READING HALL "THE DOORS OF WISDOM" 2024

CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE ACCORDING GENESIS

HISTORY OF ALASKA.

CHAPTER XXIII.

FOREIGN VENTURES AND THE ROSS COLONY.

1803-1841.

Notwithstanding frequent losses by shipwreck, Baranof was now well supplied with sea-going craft, and had more vessels at his disposal than he could use for hunting expeditions. He had not forgotten, however, the secret instructions received from the directors of the company in November 1803, and for several years had been pushing forward his settlements toward the south. The rich hunting-grounds on the coast of California had long since attracted his attention, and he had made several efforts, though with little success, to avail himself of this source of wealth, and to open up a trade with the Spanish colonies.

The only obstacle that now lay in the path of the chief manager was want of means. Men were not lacking, nor ships; but supplies were forwarded to him in such meagre quantity and at such exorbitant rates that, as will be remembered, want was a familiar guest in the Russian settlements. The resources of the Russian American Company’s territory, bountiful though they were, had thus far served at best only to supply the few needs of the settlers, to furnish small dividends to the shareholders, and to satisfy in part the greed of the company’s agents.

In 1803 the vessels that arrived at Okhotsk from Alaska were freighted with furs valued at 2,500,000 roubles. Other large shipments followed, among them being one by the Neva, in 1805, valued at 500,000 roubles. Nevertheless, Baranof did not venture to draw on St Petersburg for the means wherewith to carry out his instructions. “There is another cargo with half a million, you will say,” writes Rezanof to the directors in November of this year, “ and where is the threatened want of means? But I must answer you, gentlemen, that in your extensive business this is only a short palliative, the drawing of a breath, and no permanent relief. Patience! and you will agree with me.”

A few days before the chief manager received his secret despatch, the American ship O’Cain, or as it was called by the Russians the Boston, arrived at Kadiak, in command of Captain O’Cain, whom the former had previously met as mate of the Enterprise. After an exchange of trading goods for furs, to the value of 10,000 roubles, O’Cain proposed that Baranof should furnish him with Aleutian hunters and bidarkas for an expedition to the coast of California. The latter was disposed to listen favorably to such a proposition, for during this and the two preceding years the destruction of seals in Russian America had been on an enormous scale, and, as we have seen, a few months later orders were given by Rezanof that the slaughter should cease for a time. After some negotiation an agreement was concluded, and twenty bidarkas were fitted out and placed in charge of Shutzof, a tried servant of the company. Shutzof was ordered to observe closely all parts of the coast which he might visit, to mark the number and character of the inhabitants, and to procure information of all hunting-grounds which might in the future be utilized by the company without the assistance of foreigners. He was instructed also to observe the sea­ports that were frequented by Americans for purposes of trade, and to ascertain the prices of provisions and other products of the country.

The Boston sailed from Kadiak on the 26th of October, and after calling at San Diego, proceeded to the bay of San Quintin in Lower California, where O’Cain made his headquarters, sending out hunting parties in various directions, until the 1st of March of the following year. The number of furs secured was eleven hundred, and Shutzof reported that the American captain, trading on his own account with the mis­sionaries and soldiers, had obtained seven hundred additional skins at prices ranging from three to four piastres. Thus was inaugurated a series of hunting expeditions beyond the borders of the Russian colonies, which continued for many years with varying success.

In August 1806 O’Cain returned to Alaska, arriving at Novo Arkhangelsk on board the Eclipse. Touching at the Hawaiian Islands on his voyage, he had found there a crew of Japanese sailors who had been picked up at sea. He now proposed to the chief manager to supply him with a cargo of furs for Canton, and that, having taken on board the shipwrecked sailors, he should proceed thence to Japan, with a view to opening the Japanese ports to the Russians. As the captain had before proved faithful to his trust, Baranof consented, and a few weeks later the vessel set sail, with a cargo valued at three hundred and ten thousand roubles. The expedition proved a complete failure. The furs were sold at Canton at low prices, and Chinese goods purchased with the proceeds. On entering the harbor of Nangasaki under Russian colors, the ship was immediately surrounded with hundreds of row-boats and towed to the anchorage ground. Soon afterward a Dutch official came on board, and finding that neither captain nor crew were Russian, ordered them to haul down their flag. As the Japanese would not listen to his proposals, O’Cain informed them that he was in need of provisions and fresh water. Supplies were delivered to him in abundance free of charge; but on the third day after his arrival, he was towed out to sea under a strong guard, with orders never to enter a Japanese port again. The Eclipse was then headed for Petropavlovsk, where half her cargo was transferred to the care of the Russian commissioner, and sailing thence for Kadiak, was wrecked on the voyage at the island of Sannakh. Only the captain and four others were saved, and with the assistance of some natives from Unalaska, made their wav to St Paul.

The result of O’Cain’s hunting expedition to the coast of California had been so satisfactory that Baranof resolved to profit by every opportunity of repeating the experiment. Through captains Ebbets and Meek it had become known among American skippers that money could be made in this way, and several of the north-west traders were only too willing to make the attempt. In May 1808 a contract was entered into with Captain George Ayres, of the ship Mercury from Boston. Ayres was furnished with twenty-five bidarkas for the purpose of hunting in the vicinity of islands not previously known. Baranof engaged to furnish the Aleuts with subsistence, and no party was to be sent out without an armed escort. For any native hunter killed or captured while hunting, Ayres promised to pay 250 piastres toward the support of his family. The ship was to return within ten or twelve months, and the proceeds of the trip were to be equally divided, the furs being valued by the chief manager. For the labor of the Aleuts, Ayres was to deduct from his share three and a half piastres for each sea-otter, a piastre and a half for each fur-seal, and one piastre for each beaver.

The Mercury sailed from Kadiak on the 8th of July, Shutzof being in charge of the hunters. At Charlotte and adjacent islands Ayres bought a number of sea-otter furs from the natives, paying for each a can of powder, and at the mouth of the Columbia Shutzof purchased five hundred and eighty beaver skins. In September the vessel entered the harbor of Trinidad, but meeting with little trade, the captain sailed for Bodega Bay, and thence for San Francisco and San Diego. From the latter port hunting parties were sent out during the winter, and the ship returned the following year with more than two thousand skins.

Between 1809 and 1812 Baranof made six additional contracts with American masters, the result being that over eight thousand sea-otter skins, procured outside the limit of the company’s possessions, were delivered to the chief manager as his share of the proceeds. These transactions were approved by the directors, but the frequent purchases of entire cargoes of goods and provisions, for which payment was usually made in fur-seal skins, were regarded with less favor. Twice in succession shrewd Yankee skippers succeeded in selling their skins to the commissioner at Kamchatka or Okhotsk at a higher valuation than had been placed upon them by Baranof in the original transaction; and finally a peremptory order was issued by the board of directors to make no more payments in kind, but to give drafts on the home office at St Petersburg.

After his return from California, Rezanof had never ceased to urge on the chief manager the importance of establishing, on the shore of New Albion, a station for hunting, trading, and agricultural purposes. It is probable that his plans were even more ambitious than those contained in the company’s private instructions to Baranof, and that he purposed gradually to push forward the Russian colonies toward the mouth of the Columbia, and in time even to wrest from Spain a portion of California.

Baranof did all that lay in his power. In October 1808 Kuskof was sent to the coast of New Albion on board the ship Kadiak, the schooner Nikolai having been despatched southward a fortnight earlier. The latter was wrecked at the mouth of Gray Harbor, where she had been ordered to join her consort; and though no lives were lost, the men were held captives by the Indians, a few of them being rescued by an American vessel, in which they returned to Novo Arkhangelsk two years later. Contrary winds prevented the Kadiak from entering the harbor, and Kuskof proceeded to Bodega Bay, where he arrived at the close of the year. Returning after a twelve months’ voyage with more than two thousand otter skins, he laid before Baranof information of the greatest importance. He reported that sea-otter and fish abounded on the whole coast, that he had found many places well adapted for agriculture and ship-building, and that the whole country north of San Francisco Bay was unoccupied by any European power.

The chief manager finally resolved to delay no longer the execution of his plans in that direction, although he did not receive positive instructions to found such a colony until several years later. He gave orders to collect all the men who might be of use in forming a permanent settlement, including ex-convicts from the agricultural provinces of Russia, and others skilled in agriculture and stock-raising; and in 1810 despatched Kuskof on a second trip to the coast of New Albion, with orders to make further explorations. This expedition was unsuccessful. Calling at Queen Charlotte Islands, his men were attacked by savages, and after losing eight of his hunters, he was compelled to return to Novo Arkhangelsk, whence he was again sent in the same direction in the schooner Chirikof early in 1811. Of his voyage little is known, but anchoring in Bodega Bay, which he renamed Rumiantzof, he found its vicinity not adapted to his purpose, and selecting another location eighteen miles to the northward, purchased a tract of land from the natives. On his return to Novo Arkhangelsk he was ordered to proceed at once to this site with a large party of Russians and Aleuts, and was furnished with an ample store of supplies for the use of the proposed settlement. Of the colony founded by Kuskof, in 1812, a full description is given elsewhere; it remains only to make brief mention of it, and to give a few details as to the industrial progress of an enterprise which the company had long desired to establish.

During the year a fort, mounted with ten guns, was erected on a bluff about a hundred feet above the sea; other buildings were added, and on September 10th, or, according to the Russian calendar, on August 30th, the new colony was named Ross—the root of the modern word Russia.

Thus at length a foothold was gained on the shore of New Albion, but the result disappointed all expectation. The hunting-grounds on the neighboring coast to which the Russians had access were soon exhausted; while as a site for ship-building and agriculture, it met with little success. Between 1812 and 1823 only about 1,100 large sea-otter skins and some 250 yearlings were secured, and of these at least two thirds were obtained during the first four years of this period, the seals rapidly disappearing from the neighborhood. In 1824, the treaty between Russia and the United States permitted the Russians to send out hunting parties to all portions of the Oregon coast and inland waters for a period of ten years; but this had no bearing on California. During this time about 1,800 sea-otter, 2,700 fur-seals, and a few yearlings were delivered by the Aleutian hunters as the company’s share. Nevertheless, even for the greater portion of this decade, the business was unprofitable.

From 1816 to 1824 four vessels, with an aggregate capacity of 720 tons, were built at a cost of more than 150,000 roubles. An experienced ship-carpenter from Novo Arkhangelsk superintended their construction, and for a time it was thought that the oak, pine, and cedar found in the neighborhood were well adapted for the purpose. The result proved most unsatisfactory, however. The wood was cut when in the sap; soon the timbers began to rot, and within six years after being launched not one of the ships was seaworthy.

But it was mainly with a view to agricultural purposes, as we have seen, that the site of the Ross colony was selected. Although it was no doubt the best one that the Russians found available, the location had many disadvantages. The spot was surrounded with hills, densely wooded at a distance of one mile from the sea; the level ground contained numerous gulches; the most fertile portions of it were difficult of access, some of them being at a distance of three versts from the fort; the summer fogs caused the ripening grain to rust, while squirrels and gophers spread havoc among the growing crops.

Farming was carried on by private individuals, as well as by the company’s agents, but by neither with system. The ploughs in use were of all patterns—Russian, Siberian, Finnish, and Californian. The shares of many of them were merely a pointed piece of thick bar-iron, and where the soil was rocky and no plough could be used, Indians were employed to dig up the ground with spades. Each one farmed as seemed best in his own eyes, and the usual result was, of course, failure. Between 1815 and 1829 about 4,800 pounds of wheat and 740 of barley were sown, and over 25,000 pounds of wheat and 3,600 of barley harvested. Thus the average yield for both these cereals was little more than five-fold; while in 1823, the most prosperous of the intervening years, it did not exceed ten or eleven fold, and in bad seasons fell as low as two or three fold. Not until 1826 were any considerable shipments of grain made to Novo Arkhangelsk, and from that date to 1833 only 6,000 pounds were forwarded.

During his visit to the colony in the latter year, Baron Wrangell selected a new site for agricultural purposes, near the mouth of the Slavianka (Russian) River, midway between the Ross settlement and Bodega Bay. About 400 pounds of wheat were sown, together with a small quantity of barley; and besides what was required for home consumption and for seed, there remained as the result of the harvest about 4,500 pounds of wheat and 450 of barley for shipment to Novo Arkhangelsk. The next year’s crop was almost as satisfactory, but that of 1835 was a partial, and of 1836 a total failure. From the latter date until 1840 the surplus of wheat at both settle­ments amounted to about 10,000 pounds, in addition to a few hundred pounds of other cereals.

Other branches of husbandry were introduced, but with little better result, for there were none who thoroughly understood the business. The first peach­tree was brought from San Francisco in 1814, on board the Chirikof, and six years later yielded fruit. In 1817 the grape-vine was introduced from Lima, and in 1820 apple, pear, and cherry trees were planted. The vines began to bear in 1823, and the fruit trees not till five years later, and then in small quantity. Melons and pumpkins were planted by Kuskof, who also raised large quantities of beets, cabbages, potatoes, lettuce, pease, beans, radishes, and turnips. The two last were large in size but poor in flavor. Vegetables, however, gave the most abundant crop, and after supplying the wants of the colony and of vessels that touched at the Ross settlement, a surplus was available for shipment to Novo Arkhangelsk.

The industry of stock-raising was somewhat more successful, though restricted by want of pasture, all the best land being under cultivation. The cattle were left to roam among the mountain ranges, and many were slaughtered by Indians or fell a prey to wild beasts. Nevertheless, between 1817 and 1829 the number of horned cattle that could be mustered at the settlement increased from 61 to 521, of horses from 10 to 253, and of sheep from 161 to 614. During the interval a considerable quantity of live-stock was purchased from the natives, and a few at the San Francisco mission, but more were slaughtered for home consumption, for the use of the company’s vessels, or for shipment to Alaska. During 1826 and the three succeeding years, more than 450 pounds of salt beef were forwarded to Novo Arkhangelsk. Tallow was produced at the rate of 10 to 15 pounds a year. Of butter over 400 pounds were made between 1825 and 1829, two thirds of it being shipped to Novo Arkhangelsk. Hides were made into sole and upper leather, the tanner being an Aleut from Kadiak, who had learned his business from the Russians. An attempt was also made to manufacture blankets, but the wool was of poor quality, and there was no one who understood how to construct a loom.

Between 1825 and 1830 the expense of maintaining the Ross settlement was about 45,000 roubles a year, while the average receipts were less than 13,000 roubles. In later years, though the shipments of produce were on a larger scale, the hunting-grounds became almost worthless. Meanwhile the outlay was largely increased, and during the last four years of its existence the colony was maintained at a total cost of about 288,000 roubles, while the returns were less than 105,000 roubles, leaving a net loss of more than 45,000 roubles a year.

Trade was carried on to a small extent with the Spaniards at San Francisco even before the treaty of 1824, though before that date the Russians were not allowed to enter the harbor for hunting purposes. At the Farallones, however, a station was established, which for a time was fairly profitable. From 1812 to 1818, about 8,400 fur-seal skins were obtained there, and it is stated that, before their occupation by the Russians, as many as 10,000 were taken on these islands in a single autumn. Later the supply was gradually exhausted, but the ground was not finally abandoned until 1840, the few Aleuts left there in charge of a single Russian being employed in shooting and drying sea-gulls for use at the Ross colony and in gathering sea-birds’ eggs.

One of the greatest obstacles to the prosperity of the Ross settlement was that the colonists held no secure title to their possessions. The land had been purchased from the Indians for a trifle; but the Spaniards had never recognized their ownership, and at this time laid claim to the entire coast as far as the strait of San Juan de Fuca. Of the disputes that arose on this point, an account is given in another volume. As early as 1820 the company offered to surrender the colony if restrictions on trade were removed, for they had already begun to despair of its success. In 1838, after the failure of Wrangell’s mission to Mexico, of which mention is made in connection with my History of California, it became evident that the days of the colony were numbered. Already American immigrants had taken up land within ten leagues of the settlement, and others proposed to establish themselves still nearer to Ross. In vain an appeal was made to the vice-chancellor at St Petersburg. His decision was that no claim could be advanced, “other than right to possession of the land already occupied and of the buildings erected thereon.”

This was a death-blow to the company’s hopes. After two unsuccessful attempts to sell the establishment, first to the Hudson’s Bay Company and then to General Vallejo, the entire property at Ross and Bodega, apart from the real estate, including all improvements, agricultural implements, 1,700 head of cattle, 940 horses, and 900 sheep, was sold to John A. Sutter in September 1841, for $30,000, the amount being payable in yearly instalments, and two thirds of it in produce, to be delivered at San Francisco, freight and duty free.

Thus ended, in loss and failure, the company’s schemes of colonization on the coast of New Albion. The experiment had been for thirty years a constant source of expense and vexation; but if the Russians could have maintained their foothold, results might have followed, more brilliant than even Rezanof contemplated. Within a few years after their departure, gold-bearing sands were discovered beyond the ranges of hills which separated from an interior valley the abandoned site of Ross.

CHAPTER XXIV.

FURTHER ATTEMPTS AT FOREIGN COLONIZATION.

1808-1818.