Russian fortress in America

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The history of the development of Russian America began in the middle of the 17th century, when the strait between Asia and America was discovered. It was only almost a century later that an expedition was organized to study this strait. Under the leadership of Vitus Bering, the Pacific coast of North America was discovered, and the Aleutian Islands were also explored. Accordingly, by the right of a discoverer, these lands belong to Russia. Until the end of the 18th century, a large number of fishing expeditions were carried out to Russian America.

Organized development began in 1783 with an expedition led by Grigory Shelikhov, who later organized the first Russian settlement, which was located on Kodiak Island. The first permanent settlement was founded on Unalashka, and it was called Illluk. Shelikhov in his settlements organized not only fishing, but also the production of the necessary products: shipbuilding, casting of iron products, etc. However, the Russian authorities were not very interested in distant lands. Attention to distant settlements manifested itself only after the death of Shelikhov, when Paul I issued a decree that secured the rights of the company created by Shelikhov to develop all the useful resources located on the territory of Russian America. The company was named Russian-American. Its first leader and governor of Alaska was Alexander Baranov. A number of permanent Russian settlements arose under his leadership. So, in 1799 the fort of the Archangel Michael was founded, later captured by the Indians and burned to the ground. However, in 1804, the Russians returned to these territories, and the new settlement became known as Novo-Arkhangelsk. This city became the capital of Russian America, and it was from it that the settlements were governed. After the sale of Russian settlements to America, Novo-Arkhangelsk became known as Sitka and remained the capital of Alaska until 1906.

In 1812, in Northern California, Alexander Baranov's assistant Ivan Kuskov founded Fort Ross. Back in 1811, Kuskov chose the location for the settlement in Bodega Bay. But initially the Russians entered California on fishing expeditions. In March 1812 Kuskov sailed with 25 Russians and 80 Aleuts, and the construction of the settlement began. Since Kuskov participated in the restoration of the settlement, which later became Novo-Arkhangelsk, Fort Ross began to be built in his likeness. Already at the end of 1812, the fortress was ready. The fortress was originally called Ross, it was also often called Fortress Ross, the settlement of Ross, the colony of Ross, and the name Fort Ross it has already received from the Americans since the middle of the 19th century.

The population of the colony was predominantly Russians, Aleuts and Indians; children born in mixed marriages were called Creoles, they made up one third of the population of the Fort.

All the people living in the Fort worked for the Russian-American Company. The settlement was led by a manager, in total there were three of them from 1812 to 1841. The colony was inhabited by clerks who oversaw the organization of the settlement and work, industrialists, carpenters, blacksmiths and other artisans. Everyone signed a working agreement, according to which they had to work for 7 years, refuse to trade with the indigenous population for personal gain and not get carried away with alcoholic beverages.

By 1820, the house of the governor of the settlement (Kuskov's house), houses of other officials, barracks for workers and various other necessary offices and shops appeared inside the fortress. Outside the fortress there was a windmill, a barnyard, a bakery, a cemetery, several baths, vegetable gardens and a greenhouse. On the coast of the bay there were shipyards, forges, tanneries, a pier and warehouses for storing boats.

By 1836, the population of Fort Ross was 260 people: in addition to the Russian population, Indians and Aleuts lived on its territory. At the same time, friendly and peaceful relations were maintained with the indigenous Indian population around the Fort. While choosing a place for a settlement, Kuskov was concerned about how relations with the indigenous population would develop. However, everything was calm, interaction was built on trust, equality and freedom.

Good relations also developed from the fact that many indigenous people partially learned Russian, and were also inclined to accept Christianity. In the mid-20s. In the 19th century, a chapel was built on the territory of the settlement, which was popular among the population.

Initially, the main task of Fort Ross was the supply of food to the settlements of Alaska. First of all, they were engaged in fishing, poultry and fur seals. However, by 1816, the fur seal population began to decline rapidly, so more attention was paid to agriculture. The natural conditions of the area allowed Fort Ross to become a food base for the settlements of Alaska. A large number of food products were produced in the vicinity of Fort Ross, which were then delivered to other regions of Russian America. The Fort also experimented with different crops, such as fruit trees. However, agriculture here fell short of the required level, and several agricultural land was organized further inland. Cattle breeding was more successful. In Fort Ross they kept cows, horses, mules, sheep. Accordingly, they received such products as meat, milk, wool, produced soap, and some of the products were even exported.

In addition, industry developed at Fort Ross. The woodlands around provided a lot of material for the construction of houses, ships and other wood products. A lot of money was invested in shipbuilding, but due to the structure of the wood, it began to rot already during the construction of the ship, so the ships built in Fort Ross were used only for local voyages. Also in the Fort, the manufacture of bricks, foundry and blacksmith production, and leatherwork were successfully carried out. The difficulty was that it was not possible to trade with neighboring colonies, however, after Mexico declared independence in 1821, trade was in full swing, but competition with the United States and Britain also appeared.

Fort Ross was the subject of interest of many scientists and researchers who came there to study the flora and fauna, as well as the lifestyle and customs of the local people. Both writers and artists came to gain new impressions, to create their works based on what they saw.

By the end of the 1830s. the authorities began to think about the abolition of the colony in California. Fort Ross production fell short of expectations and the trade did not cover the costs of shipbuilding and other industries. The settlement gradually fell into decay.

Fort Ross on carts

At the same time, Mexico began to lay claim to the lands of Fort Ross, claiming their historical belonging to Mexico. They refused to recognize the Fort as Russian property, if only in exchange for recognizing the independence of Mexico, to which Nicholas I categorically refused to go, and in 1839 supported the decision of the Russian-American Company to liquidate the settlement.

The sale of the settlement was carried out by Alexander Rotchev. Despite his personal reluctance to sell the colony, he made an offer to Britain, which she refused. He then proposed the colony of France, which also stated that it did not need the Fort. In Mexico, these lands were already considered their own, so it was not possible to conclude a deal with them either. In the end, Fort Ross was sold to John Sutter, a Mexican, for $ 30,000.

In January 1842, Rotchev and the rest of the colonists sailed on the last Russian ship to Novo-Arkhangelsk.

However, the deal between Rotchev and Sutter was invalidated by the Mexican authorities, and Fort Ross came into the possession of Manuel Torres. California subsequently separated from Mexico and became part of the United States.

In 1906, the fortress became the property of California and became one of the regional attractions. Now Fort Ross is one of the national parks of California, which, being a reconstruction of a Russian settlement, attracts a large number of tourists every year interested in the Russian way of life of that time.

The period of oblivion lasted for many years, until the Russian people, who turned out to be emigrants by the will of cruel fate, breathed life into the Fort Ross, or rather, into what remained of it by the mid-1930s. An initiative group was created to recreate Ross as a historical monument, fundraising began - often from the more than modest income of those Russian people who saw in this step their patriotic duty to Russia.

Let's remember their names: G. V. Rodionov, A. P. Farafontov, M. D. Sedykh, V. N. Arefiev, L. S. Olenich, T. F. Tokarev, Lebedev, about. A. Vyacheslavov, and later S. I. Kulichkov, A. F. Dolgopolov, V. P. Petrov, N. I. Rokityansky, curator of the California Department of Parks - John McKenzie and many, many others.

Among the Russians who have made a significant contribution to the study of Fort Ross and have contributed a lot to the warming of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States since the pre-perestroika times are the writer S. Markov, researchers N. Kovalchuk-Koval, A. Chernitsyn. V. Languageless.

These are our contemporaries - scientists N. Bolkhovitinov, S. Fedorova, A. Istomin, fellow countrymen of Kuskov, Totma residents S. Zaitsev, Y. Erykalova, V. Prichina.

We also note the tireless work of building “bridges of friendship” between the American Fort Ross and the old Totma - activists of the Moscow Historical and Educational Society “Russian America”, including the Totma residents G. Shevelev and V. Kolychev, the architect and consultant of Fort Ross I. Medvedev, the writer V. Ruzheinikov, sculptor I. Vyuev.

As part of the participants of the I-st Russian-American Expedition "To the Origins of Russian America", conducted by the Russian America Society across the expanses of the Russian North (May, 1991), I was able to visit the blessed Fort Ross for the first time. And, as if, he found himself in his native Vologda region! The beam of the fortress buildings scorched by the sun reminded me of my home in Totma …

The "corner of Russia", lovingly revived by our compatriots, is now under the tutelage of the State Parks Department. California and under the watchful eye of specialist scholars and volunteers from the Fort Ross Historical Association.

On Christmas Eve 1997 at the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in San Francisco, the transfer of the icon "John the Baptist" - a gift from the Society "Russian America" and Yu. A. Malofeev for the Fort Ross chapel (Project "Icon from Russia"). In the same year, at a reception at the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in San Francisco, hosted in honor of the "Day of Russia", employees of the California Department of Parks and Recreation presented representatives of the Society Vladimir Kolychev and Grigory Lepilin with the state flag as a token of gratitude - "For the preservation of the historical heritage of the State of California ".

"For the preservation" of Fort Ross, the cultural heritage of Russia in America, which has already become a part of the history of the United States of America, had to come out in August-September 2009, when Fort Ross was threatened with closure and, in fact, subsequent destruction. Supporting the warm appeal of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States Sergei Kislyak "to preserve the symbol of the rich history of California and the United States, as well as a memorable milestone in Russian-American relations" … "The Russian America Society issued a joint address with the newspaper Russian America (New York, publisher and editor-in-chief Arkady Mar) and Vice-President of the Historical Association of Fort Ross, Knight of Friendship D. Middleton "Save Fort Ross", organizing a collection of signatures in Russia and the United States in defense of Fort Ross. So Mary Eisenhower, Metropolitan Hilarion - Head of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Academician Valery Tishkov signed the appeal …

The alarming chime of the bell that connected Fort Ross, Totma and Moscow on September 9 seemed to be heard everywhere … A flurry of appearances in the press and on television followed … an appeal from the Vologda Governor Vyacheslav Pozgalev to his colleague in California, Arnold Schwarzenegger …