to the Queen Charlotte Islands, her children said to have multiplied

becoming the Haida Nation. The other sister and her family settled on Prince of

Wales Island, where she became the ancestor (or) ancestress Mother of the

Tlingit Nation23.

Regardless of myth or no myth, in the days of Peter

the Great4 this land was believed to have existed among a

great many sailors of Northern Europe. It is generally

believed that this mythical land was often discussed

among the sailors and as time went on the desire to

discover this new land grew far beyond just common

1 June 17th, 15792 It is thought that the Tlingit have inhabited for over 11,000 years, artifacts in Angoon have been found that have carbondated back 9,300 years3 from Vancouver Island north to Cross Sound Tlingits were known as the fiercest and bloodiest of all thenative peoples on the west coast of America4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Russia#Peter_the_Great

A Brief History of Alaska Page 1
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boarding house talk, and eventually made its way to the ears of Peter the

Great. Peter at the time was working (under one of his many disguises) as a

common labor on the docks in Europe and having participated in these

discussions from time to- time generated a great interest in the Gama Land.

It was during this time that Peter made the acquaintance of

many Danish sailors, one being Vitus Jonassen Bering (Ivan

Ivanovich] who later was to join the Russian Navy in 1703.

Peter understood the value of finding this Gama-Land,

knowing that Siberia was always laboring under a great many

difficulties in providing for its population, and calculated that if

he was to find this mythical land he would be able to supply food and other

materials that were needed desperately in Siberia. He also realized that this

discovery would enhance the dominion of Russia making it possible for his

country to be as great on the sea, as it was on land.

Many years were to pass before Peters grand plan was to bear fruit and it

wasnt until 1724 that he endorsed an order5 to explore east of Siberia but, as a

matter of record it wasnt till after Peter the Greats death on January 28 th, 1725

that Vitus Bering was to begin his quest for Gama Land under the order of

Peters successor Catherine the First6 7. Vitus chose for his assistants, Alexei

Chirikov, a navy lieutenant and Martin Petrovich Spanberg also a lieutenant in

the Russian Navy.

Vitus under rule of the government8 journeyed overland to Okhotsk9, crossed

to Kamchatka were he build the ship Sviatoi Gavriil (St Gabriel). On this ship on

July 13th, 1728 he sailed from Kamchatka River northeast (usually in sight of

land). On August 11th he sighted land to the east and named it St Lawrence

5 Characteristically, when handing over the directions to Admiral Pyotr Apraksin for Bering, Peter I was quoted as saying:"Once we have protected our Fatherland from enemies, we should bring it glory through the arts and sciences. In our searchfor such a route, we will be more successful than the Dutch and the English, who have already made numerous attempts toreach the American coast."6Catherine I (In Russian: I ) (April 15,1684 May 17,1727), the second wife ofPeter the Great,reigned as Empress ofRussiafrom1725until her death. She also functioned as co-ruler with her husband from 1724 until

his death early in the next year7 In 1727, the Admiralty decided to send another exploration expedition to be commanded by navigator Ivan Fyodorov andland surveyor Mikhail Gvozdev, who in August of 1732 crossed the Bering Strait, discovered the Diomede Islands andapproached Alaska in the vicinity of Prince of Wales Cape. The expedition reported that what they had discovered was "notan island but a far greater portion of land... a landmass."8Peter II(Russian: II orPyotr II Alekseyevich) (October 23,1715 January 29,1730) wasEmperorofRussiafrom1727until his death. He was the only son ofTsarevichAlexei Petrovich, son ofPeter I of Russiaby his firstEmpress consortEudoxia Lopukhina, andPrincess Charlotte of Brunswick-Wolfenbttel, a sister-in-law ofCharles VI,Holy Roman Emperor. He was also the only male-line grandson ofPeter the Great.9 First Russian settlement in the Russian Far East, located at the mouth of the Okhotsk River on the Sea of Okhotsk, it wasestablished in 1647, who had for a governor at the beginning of Vitus trips Anton de Vieira, a Portuguese Jew

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Island (after a brief exploration), going onto the northeast he passed through

the strait (later named for him) past the Diomede islands (previously

documented by Semyon Ivanovice Dezhnev in 1648), and up into the Arctic

Ocean. Upon reaching North 67 degrees and 18 minutes, he decided that he

had passed the extreme eastern point of the Asia coast; turning back he

followed the Siberian coast reaching the mouth of the Kamchatka River on

September 2nd 1728 completing his first voyage of the Pacific in fifty-one days.

The following year (spring-1729) he a made a fruitless trip eastward from the

mainland, having traveled eastward for 100 miles and finding nothing he

returned to Okhotsk from where he begin his overland trip to St Petersburg.

Bering and his family returned to St Petersburg reaching the capital on March

31st, 1730 after a total absence of five-years. Unfortunately during the long trip

across Siberia Bering became very ill and almost perished, five of his children

did not survive the trip. On his return to St Petersburg he received a

commission to commence with a further expedition to the east, and on his

return to Okhotsk in 1735 had local craftsman Makar Rogachev and Andrey

Kozmin build him two vessels, the Sviatoi Piotr(St Peter) and Sviatoi Pavel (St

Paul).

While he was absent on his first voyage, Afanasius Shestakov (a Cossack

officer of eastern Siberia) presented to the government a plan for the

subjugation of the Chukchee people10. He was given permission to make the

attempt with the Russian government giving him forces for the enslavement

of the local population. On Shestakofs return to Siberia, he equipped two

expeditions, one by the land and one by sea. The one by land was led by him,

Afanasium Shestakov and the one by sea by Captain Pavlutskyh, with a total

troop strength of over 400 soldiers. In Okhotsk, Shestakov had two ships built

for his campaign to sail up and engage the Koryaks in the Penshina and

Gizhiga River areas, to restore the Oklan fortress then join Captain Pavlutsky

and go together fighting the Chuckhis. Shestakovs ship destroyed some

settlements on the Nayahana and Ayakan Rivers, but when they met and fought

the Chuckhis near the Egatche River in 1730 he along with 31 of him men

were killed and the remaining contingent disbanded. Shestakovs other ship,

the Vostochnyi Gavril, sailed to Kamchatka where it was wrecked in a storm.

10 The first to present a suitable version about the conquest of Siberia to the Empire was a German historian G.F.Mller, thehead of the scientific staff of Bering's second Kamchatka expedition.



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The ship Lev and its crew were destroyed by the Koryaks at the mouth of

the Yama River. The transport ship Fortuna managed to carry equipment and

food to Bosheretsk and sail to explore the Kurili Islands, the fourth ship

Svyatoi Gavril did not find the Shantarski Islands, returned to Kamchatka and

spent the winter in Bosheretsk. The next year it moved to Nizhne-Kamchatsk

with the task of conveying supplementary forces to Captain Pavlutsky, as the

great Itelmens uprising had begun.

The uprising began with the destroying of the Nizhne-Kamchatsk fortress,

but since bad weather had prevented the sailing of the Svyatoi Gavril, its

captain ordered the ships troop (77 men) with their mortars and cannons

running to help the Cossacks. They surprised the Itelmens and recaptured the

fortress. After the battle the chief of the Itelmen, Harchin, was taken captive

(with the help of a traitor) and as the Itelmens failed to take the Verkhne-

Kamchatsk fortress by storm, they dispersed into small groups. The war

against the Russians lasted nearly two years, with the Russians taking power

only after receiving help from various sources. Hundreds of Itelmens were

slaughtered, even after imprisonment. The wives and children were captured

and enslaved, whereas in 1729 the list of yassak-paying aborigines consisted

of 2,983 men in 1735 only 2,055 were on the same list.

After some glorious victories over the Chuckhis, Captain Pavlutsky in 1732

went as the leader of 225 Cossacks and hundreds of supplementary forces

made up of local natives, to fight against the Koryaks in the Gizhiga River

region. Numerous settlements were burned and all native people murdered

in some fights Koryaks killed their own families and then defended

themselves up to the last man, but to no avail. When Pavlutsky turned back to

Yakutsk, the Chuckhi and the Koryaks rebelled again.

The next year (1733) a major Merlin, with additional forces, arrived in

Kamchatka and Captain Pavlutsky was sent to assist him. In the meantime,

taking into account the huge distance from Yakutsk to the eastern shores, ruling

of Eastern Siberia was now concentrated in Okhotsk. In the Penzhina Bay area a

new fort was constructed on the banks of the Yama River its sole purpose

being to better control the Koryaks.

Within this political and violent atmosphere Bering began his second

expedition to Kamchatka with instructions in strictest confidence duplicating



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the instructions of the first expedition, and in addition to convert the locals to

Christianity.

In the meantime a expedition using the St Gabriel (Bering's first ship) left

Kamchatka on July 12th, 1732 under the command of Jacob Hens, with Ivan

Fedorof as his lieutenant, and under the navigational command of Michael

Spiridinovich Gvozdef (a geology professional) sailed northeast and upon

reaching the Diomedes (and being opposed by the local natives on Big

Diomede), they landed on Little Diomede where they noted in their log the

sighting of land to the east.

On August 21st, 1732 they sailed eastward toward that land but were unable

to go ashore, skirting the coast they sailed south and because of the shallow

sea had to stand offshore for five days of sailing. Disappointed they sailed back

to Kamchatka; this by all accounts was the first sighting of the land today called

Alaska.

As for Captain Bering who had enemies at the Russian court who disliked

him as a foreigner and were very jealous of him as a commander of a Russian

expedition, his records were questioned, and in truth were not fully acceptable

until they were verified by another foreigner Captain Cook in 1778 politics! In

December, 173211 overcoming these nay-sayers, the Russian Senate approved

the plan for a second expedition, making Bering commander, and assigned

other duties that had been outlined by him earlier. They included the survey of

the Arctic coast and a side expedition to Japan, it was labeled the Great

Northern Expedition. This expedition took over 2-years to organize and

eventually had over 10,000 people in its scope.

The first detachment left St Petersburg in February 173312, with others

following later. Bering now a Captain-Commander and his two previous

assistants, Chirikov and Spanberg promoted to Captain-Lieutenants, along with

a comprehensive scientific core had begun their second exploration.

Bering went to Tobolsk, built a boat for the first Arctic expedition and sent

it down the Irtish River13 to the Arctic coast in May-1734. He then went to

11 17th of April, 1732, orders has been issued by the government it took until December for them to be approved12Anna Ioannovna (Russian: ) (February 7,1693,Moscow- October 28,1740) reigned as DuchessofCourland from 1711 to 1730 and as EmpressofRussiafrom 1730 to 1740.13 a riverinCentral Asia, the chief tributary of the river Ob. Its name means White River. It is actually longer than the Obto their confluence. Irtysh's main affluent isTobol River.

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Yakutsk, built two boats, which sailed down the Lena River14 in June-1735, and

then went on to Okhotsk.

The trip to Okhotsk proved to be a difficult task, where the freight (and there

was plenty of that) was roped up swift mountain streams by the men wading in

very cold rivers or along their banks, packed over divides by horses and finally

floated down the Urak River to Okhotsk. At one time 1,000 men (with another

2,000 involved in different stages for overland transportation) and 4,000 horses

were employed, many of both were drowned and some even freezing to death.

At Okhotsk the expedition for Japan was placed under the command of

Captain-Lieutenant Martin Petrovich Spanberg15.

Bering then (using the ships constructed by the local craftsman, Makar

Rogachev and Andrey Kozmin) left Okhotsk in September-1740 and established,

upon reaching Avacha Bay (Avachinskaya Bay), the settlement of Petropavlovsk

(or Peter and Paul) on the Kamchatka peninsula.

It was from this base of operations that Bering (in command of the St Peter)

led an expedition to North American on June 4th 174116 (Bering was one-month

shy of being 60 years old), accompanied by his deputy, Aleksei Ilyich Chirikov

(38 years old in 1741), in command of the St Paul. The St Peter, Bering's ship

had a crew of seventy-six men including17 Lieutenant Waxel, Shipmaster Khitrof

and the scientist George Wilhelm Steller18. Chirikov (on the St Paul) had in his

command seventy-six men, and Marine Officers Chegatschof and Plautin with

the scientist Louis Delisle de Croyere19.

Sailing eastward together, they were separated during a gale on the night of

the 19th of June. Chirikov sailed in a east-northeasterly direction and it is noted

that on the 15th of July-1741 sighted land near Cape Addington on the west

side of Prince of Wales Island moving slowly northwest he entered a bay on

14 in Siberiais the 10th longestriverin the world and has the 9th largestwatershed. Rising at the height of 1640 mat itssource in the Baikal Mountains15In 1738, Captain Martin Spanberg examined the Kurili Islands. In 1739, Spanberg, in the St. Michael, Walton, in thedouble shallop, the Gabriel and a small yacht, made the voyage to Japan.16

Yelizaveta (Yelisavet) Petrovna (Russian: () ) (December 29,1709- January 5,1762(N.S.);18 December1709-25 December1761(O.S.)), also known as Elizabeth, was an Empress ofRussia(1741 -1762)17Gerhard Friedrich Mller. The German-born Mller, a professor at the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg,who only remained with the task force until 173818Georg Wilhelm Steller (March 10, 1709-November 14,1746) was a Germanbotanist,zoologist,physician andexplorer, who worked inRussiaand present-day Alaska.19

Louis De l'Isle de la Croyre - aFrenchastronomer. 1741 were De l'Isle with the Russian discovererAlexei

Iljitsch Tschirikow on the ship pc. Paulon the way from Kamtschatka toAlaska. On the return journey it died

at the Awatscha bay ofscurvy. It was buried in close proximity toAwatscha.

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the 17th, which is navigator noted at 5715 North Latitude somewhere in the

vicinity of present day Sitka this author finds it interesting that no mention is

made of Mt Edgecombe, albeit their writing never mentioned the numerous

volcanoes on Kamchatka.

Shortly after arriving, Chirikov sent a long-boat ashore with ten men armed

with muskets and small brass cannon, under the command of his mate,

Abraham Dementief after not returning he sent boatswain, Sidor Savalilef with

six men went to recall the first group neither group was ever heard from

again20.

The next day they were approached by the Tlingit and repelled a supposed

planned attack by the locals, leaving shortly (July 27th) after this he remarked

that his only regret about the incident was that he didnt let the natives

approach his ship close enough to capture one of the canoes and their

occupants. After waiting for a few days Chirikov gave up all hope for the return

of his men, and having no other long-boats set sail for Petropaulovsk. Sailing

northwest he sighted high mountains near the entrance to Cook Inlet, turned

south and passed along the east side of Kodiak Island, turned west along the

Alaska Peninsula where on September 4th he again saw land, on September 20th

he dropped anchor in a small bay and met some local inhabitants.

As the trip continued home Chirikov and many of his men suffered the

effects of scurvy, and proceeding with all speed towards Awatscha Bay, missing

the storms that caused Berings eventual death. On October 9th he finally

reached Petropaulovsk, having lost a total of twenty men and had so many of

crew with scurvy that Yelagin, was the only navigating officer able for duty.

Louis Delisle de la Croyere, the astronomer, died when brought on deck in the

fresh air.

Bering sailed on and according to published records on July 16th he sighted

Mt St Elias just 36-hours after Chirikov dropped anchor near Sitka. On the 19th

he was close to the southern point of Kayak Island, (known as Cape St Elias); he

anchored between Kayak Island and Wingham Island where he named Kayak

Island as St Elias Island in honor of the Saint of the day. Steller searched on

20Chevalier de Poletica, Russian Minister at Washington in 1822, in a dispatch to the American Secretary of State, saysthat, in 1789, the Spanish ship San Carlos, commanded by de Aro, found in the latitude fifty-eight and fifty-nine degrees,"Russian establishments to the number of eight (50% of original group) consisting in the whole of twenty families and fourhundred and sixty-two individuals. These were the descendants of the companions of Captain Chirikov, who were supposedtill then to have perished."



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shore for objects of natural history21 and for evidence of human habitation

finding houses containing articles of household use, some of which he took on

board the ship.

Taking on water, Bering turned westward on the 21st (under the protest of

Steller) sailing home a few days later he sighted Kodiak Island sailing on the

eastern side, drifted at night through Douglas Passage, and on August 2nd

discovered and named Tammanoi or Foggy Island (Chirikov Island) as his

officers placed it on their charts. On August 30th they landed on a small island

to bury one of the first sailors to die of scurvy and named the island after him,

Shumagin. On another island they stopped and met some local natives. After

setting the standards of the meeting everything seemed to be going smoothly,

that is until one of the Russian seamen gave a local a drink of brandy. The

native upon tasting the vile liquid, spit it out and made motions that the

invaders where trying to poison them suspicions ran high so Bering (without

taking on fresh water) left in a hurry making sail for home.

They sailed to the westward on September 6th, but the delay of stopping at

Shumagin Island cost them plenty getting caught up in a storm on the 24th

they were driven back to the southeast for a distance of nearly 300 miles. For

seventeen days there were beaten and buffeted by the winds off the south

shore of the Aleutian Islands. On November 4th, they were supposed to have

seen the Kamchatka peninsula, whereas a council of officers conferred on

whether they should make landfall or sail on to Petropaulovsk the crew was in

deplorable condition as was the ship itself. The rain had turned to snow and

sleet which froze on the decks and the rigging, which was rotting and was

breaking apart. And the continued ravages of scurvy had left very few crewmen

to operate the ship from watch to watch.

Bering advised the council to make forAwatscha Bayat any cost, but Waxel

and Khitrov opposed him and they decided to land. It was to be the death blow

for Bering.

Steller and Waxel went ashore to reconnoiter finding a land covered with

snow and with only driftwood as wood. On the 8th of November they started the

transfer of the sick to the beach (some of whom died immediately on exposure

to the outside elements), and others shortly after reaching shore. The

21During this time Steller became the first European naturalist to describe a number of North American plants and animals,including a jay later namedSteller's Jay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Jayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Jayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Jayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Jay


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abundances of blue foxes proved to be a big nuisance, where they disturbed the

dead and even bothered the sick and dying who were too weak to defend

themselves.

They dug caves on the seashore finding ravines, and pits to work with and in

covering them with driftwood constructed their shelters. Bering being brought

ashore and very sick survived for a month in these conditions, no fresh food or

proper food and medical care was as distant as the moon. On December 19th,

174122Vitus Jonassen Bering gave up his life, just 4 months over the age of

60.

Shortly after landing another storm battered the sea coast driving the St

Peterashore, a total wreck was the result.

As time progressed and a new year arrived the crew no longer suffered from

scurvy (those that had survived) and Steller found the island a rich field for

investigations and to this day we owe some most interesting material to his

explorations23. The sea otter were on land in mass, the fur seal was as thick as

thieves, there were foxes all

over the place (over 60

were killed in one day), the

great mammal,

Hydrodamalis gigas in the

scientific order Sirenia,

today called the Steller Sea Cow were abundant and became a chief source of

food for the remaining crew.

Constructing a 40-foot boat from the remaining wreckage, the crew sailed

away from Bering Island on August 12th, 1742 arriving in Petropaulovsk with

forty-six of the original crew of seventy-seven men.

There are two main islands (today), Bering and Medny Island and two very

small islets in this group of islands where they landed, called the Commander

Group.

In the mean time, efforts to locate Gama land continued, resulting in many

trips to the coast line of Alaska. And with discovery and charting of Alaska,

Russia had set a claim to the land opening the path for the Promishleniki, who

22some reference December 8th, 1741 as his death23During this time Steller wrote De Bestiis Marinis, describing the fauna of the island, including theNorthern Fur Seal, theSea Otter, Steller's (or Northern) Sea Lion,Steller's Sea Cow,Steller's EiderandSpectacled Cormorant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Fur_Sealhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Fur_Sealhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Fur_Sealhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Otterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Sea_Lionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Sea_Lionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Sea_Cowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Eiderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Eiderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Eiderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacled_Cormoranthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacled_Cormoranthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacled_Cormoranthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Fur_Sealhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Otterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Sea_Lionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Sea_Cowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_Eiderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacled_Cormorant


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later swept along the coast and explored every bay and inlet until finally

permanent settlements were established, which completed the title of the

Czar to his holdings in the colonies in America Bering and Chirikov had broken

the mystery of the unknown and blazed their way across three thousand miles

of uncharted seas, more than 60-years before Lewis and Clark crossed the

continent of North America24.

Beginning Russian Fur Trade and the Promishleniki

Interest in this new land seemed to disappear after Bering expedition

returned, where the coasts of the east would have abandoned completely if it

hadnt been for the furs that returned with the crews. The sea otter25 especially

turned the heads of the fur traders of Siberia, who had followed the sable26 for

nearly a century; the sea otter was to become the primary force behind the

Russian expansion into Alaska.

Russian furs were generally sold in China, whereas even furs from Canada

were routed through St Petersburg and sold in China. The Treaty of Kiachta27

between the Russians and Chinese provided the ports of Kiachta and Zuruchiatu

for trade between the two nations. The estimated 2005 value of the furs

brought back by the Bering crew of the 900 skins returned with is at $1.5 mil

(comparing to the Consumer Price Index) with an unskilled wage value of $25

million. A hefty sum even in 1700s equal to about 3 million rubles, of which I

have no comparison in dollar vs. ruble value. The Russian fortress of Kiachta

and the Chinese city of Miamastchin shared the banks of a stream near the

international border south of Irkutsk.

The furs from the Aleutian Islands and the Alaskan coasts went to Okhotsk

and from there by pack trains to Kiachta, this continued until the opening of the

direct trade route by sea with Canton in the early part of the 19th century. After

24The names of Bering, Chirikov, Stepan Malygin, Fyodor Minin, Dmitry Ovtsyn, Vasily Pronchishchev, Chelyuskin, andKhariton and Dmitry Laptev will stay forever in the history of geographic discoveries.25The Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) is a largeotternative to the North Pacific, from northern Japanand Kamchatka eastacross theAleutian Islands south toCalifornia. The heaviest of the otters, Sea Otters are the only species within the genusEnhydra.26 Said to have played a major role in the development of Siberia27The treaty which established trade between Russia and China at Kiachta provided that no one should reside thereexcept merchants engaged in traffic. No officer could live there, nor could any person whatever beyond merchants and theiremployees and families remain over night. No stone buildings except a church could be erected, and visits of strangerswere to be discouraged.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Oceanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamchatka_Peninsulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Oceanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamchatka_Peninsulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California


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Bering, the hunters now faced new dangers on the waters of the eastern ocean

using small poorly constructed and poorly equipped vessels built of material

they could lay their hands on, on the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk.

One Sergeant Emelian Basof (financed by Andrei Serebrennikov) in 1743 (in

a sewed boat [no nails] or shitik Kapitan) went as far east, with his crew of 30,

as Copper Island (near Bering Island in the Commander Group) securing 60

pounds of copper, 1600 sea otter pelts, 2000 blue Arctic fox skins, and 2000 fur

seals, he made three trips to this region hence setting the stage for the

exploitation of the Alaskan resources by the Russians.

In 1745, Michael Nevodchikov (the silversmith who was with Bering on his

last voyage) began another expedition landing first in the Near Islands at

Agatuu where sending a boat ashore for water scattered almost 100 local

residents. On their return to the shoreline the natives asked for one of the

Russian muskets, being refused they attempted to take by force. A single shot

was fired by a sailor wounding a local in the hand, following this the Russians

left and upon their return to Agatuu started systematic hunts for Natives, at one

time they killed 15 Natives. The sailors in their hunt became so cruel that even

a Cossack in their company complained concerning their treatment.

Nevodchikovs direct answer was more shot and issue more powder. Such

was the cruelties of that period of time that up into the 20th century the stories

had been retold many times. Nevodchikovs expedition was not a financial

success, whereas his ship was wrecked on Kraginski Island with 12-men

drowned and most of his valuable cargo lost.

In 1753 a certain Serebrennikov sent a ship that discovered the Rat Islands,

where the ship was wrecked. The crew reached the shore and spent the next

year constructing a new boat from the wreckage and returned to Kamchatka.

Trapeznikov sent out the shitik St Nicholas, which sailing east found another

island returned with a cargo valued at 1,877,268 rubles. Two years later

Andrean Tolstykh visited a group of islands that were later to bear his name, the

Andreanof Islands which contain the Great Sitikan Island, where one of his crew

members Peter Yasyutinsky gave an account that survives today. He

mentioned in his account that about 400 families resided on the island.

Other adventurers sailed out on the eastern ocean, and met with varying

results. Stephen Glottof went as far as to the Fox Islands in 1759 and made the



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first exploration of that group, later in 1763 he was to explored Kodiak Island

spending an entire winter with his crew in the region. Gavril Pushkarev sailing

in 1759 made a landing on the mainland on the Peninsula of Alaska and was

well received until his crew attempted to seize some girls, causing a fight where

several of his crew was killed. In retaliation the Russians killed some hostages,

and sailing from Umnak took with them six-men and twenty-five girls. At one

point when landing they sent some of the girls to pick berries; two ran away,

one was killed, some drowned themselves, then in order to remove any

witnesses Pushkarev threw all, but two boys, into the sea to drown. After

returning to Siberia a rumor leaked out detailing the outrage, the authorities

upon hearing this rumor began an investigation. The result? Only a stern

warning was issued that such outrages would not be tolerated in the future!

Many such expeditions started and ended in cruelty with the Natives of

Alaska bearing the brunt of the actions of the merchant class from Siberia. One

such merchant from Irkutsk, Bechevin lead an expedition were local men were

killed and their wives were taken from the villages. The reports of the

expedition made their way back to the Russian capital causing such a stir as to

cause the Empress of Russia Catherine II28, or Catherine the Great to issue an

order that adopted the policy of letting only those go on these voyages that

were licensed by the government. But, all the previous evils had been done and

weight heavily on the inhabitants of Alaska as the reports of the cruelties had

passed from island to island.

As it is written so many times in fiction, the Natives were getting restless, so

much so that when Stephen Glottof landed on Kodiak29 the locals tried to set fire

to the ship, advancing behind what appeared to be bullet proof vests and

shields they were defeated by Glottof and withdrew to the hills. Stephen made

it known he wanted to be friendly attempting to trade items like cotton and

other woolen goods, seems they didnt accept these things, finally he offered

beads and other ornaments that appealed to them. Glottof located a young

Aleut man who had learned some Russian, who through rough translation asked

the locals what they thought of the ship as it approached. Their response

indicated they believed it was a big whale, and when the large guns on board

fired a warning shot they thought all white people were devils. After a visit and

28 born Sophie Augusta Fredericka of Anhalt-Zerbst(Catherine the Great)29 One Ship made the voyage the Andrean & Natalie, this until this time had been unvisited by White People



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some exploration Glottof left the Kodiak Islands after a stay lasting over the

winter.

The Kodiak Islanders tell a different story of the encounter of a ship landing

near the island of Alitak where the natives went to the Russians to trade furs for

beads and other goods, and were set upon with many of them killed and the

Russians took all their furs. This one I believe Glottof was a ruthless man.

Glottof left with his next stop being Umnak Island reestablishing trade in a

region he was familiar and felt comfortable in his trades.

The Aleuts Rebel

Of the five ships that sailed in 1762/1763/176430 to the Fox Islands, Aleutians

and points beyond only one returned, the Andrean and Natalie, the rest fell into

the hands of the outraged Aleuts and were destroyed along with most of their

crews. The locals were pretty upset, to say the least civilization was on its

way to Alaska.

The Russians for several years utilized the eastern islands (Unalaska, Umnak

and Akutan) for their bases and local human resources. Their practice was to

take young children as hostages, forcing the men of the villages to hunt for the

Russians and sell them furs. Consequently the men had little time to hunt for

food or furs which their own families needed to survive. In addition to the

preceding, the Russians (laying about and getting bored) where quick to

entertain themselves with their guns, at time pointing at and shooting a local

resident just for sport, although some were killed by accident nevertheless

locals were dying at the expense of good entertainment for the fur traders.

Many incidents occurred during the time in question in several different

locations in the Unalaska region, some legends tell of meetings amongst the

headmen from various villages during the fall, where the men agreed that all

Unangans (Aleuts) would act especially nice/friendly with the traders, offering

up their best furs and giving hostages without a fuss. It was their hope that the

Russians would relax and eventually be off guard against an attack.

Four ships were working the region at the time, seeing that events were

friendly they decided to separate in hopes of expanding their hunting scope.

One of the four ships, the Holy Trinity, under the command of Ivan Korovinm

30 On Jun 28, 1762 Catharine II, Russian Tsarina, grabbed power. 1762-1796 Catherine the Great ruled overRussia



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anchored near Kosheega a small bay on the west side to Unalaska Island,

Medvedelfs31 ship went to the north side of Umnak, while Alexei Drushinin with

his ships the Zacharias and Elizabeth32 discovered the harbor of Unalaska

(Dutch Harbor), where Drushinin hauled his ship for some minor repairs. The

fourth boat went farther to the east to Isanotski Strait.

At Captains Harbor the locals appeared to be friendly, bringing excellent furs

for trade, and were told where the other boats were anchored. For the Russians

extracting the hostages proved painless and without fuss, furthering the

impression that everything was okay. Alexei Drushinin sent out parties, one to

Kalekhta and another to Biroka, where he later went in person.

After Drushinin had gone to Biroka with some additional members of his

crew an attack was made on the remaining crewmembers, every man perished.

The creek near the scene was named for a very long time, Ubienna or Massacre

Creek! On the same day, at Biroka, the locals attacked the party and killed all

but five of the Russian party. Gregory Shavarin and four of his companions

managed to make it into a barabara (underground hut) where they kept the

attacking locals at bay for four-days. During the night time hours they managed

to secure a bidar and went to Kalekhta only finding that the men there had

suffered the same fate as their unfortunate companions. Going on to Captains

Harbor and finding the same thing, they quickly secured some articles from the

remaining ship stores and retreated to the mountains above the bay and were

to remain there for over nine-months. In August or September of the next

year a friendly local informed them that Ivan Korovin was in Makushin Bay

making a small bidar from the leather sacks in which their provisions had been

stored they made their way to the bay, where they joined Ivan aboard his ship

the Holy Trinity.

Ivan Korovin had the previous August, reached Kosheega on the 15th of the

month and anchored his ship in the bay, later moving his ship to Makushin

where he prepared and went into winter quarters. The Holy Trinityand its crew

were to have received the same action by the locals as the Drushinin party, but

Korovin was warned by a local allowing him to successfully defend his ship. He

was harassed to a point that he pulled anchor and moved offshore, confined to

31 Over two hundred years later, in 1970, archaeologists found the bones of Medvedev and the 12 other Russians at Chalukaon Umnak Island.32 from the bible Luke 1.5 to 25



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the expected trouble by taking the offensive and destroying some villages and

their inhabitants. They met with success at four villages but at the fifth they

were defeated, and retreated to their ship harassed by the locals all winter,

they suffered with scurvy and other manners of ill health. In the spring, they

were attacked on the water and were all killed and the ship burned.

Revenge albeit slow in coming was cruel and very in discriminatory. Records

indicate that one Ivan Solovief after hearing of the fate of the fellow

promishleniki, took it on himself the mission of revenge, proceeding to wreak

his wrath on the islanders without discrimination not caring about guilty or if

they were innocent. In one particular instance he had heard that over 300

locals were fortified in a single village, attacked numerous times eventually

depleting them of their arrows, placed gunpowder against the walls of their

barabaras and blew up the structures and proceeded to kill all the survivors

huddled against the walls the Russians had returned.

Solovief went on, under the pretext of avenging the death of his countrymen,

destroying villages and murdering the villagers on the entire southern side of

Umnak, and moved on doing the same on Samalga and the Islands of the Four

Mountains. His energy for destruction knew no bounds, finding two bidars on

the open sea with entire families on board and killing them all. It is told that

Solovief one time tied twelve Aleuts in a row, fired a musket killing eight with

the ball lodging itself in the ninth he was testing his weapons! Finally drawing

to a close his spree (so it is written) by killing all the inhabitants of several

villages assembled on Egg Island he was ready for his second cup of vodka.

Stephen Glottof it appears extracted his due also, he destroyed four large

villages on Umnak, where he kept the young woman along with a few strong

young men for slaves other atrocities are credited to Glottof who at times was

as ruthless as Solovief.

Having the ability to peer back into the past reading the accounts, the

author finds the reasoning behind the initial Aleut uprising justifiable, and yet

one must remember the Russians acted in kind simply because in their mind(s)

they felt a sub-standard group of people had no right to protect their homeland

and the superior race had every right to exploit that land of opportunity, and so

it went across America. I note that at almost the same time period the Aleuts

rose up against their oppressors (and that is what they were), the Indian leader



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Pontiac on the east coast was fighting the same battle, attempting to slow the

flood of aliens crossing and taking land that for centuries had been under their

dominion34.

To imagine that all of this to this date was driven by an animal(s) who had

the misfortune to have as an outer protection a fur worth millions to the people

chasing it across Siberia and eventually Alaska. As with oil today, death and

destruction ruled the day for the ownership of the almighty fur.

Behind the Fur

When a present of a royal robe of the velvety lustrous black foxes from the

islands was given by the merchants to the Czarina (Catherine the Great) or the

Empress of Russia, her excitement was immeasurable and she demanded to

know more of the land from which they came. In one particular merchant she

paid intense attention Vasili Shilof, in her court he presented a crude map of the

islands informing her of the manner in which trade could be conducted and of

the riches to be realized from that trade. She bought into the deal.

Officially she sent Lieutenant Synd of the Royal Navy on an expedition in

1764. Sailing from Okhotsk on the St Catherine he touched on St Paul Island,

drew and named St Matthew Island on his charts, and continued on the present

site of Nome, where he claimed to have landed. His finished chart (map) was

badly distorted; his lats and longs incorrect, consequently his final results of the

expedition had little value adding little to the existing knowledge of Alaska.

On May 4th, 1764 the Empress issued a ukaz(order)for another expedition,

this one was classified a secret naval expedition to explore and chart the

region between Asia and America. The commander was Captain-Lieutenant

Peter Kuzmich Krenitzin, with his second in command Lieutenant Michael

Levashef. They left St Petersburg on July 1st, 1764 and traveled overland to

Okhotsk where they build vessels, repaired two others and after dealing with

smallpox in Kamchatka which delayed their departure, the four ships eventually

sailed from Okhotsk on October 10th, 1766, 2 years and 3 months after leaving

St Petersburg. Misfortune struck early with a shipwreck at Bosheretsk in

Kamchatka, taking the following summer (after spending the winter here) they

34Pontiac's Rebellion was a war launched in 1763 byNorth American Indians who were dissatisfied withBritish rule inthe Great Lakes regionand theOhio Country after the British victory in theFrench and Indian War/Seven Years' War(17541763).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Indianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Indianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_region_(North_America)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_region_(North_America)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Countryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Countryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_and_Indian_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_and_Indian_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_and_Indian_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Years'_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Indianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_region_(North_America)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Countryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_and_Indian_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Years'_War


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repaired the boats, sailed to Nizhnikamchatsk and there passed another winter.

Finally, on June 21st, 1768, 3 years and 11 months from St Petersburg, and they

were ready and the party sailed eastward. Krenitzin commanded the galiot35

St Catherine and Levashef the hooker36 St Paul. The cruised through the

eastern part of the Aleutian chain and wintered, Lavashef in the port of

Unalaska (which now bears his name), Krenitzin anchored in the strait between

Unimak and the Alaska Peninsula. The following year (1769) both ships

returned to Kamchatka, Krenitzin arriving on July 29th, (13 months) and Levashef

on August 24th, (14 months). They wintered at Kamchatka where on July 4th,

1770 Peter Kumich Krenitzin drowned while crossing the Kamchatka River,

Levashef assumed command and returned to St Petersburg, arriving on October

22nd, 1771, 7-years, 3-months, and 21-days after leaving on July 1, 1764.

As is common with all natural resources and man, man soon outstrips the

land and its ability to replenish its resources, whether it be trees, fish or in this

case fur bearing animals as an overall race we are voracious consumers. So,

instead of a short trip to the Commander Islands and a cargo valued at many

thousands of rubles, the promishleniki found themselves having to travel much

larger distances and spend more time on each voyage, and with this extended

distance and time the cost of each trip was fairly expensive.

As the voyages increased in cost the traders begin to form companies, as it

is today high cost is spread among many to overcome the risk that is normally

found with an operation of this sort spread the risk! Typically a merchant

would organize a company (keeping the majority of ownership), sell most of the

remainder while setting aside some for high government officials, the Church,

the tribute gatherer, the shipmaster, or others who might distinguish himself in

the service of the expedition. Shares that were distributed in such a fashion

were commonly known as dry shares. Between the years of 1743 and 1764

there were over 40 such companies registered with the Russian Government.

There were various other ventures into Alaska during the late 1700s until the

first charter of the Russian-American Company issued by Tsar Paul I in 1799.

35A light, single-masted, flat bottom Dutch merchant ship36 small merchant vessel used in the coastal waters, Some hookers had pole masts, while others had the more usual separatemainmast and topmast, with tops, shrouds and the rest. All of the hookers had bluff rounded bows and sterns , with a highrudder and



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In 1779, Lieutenant Ignaciao de Arteaga and his second in command

Lieutenant Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra37 (now there is a mouthful)

visited Kayak Island, and Prince William Sound on the frigates Princesa and

Favorita. In 1781, Commanders Eustrate Ivanovich Delarof38, Dmitri Polutof, and

Potap Zaikof were the first Russian trading expedition into Prince William Sound.

There was a certain Captain James Strange39 and Alexander Walker40 who visited

Alaska during the year of 1786, with each of them leaving a brief detailed

account of their stay. John Meares41, captain of the Nootka, sailed eastward

through the Aleutian Islands and the Kodiak Archipelago, traveling in and out of

Cook Inlets in to Prince William Sound, spending the winter at Montague Island

in 1787. Captains Nathaniel Portlock (King George) and George Dixon (Queen

Charlotte) sailed to Alaska in 178742, missing the SW entrance into Prince

William Sound, and did not make Cape Hinchinbrook. During the summer of

1787, they returned from Hawaii and spent roughly 3-months in the vicinity of

Montague and Hinchinbrook Islands, visiting John Meares, who had survived the

winter.

There were three voyages to Prince William Sound in the spring of 1788.

Captain James Colnett43 spent April and May trading in the Sound accompanied

37 His 2nd voyage to Alaska where he got as far as what is now close to Sitka, Alaska, reaching 59 North Latitude onAugust 15, 17751. Failing to find any Russians, he returned southward on the 1st voyage.38 Greek by origin, born in Peloponessus, the first documented Greek explorer and merchant, to arrive in Alaska, in 1783 hewas employed by the Panov Company, Delarof the forgotten man in Alaska History, see

http://www.pahh.com/frangos/delarof.html 1787 to 1791 1st Russian Governor of Alaska39After entering Prince William Sound, Strange was surprised to meet yet another vessel named the Sea Otter, this one atrading vessel from Calcutta, commanded by William Tipping, who later disappeared with his ship en route to Cook Inlet,never to be seen again. The Strange expedition left Prince William Sound on September 14. The Experiment reachedMacao in mid-November; the Captain Cook reached Asia in December. Stranges expedition was not a financial success.He died in 1840.40 Alexander Walker later interviewed John MacKay, the first European to see how the Indians at Nootka lived during thewinter months when their most important ceremonies were held. Walker's much revised journal, unpublished until 1982,offers rare eyewitness testimonies. We saw many bare skulls in the possession of these people and one [with] the flesh andhair upon it; and which was still bloody. They ate part of this raw before us, and as usual expressed the highest relish forthe food. Upon another occasion they produced an arm half roasted, feeding on it in the same manner.41Meares, John -1756?1809, British naval officer, explorer, and trader. He served in the navy, in which he attained therank of lieutenant, until after the Peace of Paris (1783), when he entered the merchant service. In Macao he formed acommercial company for trade with the northwest coast of America, to which he paid his first visit in 1786. He explored

along the coast of Alaska, wintered in Prince William Sound, and then returned to East Asia. Two years later he went toNootka Sound, erected a trading post on its shores, and built the Northwest America, first ship launched in BritishColumbia. In 1789 his establishment at Nootka Sound was seized by the Spanish; war between England and Spain wasnarrowly averted. Meares later returned to the British navy and became (1795) a commander. He wrote Voyages Made inthe Years 1788 and 1789 to the North West Coast of America (1790).42 Portlock commanded this 1785-1788 expedition from the ship King George while Dixon captained the Queen Charlotte.The purpose of the expedition was to investigate the potential of the Alaskan fur trade and to resume Cooks search for aNorthwest Passage through the continent. Expedition of 1785-1788 The pair left England on August 29, 1785, and tooknearly a year to reach Alaska, rounding Cape Horn and touching the west coast on their trip northward.43 James Colnett made five Pacific voyages in the late 1700s and early 1800s, over a period of about 13 years, and in theprocess he became the first European to see parts of the southern Queen Charlotte Islands.

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by surgeon and naturalist Archibald Menzies44, who later returned to Alaska with

Vancouver. In May, two vessels under the command of Esteban Jose Martinez45

(Princesa) and Gonzalo Lobez46 (San Carlos), anchored in a harbor on the

southern end of Montague Island. During the 11-days they explored the area by

small boat and traded with the locals.

Three other expeditions visited Prince William Sound and the rest of Alaska

before the turn of the century. Salvador Fidalgo47 visited in 1790 when he

discovered the Columbia Glacier and he named Valdez Arm.

This same year, Captain Joseph Billings48 sailed eastward in 1789 from

Okhotsk on a secret astronomical and geographical expedition49, traveling as

far east as the sound. His crew members included his 2nd in command

Lieutenant Gavrila Sarychev, secretary and translator Martin Sauer and

naturalist Carl Merck, who kept all his journals of the voyage. This expedition

visited Kodiak, Montague Island, the Sound, and saw Mt St Elias scarcity of

food forced Billings to return to Petrapavlosk, not fulfilling the original mandate

of the Empress.

The following year (1791), Alejandro Malaspina50, on a round the world

expedition sailed past Kayak Island and along the outer shores of Hinchinbrook

Island never entering the Sound he then returned to the Spanish force in Nootka

Sound (west coast of Vancouver Island) from there he returned to Mexico.

44Archibald Menzies (March 15, 1754 February 15, 1842) was a Scottish physician and naturalist. In 1786 Menzies(pronounced Ming-iss) was appointed surgeon on board Prince of Wales, which was travelling round Cape Horn to thenorthern Pacific. He collected a number of new plants on this voyage, and also ensured that none of the crew died ofillness.45 In June, 1789, Spaniards underEsteban Jose Martinez established a settlement at Nootka, to protect Spanish interests.They brought along a priest, medical doctor, a contingent of troops, and some livestock. They installed a fort, a 16-gunemplacement, a headquarters building, barracks, a bakery, sick bay, carpentry workshop, water wells, vegetable gardens,livestock pens, and cemetery.46 In 1788, Esteban Martinez and Gonzalo Lopez de Haro sailed there with two frigates and established a presence inNootka. This occupation continued until 1795, when Spain withdrew in accordance with the Treaty of El Escorial, whichhad been signed in 1790.47The Spaniards had spotted in western Alaska the first Russian promyslhennik (fur hunters) two years earlier and SalvadorFidalgo had the commitment to find out the full extent of their penetration. On May 5th of 1790 he sailed in the San Carlosout of Nootka Bay for Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet. He arrived there twenty days later to explore the gulf, whichhe called Prncipe Carlos.48Joseph Billings (c. 1758 - 1806) was an English navigator and explorer . In 1785, the Russian government of CatherineII commissioned a new expedition in search for the Northeast Passage, led by English officer Joseph Billings, who hadpreviously sailed with Captain Cook, and the Russian officer Gavril Sarychev as his deputy. This enterprise operated till1795, this expedition was the first to carefully chart Alaska and the Aleutians, especially Unalaska. This expedition alsomarked the close of the Russian surveys on the Eastern Coast of Siberia49

50Alexandro Malaspina was born on November 5, 1754 to an aristocratic and distinguished Italian family in Mulazzo, innorthern Tuscany. After studying at the Clementine College in Rome, he learned navigation as a Knight of the Order ofMalta, and worked his way up to the rank of Captain in the Spanish Navy.



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The third expedition was that of Captain George Vancouver51 (Discovery) and

Lieutenant William Broughton52 (Chatham), this was actually his 2nd trip into

Alaska, the first being spent in SE Alaska in and around the Ketchikan area. It

was Lieutenant James Whidbey who recorded the small details in and around

Prince William Sound from the back end of a small boat.

As it can be seen, there were other countries interested in Alaska, and not

just for the furs. Some were still searching for the Northwest Passage (Straits of

Anian), a fabled passage linking the Atlantic with the Pacific. Some expeditions

set out to chart the North Pacific coastline, and some were express voyages by

the respective countries to stake their claim on the lands surrounding Northern

Pacific, and all at one time or the other were after the fur.

Before the relocation of the hunters to SE Alaska, the Russians had

discovered the Pribilof Islands (or the Seal Islands as they were called in 1786).

Gerassim Pribilof53 noted (along with others) that many seals passed through

the Aleutians on a journey north during the spring months and returned in the

fall with their young, and there was a local legend (tradition) of the native

Enghadeer, who had been cast away on an Island to the north. So, he went

searching for this land, and with a little bit of dumb luck almost sailed into it in a

heavy fog, he named the land St George after his ship and landed there on June

12th, 1786. Leaving a party of hunters over the winter (there was no safe harbor

on the island) he returned to the Andreanof Islands. Returning on June 29,

1787, and collecting the hunters and their load of furs, he also observed land to

the northwest, and as it was the Day of the Saints, Peter and Paul the new

discovery was named after them as of today the named has been shorten to

St Paul Island.

The islands were uninhabited, but they housed a multitude of sea otters,

walruses, foxes, sea lions and especially seals all which hadnt been really

disturbed for ages and this being the case had no fear of man this leading to

51George Vancouver (June 22, 1757 May 12, 1798) was an officer of the Royal Navy, best known for his exploration ofNorth America, including the Pacific coast along present-day Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia; he also exploredthe southwest coast of Australia52William Robert Broughton was a British naval officer in the late 18th century. As a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, hecommanded the HMS Chatham as part of the voyage of exploration through the Pacific Ocean led by Captain GeorgeVancouver in the early 1790s53Gerassim Gavrilovich Pribilof, master in the Russian Navy, was the son of one of the sailors who accompanied Beringin 1741. He entered the service of the Lebedef-Lastochkin company in 1778. In 1786 he sought for and discovered inBering Sea the breeding place of the fur seals, the group of islands that now bear his name. He died in Sitka in March,1796.



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their slaughter. There were millions of seals in the rookeries the Russians did

their bit to reduce this number, not even coming close that first season, they

left with their eyes full of riches they figured would be untapped for years to

come.

First Russian Colony in America

Grigorh Ivanovich Shelekof54, a merchant from Rilsk (Ukraine) developed an

interest in the trade of the Kurile Islands55, and later outfitted a ship for the

Aleutian Island trade in 1777. This venture extended his operations and

working with Solovief and others they sent out the Barfolomei I Barnabas on this

mission to Alaska. The subsequent ventures to the Aleutians were successful,

giving rise to his additional investment in many different companies; he owned

stock in the Lebedef-Lastochkin Company when Gerassim Gavnlovich Pribilof

discovered the Pribilof Islands. He also saw and predicted the declining

condition of the fur trade, noting the depletion of the finest hunting ground;

because of his foresight he formed a plan on the islands and of the organization

of the business on a permanent basis.

One of his companies (Shelekhov-Golikof Company) ended one voyage at

Kodiak Island (three ships were outfitted at left Kamchatka on the 16th of August

1783), where at Three Saints Bay56 (Old Harbor) he founded the first permanent

European settlement in Alaska (Aug - 1784), his wife (Natalie A. Shelekof)

accompanied him to Kodiak and subsequently became the first white woman

to sail these northern seas, a woman of rare courage and ability. She was a

worthy partner of her man, and later on after his death fought for her rightful

place to run his company and was specially honored by the order of the

Empress.

From this location, where he built storehouses, offices, and dwellings, his

traders explored the mainland, going to Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, and to

the side of the Island where the body of water between Kodiak and the Alaska

54Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov (Shelekhov) ( (), in Russian; English spellingvaries from Shelekov to Shelikof) (1747, Rylsk July 20(.. July 31), 1795) was a Russian seafarer and merchant55 The Kuril Islands/k l a lndz/ (Russian: /ku r ilski strva/) orKurile Islands inRussia'sSakhalin Oblastregion, stretch approximately 1,300 km (700 miles) northeast fromHokkaid,Japan, to Kamchatka,Russia, separating theSea of Okhotskfrom the NorthPacificOcean. There are 56 islands in total.56Three Saints Bay is a small inlet on the southeast side of Kodiak Island in southern Alaska. It is 97 km (60 miles)southwest of Kodiak at 5708N 15330W. The bay was the site of the first Russian settlement in Alaska in 1784 byGrigory Shelikhov. The bay and settlement were named after one of his ships. The settlement of Three Saints Bay wasmoved to the site of present-day Kodiak, Alaska in 1792 when an earthquake and tidal wave destroyed it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.S.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakhalin_Oblasthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakhalin_Oblasthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkaidohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkaidohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamchatka_Peninsulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Okhotskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Okhotskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.S.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakhalin_Oblasthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkaidohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamchatka_Peninsulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Okhotskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific


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Peninsula bear his name. Fur-trading centers were established at Cook Inlet,

Afognak, Karluk and other various locations. It was from this Three Saints Bay

location that Shelekhov (leaving on May 22, 1786, leaving command to a

peredovchik, leader of hunters, named Samoilof) returned to Russian where he

unsuccessfully57 sought a grant giving his company a monopoly over the fur

trade in Alaska, from the Catherine II (Catherine The Great). During his absence

from Three Saints Bay, he dispatched Alexandr Baranov to manage his interests

in Alaska as the residing manager58. It was during his trip to the Motherland

that he came to the attention of Nikolay Petrovich Rezanov, who at one time

had been the private secretary to the Empress, who in watching the tireless

efforts of Shelikhov and having tired of the workings of the Russian court life,

became a partner in Shelikhov company. This company was to become the

nucleus for the Russian American Company that was to become a guiding factor

in Alaskas economy and government until its sale in 1867 to the United States

of America.

After the death of Shelikhov in 1795 Rezanov59 became the leader of wealthy

and amalgamated companies that he and other merchants owned. He set out

to obtain for these companies privileges similar to those that Great Britain had

granted to the East India Company.

He had, through his previous relationship, succeeded in getting Catherine II

to sigh his charter doing just that, but she up and died (Nov 5 th, 1796) before

endorsing the papers. Now he was forced to begin again with the ill-balanced

and intractable Emperor Paul60. The process looking hopeless he applied his

skill, subtlety and position in the prior court and eventually (before Pauls

assassination, March 11, 1801) obtained his signature (1799) to the instrument

granting the Russian-American Company for a period of 20-years complete

57 It was his petition to the Empress that prompted her to send Joseph Billings (Englishman) on a SecretGeographical And Astronomical Expedition, in September 1788, he reached Three Saints on June 20, 1789, itwas also noted during the trip by Mr. Sauer, that these people (Russians) lord if over the inhabitants withmore despotism that generally falls to the lot of princes, keeping the islanders in a state of abject slavery.58Alexandr Andreevich Baranov ( in Russian), sometimes spelled Aleksander orAlexander and Baranof, was born in 1746 in Kargopol, in the Arkhangelsk province of Russia.59Nikolay Petrovich Rezanov (1764-1807) was a Russian nobleman and statesman who promoted the project of Russiancolonization of Alaska and California. One of the ten barons of Russia, he was the first Russian ambassador to Japan(1804), and instigated the first attempt of Russia to circumnavigate the globe (1803), commanding the expedition himselfas far as Kamchatka.60Paul I of Russia (October 1, 1754March 23, 1801) was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801.Paul was born in the Summer Palace at St Petersburg. He was the son of the Grand Duchess, later Empress,Catherine. In her memoirs, she strongly implies that his father was not her husband, the Grand Duke Peter,later Emperor, but her lover Sergei Saltykov.



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dominion over the coast of North-Western America, stretching from latitude 55

degrees northward, and over the chain of islands extending from Kamchatka

northward to Alaska and southward to Japan. This charter granted 33% of all

profits to the Emperor.

In the meantime the operations at Three Saints Bay were under the

command of Eustrate Delaref, a Greek who had been at Unalaska for a number

of years, and who had been to Prince William Sound in 1781 with the first

Russian ships in those waters, he took charge of the company in 1788. Before

his watch (1786), some traders and hunters of the Lebedef Company came into

port of the St Paul and asked to be directed to the sea-otter grounds --- in order

to be rid of the un-welcomed visitors they were advised to go up Cook Inlet,

whey established a post on the Kisselof River.

Alexandr Baranov61, who was already managing Shelikohvs interests at

Three Saint Bay, was the first governor of the company, from 1799 to July 11 th,

1818, establishing a legacy that remains at the forefront of Alaska even today.

Baranov experienced his first hostilities during the spring of 1792 on a visit to

Prince William Sound (to cultivate trade relations with locals), whereas on one

dark night he was attacked by a party of Tlingit from Yakutat. Two Russians and

ten Aleuts were killed, and scores wounded before Baranovs men chased the

Tlingits to their boats. It was when he was in Prince William Sound that he met

Captain Moore, of the East Indian ship Phoenix, who gave him information on

Sitka notwithstanding the information he also gave Baranov an Indian servant

(a native of Bengal) who served Baranov faithfully for many years. It was

during his leadership that the first ship built in Alaska (Resurrection Bay

Voskresenski Southeast side of Kenai Peninsula Seward) was launched in

August 1794, the ship Phoenix, 73 feet long, 23 foot beam, 13.5 feet draw and a

total capacity of 180 tons, it was rigged with 3-masts and had two decks but it

sails were of such poor material (being made of fragments gathered from

Kamchatka to Kodiak) it barely made it back to Kodiak on its maiden voyage.

By 1792 the animal of wealth, sea otter, had been depleted along the

Aleutian Chain, and were decreasing in the waters of Prince William Sound and

61Baranov had a trying experience on his journey to Alaska sailing from Okhotsk (Three Saints) on August 19th, 1790 the ship wrecked at Kosheega Bay (Unalaska) they made it ashore just to spend the winter amid bitter hardships. Threebidars (from the skins of sea lions) were constructed, two sent to the North side of the Alaska Peninsula, they later joinedthem on Kodiak Island. He arrived at Three Saints Bay on July 27th, 1791 and relieved Delaref who returned toOkhotsk the following year.



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Cook Inlet, new hunting ground were needed. In 1793 a group of trusted

hunters were sent to Yakutat, the report being favorable the following year over

500 bidarkas, with over 1,000 Aleuts descended on the region like seagulls on

dead fish. They realized a very successful hunt!

During the autumn of 1794 men and supplies arrived from Okhotsk on the

Three Saints (author here, the Three Saints must have been a popular name for

ships built in Okhotsk, seems Baranov wrecked one in Unalaska on his trip to

Alaska), Ekaterina was the 2nd ship both providing steerage for 150

promishlenikis, 30 families of colonists (agricultural settlers) from the

Monarchoto Shelekof, and the Archimandrite Joassof with a retinue of priests,

sent to establish the church the group brought with them nothing but trouble

for Baranov at one time he wrote, Even under my very eyes they had their

secret councils, and when I went away in the winter it came near causing

disastrous consequences. He did have his hands full.

In an attempt to colonize Yakutat, Baranov sent Manager Polomoshno in

1795, who deliberately went to Nuchek (Prince William Sound) instead, wasted

the summer in inaction, then returned to Kodiak --- such was the

insubordination he dealt with from time-to-time in his rule of Russian America.

Eventually the Yakatat station was set up in 1796, with two separate buildings

and the port was named New Russia.

Baranovs first visit to the Sitka region was aboard the Ekatarina in 1795,

this voyage made in his ever expanding search for the sea otter, which was

being depleted in the Russians present location. It is written that he paid a

small sum to the resident Kiksadi, Tlingit people of the region, in hopes to

keep others from occupying the land.

On May 25th, 179962 he returned with 100 employees (with their native

wives) on board the cutter Olga and the sloop-of-war Konstantin of the Imperial

Russian Navy, and sailing with the two ships were over 550 baidarkas with 600-

1000 Aleuts. Not in the mood to confront the locals he sailed past the Tlingit

strategic hilltop encampment (Noow Tlen Big Fort) and made landfall some 7-

miles north of the colony, Katlianski Bay. There he constructed a large

warehouse, blacksmith shop, cattle sheds, barracks, stockade, block house,

bath house, quarters for the Aleut hunters, and a primary residence for himself

62 CL Andrews writes his 2nd trip was with the Ekaterina accompanied by the ship Orel[Eaglel under the command ofLieutenant Talin, and has Baranov landing at Old Harbor on July 7 th, 1799, on the Olga.



26/43

Redoubt Saint Michael (Starrigavan Bay or Old Harbor) had been established.

It is written that Baranov purchased the land from one of the local leaders, a

certain Skayeutlelt.

Although the Tlingit initially welcomed the newcomers, they did not agree

with a number of things the Russians had grown accustomed too, one major

sticking point being the taking of native women as their wives which caused

constant taunting of the Kiksadi by other Tlingit clans63, who looked upon the

Kiksadi as the kalga, or slaves of the Russians. Some have written that the

Kiksadi were also jealous of the Aleuts superior skill in the hunting of sea

otter64. Riding behind all of this animosity was the fact that the Russian

Documents

History of Alaska - Part 1