CHAPTER XV.
STRIFE BETWEEN RIVAL COMPANIES.
1791-1794.
Like the Spaniards in Central America and Mexico, no
sooner had the Russians possession of their part of America than they fell to
fighting among themselves. In 1786 the Sv Pavl, of the Lebedef-Lastochkin Company, had come to
Kadiak with thirty-eight men, commanded by Peredovchik Kolomin. Jealous of
intrusion on their recently acquired hunting-ground, the Shelikof party gave
the newcomers a hint to move on, and incautiously pointed to Cook Inlet or the
gulf of Kenai as a profitable region. The result was a permanent establishment
in Alaska, on Kassilof River in that inlet. It consisted of two log buildings
protected by a stockade, and bore the name of St George.
The Shelikof Company already possessed, near the
entrance of the inlet, a fort named Alexandrovsk, which had a more pretentious
appearance. It formed a square with poorly built bastions at two corners, and
displayed the imperial arms over the entrance, which was protected by two guns.
Within were dwelling and store houses, one of them provided with a sentry-box
on the roof. The situation of the other fort higher up the inlet, near the
richer fur region, gave it the advantage in hunting; yet, for a time, friendly
relations continued to exist between the rivals as well as with the natives.
In August 1791 the ship St George, also
belonging to the Lebedef-Lastochkin Company, arrived in the inlet. The
commander of this second expedition was one Grigor Konovalof, and his advent
seems to have been the signal for strife and disorder. His proceedings were
strange from the beginning; he did not land at the mouth of the Kassilof River,
where Kolomin was already established, but went about twenty miles farther, to
the Kaknu, landed his crew of sixty-two Russians, discharged his cargo, beached
his vessel, and began to erect winter quarters and fortifications surrounded
with a stockade and defended by guns. This fort was named St Nicholas. All this
time he neglected to communicate in any manner with the other party of the same
company. Kolomin at last ventured to inquire to what company they belonged. The
answer was brief and insolent, Konovalof claiming that he had been invested
with supreme command, and instructed to seize everything in the hands of
Kolomin, who must henceforth report to him. While ready to believe that such
authority had been conferred, the latter did not choose to surrender either his
men or his furs; but as his term was about ended, he prepared to close his
affairs and transfer the company’s business to his successor after the winter,
in the expectation of sailing for Okhotsk in the spring. While thus engaged, Kolomini’s party was surprised by the arrival of a large
bidar sent by Konovalof, and commanded by Amos Balushin. Without making any
excuse or explanation, Balushin proceeded a short distance up the Kassilof
River, to where Kolomin’s winter supply of dried fish was stored, and carried
all away.
Shortly afterward a party of natives, en route to St George, were intercepted on the Kaknu by Konovalof’s men and robbed of all their effects. This
outrage was repeated on a party from Toyunok, a village on the upper part of
the inlet, no compensation whatever being tendered for the furs taken. Being
anxious to come to some understanding, Kolomin went out to meet his rival, but
the interview was brought to an end by Konovalof firing off his pistol, without
injury, however, to any one. After this Kolomin considered the country in a
state of war, kept constant watch, and posted sentries. Moreover, there was
fear that the savages, who could not fail to notice the quarrels between the
Russians, might attack the weaker with a view to capturing the furs gathered by
Kolomin during his residence of four years among them. Konovalof aggravated the
situation by sending men to press some of Kolomin’s kayurs,
or native servants, into his own service, and the former on meeting with
objections threatened to fire on the other party. The ease with which this
outrage was perpetrated encouraged another attack with a larger force, during
which the remaining servants and the hostages were carried off, so that Kolomin
had to send both for fresh recruits and for provisions. Even in this effort he
met with trouble, for Lossef, the faithful lieutenant
of Konovalof, dogged his footsteps, intercepted most of the levy, and
maltreated the messengers.
Kolomin had already complained to the Shelikof Company
of this persecution, and as soon as the ice broke up on the inlet he proceeded
to Kadiak, to confirm his previous report and urge Baranof to occupy the whole
gulf. He advanced the opinion that, unless some responsible power interfered at
once, all which he and his men had accomplished toward pacifying the natives
and building up a profitable trade would be lost. Baranof by no means felt
inclined to interfere between rival agents, particularly since the aggressive
party would evidently not hesitate at shedding the blood even of their own
countrymen; not that he lacked the courage, but he feared to risk his company’s
interests and men in fratricidal war, which might also arouse 'the natives.
Moreover, his patron Shelikof possessed shares in the other company, and he
preferred to report to him so that the matter might be settled by the
principals. At the same time, however, he sent a warning to the St Nicholas
people that he, as representative of one of the partners in the Lebedef
Company, could not allow any aggressive measures that might be prejudicial to
trade. This had the effect of greatly tempering the feeling of the St Nicholas
party against Kolomin’s men as of their own company, but directed their
hostility against the rival company. They declared that the whole territory
bordering upon the gulf of Kenaï belonged exclusively to the Lebedef Company,
ignoring all previous arrangements between their acknowledged head and
Shelikof. They certainly controlled nearly all the trade, and to this end they
had erected another station higher up the inlet, on the western shore, and
placed there a score of Russians.
Robbery and brutal outrages continued to be the order
of the day, though now committed chiefly for the purpose of obtaining sole
control of the inlet, to the neglect of legitimate pursuits. Meanwhile
Kolomin’s men managed to hold their own, and, as the persecution of the
Konovalof party gradually relaxed, their sympathies actually turned toward the
latter in their effort to oust the Shelikof men from the field.
Thus the history of Cook Inlet during the last decade
of the eighteenth century is replete with romantic incidents—midnight raids,
ambuscades, and open warfare—resembling the doings of mediaeval raubritters, rather than the exploits of peaceable
traders. The leaders lived in rude comfort at the fortified stations,
surrounded by a dusky harem containing contributions from the various native
villages within the peredovtchik’s jurisdiction. Offences against the dignity
of the latter were punished quickly and effectually with the lash or
confinement in irons or the stocks, if the offender had not too many friends
among the Russian promyshleniki, and with extreme severity, verging upon
cruelty, in cases where the culprit belonged to the unfortunate class of kayurs. The Russians did little work beyond the regular
guard duty, and even that was sometimes left to trusted individuals among the
native workmen and hangers-on of the station.
All manual labor was performed by natives, especially
by the female ‘hostages,’ and children of chiefs from distant villages left at
the stations by their parents to be instructed in Russian life and manners. The
training which they were forced to undergo, far from exercising any civilizing
influence, resulted only in making them deceitful, cunning, and more vicious
than they had been before. Every Russian there was a monarch, who if he wanted
ease took it, or if spoils, the word was given to prepare for an expedition.
Then food was prepared by the servants, and the boats made ready, while the
masters attended to their arms and equipments. The
women and children were intrusted to the care of a
few superannuated hunters left to guard the station, and the brave little band
would set out upon its depredations, caring little whether they were Indians or
Russians who should become their victims. The strangest part of it all was, that
the booty secured was duly accounted for among the earnings of the company.
Affairs were assuming a serious aspect. Not only were
the Shelikof men excluded from the greater part of the inlet, but they were
opposed in their advance round Prince William Sound, which was also claimed by
the Lebedef faction, though the Orckhof and other
companies were hunting there. The station which the Lebedef men made their base
of operations was situated on Nuchek Island, at Port Etches, and consisted of
the usual stockade, enclosing dwelling and store houses.10 In support of his
claims, Konovalof declared that he possessed government credentials granting to
his company exclusive right to all the mainland region. Yet he refused to
exhibit even copies of such documents. Finding the Shelikof men disposed to
yield, the others began to encroach also on the limited district round the
Shelikof settlement, near the entrance to Cook Inlet, by erecting a post on
Kuchekmak Bay, and the natives were forbidden, under pain of death, from
trading with their rivals. From this post they watched the movements of the Shelikof
men with a view to circumvent them. Forty bidarkas under Kotelnikof were intercepted, and although a number escaped, a portion of the crew,
including the leader, was captured. Another party under Galaktianof,
on the way from Prince William Sound, was chased by a large force, and efforts
were made to attack Baranof himself. It was not proposed to keep the Russians
prisoners, but merely to seize the furs and enslave all natives employed by
Shelikof in the interdicted region. Fortunately Baranof had left the sound
before the raiders arrived, and they passed on to the eastern shore, there to
encroach on the trade established with the Yakutat Kaljushes by the Shelikof
men, who held hostages from three of the villages. Not long after came Balushin
with a stronger force; and one day, when the chief of one of the villages had
set out upon a hunt with nearly all the grown males, the Russians entered it
and carried off the women and children to a neighboring island. They also made
inroads on the northern part of the Alaskan peninsula which had been brought
into friendly relations through Bocharof. Out of four
friendly villages in Ilyamna and Nushagak, they
plundered two and carried the people into captivity.
Their success was due partly to the personal bravery and
superior dash of the men. Baranof freely acknowledged in later years that,
individually, the promyshleniki of the Lebedef Company were superior to those
under his command at the beginning of his administration; and according to
Berg, he ventured to assert that, had he commanded such men as Lebedef’s vessels brought to the shores of Cook Inlet and
Prince William Sound, he would have conquered the whole north-western coast of
America.
Toward the end of 1793 Baranof had received a small reenforcement with the Orel, so that after deducting
the loss by drowning and other casualties, one hundred and fifty-two men were
left to him. The number of the Lebedef men is not recorded, but it cannot have
been much inferior, for reenforcements had come in
the Sv Ivan. The latter occupied an
admirable strategic position, with control of two great navigable estuaries and
other places offering easy communication and access to supplies. They were also
better provided with goods and ship-stores than Shelikof’s company.
It was not so much these advantages of his
assailants, however, that kept Baranof from energetic measures against them,
but rather a consideration for the different interests of his patron, and for
the lives of his countrymen. He was awaiting an answer to his reports from
Siberia. This forbearance served only to encourage the other party, as we have
seen, till at last Baranof’s patience was exhausted. With the report of a fray
between the rival posts on the inlet came the rumor that the shipyard at Voskressenski
Harbor was to be taken, and this appeared probable from the special animosity
shown to the Englishmen there engaged. When not absolutely needed at the yard,
they were sent to explore; and on several of these occasions they had been set
upon, robbed, and ill-treated, sometimes narrowly escaping with their lives.
Baranof now hastened to the spot, and observing the
need for interference, assumed the peremptory tone of one invested with
authority. He sent a letter to Konovalof, then at his stockade at St Nicholas
on the Kaknu River, with a summons to appear at once before him, stating that
he had been authorized by the governor of Siberia to settle all disputes
between rival traders. He expected soon to be invested with such powers, in
answer to the urgent petitions of Shelikof and his partners, and thought that he
might exercise the privilege in advance. This had its effect. Without
suspecting that the order had no more foundation than his own boasted rights to
possession, the conscience-stricken man hastened to obey what was supposed to
be an official summons. He appeared before Baranof and offered apologies for
his conduct, but the latter would listen to no explanation; he placed him in
irons, and kept him under close guard until Ismailof arrived with his vessels, when not only the ringleader but seven of his companions
who had also tendered their submission were taken to Kadiak and placed in
confinement.
Finally Konovalof was made to answer at Okhotsk, but
before a lenient committee, so that he readily managed to clear himself, and
was restored to a command in Alaska. Meanwhile Stepan Zaikof had succeeded him as chief at St Nicholas. Kolomin still held his command and
Balushin controlled the establishment on Nuchek.
While Baranof’s firmness served to check the
perpetration of extreme abuses, a certain hostility continued to be exhibited
for some time. The evil was too deeply rooted to be eradicated all at once, but
harmony was gradually restored, partly through the influential mediation of
Archimandrite Ioassof, who arrived soon after as leader of a missionary party.
At the same time came a large reenforcement for
Baranof, with authority to form settlements in any part of Alaska, and right to
claim the country for five hundred versts round such settlements, within which
limits no other company could set foot. Against such power the Lebedef faction
could not possibly prevail, particularly since Shelikof positively instructed
Baranof to use both force and cunning to remove the rivals. Reverses also
overtook them, and a few years later they abandoned the field.
It was indeed time that Baranof should assert himself,
for the insolence and outrages of the aggressors had created general discontent
among the tribes. Those of Lake Skilakh were actually plotting the destruction
of all Russians on the Kenaï peninsula, and to this end they endeavored to
bridge over the old feud between them and the Chugatsches of Prince William
Sound; receiving also encouragement from the treacherous tribes on the other
side of the inlet, from Katmai northward, who had successfully opposed all
attempts to form Russian settlements in their midst. The measures now taken by
Baranof to maintain better order and reassure the natives, as well as the coup
de main with Konovalof, which added not
a little to advance his influence, served to check the threatened uprising. His
assertion of authority was equally necessary among his own subordinates, whose
loyalty had been corrupted by the insinuations of emissaries from the other
camp, and whose respect for their chief had begun to wane under his forbearance
toward the rivals, whereby numerous hardships were entailed upon them through
loss of trade and curtailment of rations. He assembled the men, represented to
them the obligations to which they had voluntarily subscribed when engaged, and
showed the evil they were inflicting also on themselves by discontent, want of
harmony, and refusal to do the required work. He had full power to arrest those
who refused implicit obedience, and he would use that power. Those who had
complaints. should present them, and he would seek to redress their wrongs.
This firm speech, together with a liberal distribution of liquor, had a
wonderful effect, and thus by means of a little determined self-assertion
Baranof established for himself an undisputed authority, with a reputation as a
leader of men.
The party war ended, Baranof breathed freely once
more, and 1794 witnessed a decided impulse to his different enterprises. The
most notable of these was the one intrusted to Purtof
and Kulikatof for operating in Yakutat Bay, of which
a preceding visit had brought most encouraging reports. Preparations were made on
a large scale. The station on Cook Inlet had been appointed as a rendezvous,
and on the 7th of May a fleet of five hundred bidarkas assembled there,
bringing natives from Kadiak, Kenaï, the Alaskan peninsula, and the nearest Chugatsch villages. More boats and men were to be collected
at Prince William Sound, where Baranof had gone in person to levy forces. All
these were arranged in subdivisions, each in charge of a Russian.
At Voskressenski Bay the Yakutat expedition was
furnished with additional trading goods and some guns and ammunition. After
being delayed at Grekof Island till the 22d of May, Purtof set out with his
whole fleet for the mouth of Copper River, intending to pass by Nuchek Island,
where the Lebedef Company was then established. At the eastern point of
Montague Island they were intercepted by some Lebedef hunters in bidarkas, who
presented a letter from Balushin and Kolomin. This document warned Purtof not to
encroach upon any territory already occupied by the other company. The
messengers were instructed to add, that they had established an artel of twenty
Russians at Tatitliatzk village on the gulf of Chugatsch, and also at the mouth of Copper River, and that
the Shelikof hunters must not advance in that direction. Without allowing
himself to be intimidated, Purtof informed the messengers that he was on his
way to the American continent in pursuance of secret orders from the
government. In hunting sea-otters he would not touch upon any ground occupied
by others.
The following evening, while preparing to camp for the
night on a small island adjoining Nuchek, he discovered a party of eight
Lebedef hunters near by and invited them to supper, after which the time passed
in friendly exchange of news. Early in the morning, however, before the Lebedef
men were stirring, Purtof moved silently away with his force and made a quick
passage to the second mouth of Copper River, and there fell in with Chugatsches
who had been trading with the Lebedef men at Nuchek. Finding that no station or
regular hunting party of the Lebedef Company existed here, he took his party to Kaniak Island, near the river, purposing to lay in a
supply of halibut as provisions, and to hunt sea-otters. Over a hundred skins
were obtained the fist day, but the second day’s hunt proved entirely futile
and the expedition moved northward along the coast of the mainland.
On the 31st of May the whole party encamped on the
beach, and within a short distance of a large Aglegmute village, though without
being aware of the fact. During the night some of the hunters became alarmed at
the sound of numerous voices proceeding from the woods. An armed detachment
composed of the most courageous ventured to penetrate into the forest, and,
guided by the smell of smoke and the cries of children, made their way to the
village, which was situated on the opposite side of a river. During the
confusion occasioned by their unexpected arrival, they succeeded in capturing
the chief and his brother, and then made good their retreat to the camp. One of
their number, however, a Kadiak interpreter, was intercepted and killed by the
natives. The chief and his brother were taken to the camp, treated to food and
drink, and piled with presents, until they promised to call together their
people the following day to negotiate with the Russians. The brother was
commissioned to arrange o the matter, and by the 3d of June all of the
Aglegmute tribe dwelling in that vicinity came to the camp. With the help of a
judicious distribution of presents, Purtof succeeded in prevailing upon the
savages to seven hostages, including two natives of Yakutat Bay.
As soon as the weather permitted, Purtof proceeded to
Icy Bay, called Natchik by the natives, and by the 10th of June his hunters had
secured four hundred sea-otter skins, all that could be obtained. The party
then moved on to Yakutat Bay, accompanied by the Aglegmute chief of the tribe,
and a Kadiak native who spoke the Kaljush language. These two were sent in
advance to assure the people of the peaceful character of the expedition. The
chief soon returned from the Yakutat village with the son of the Kaljush
chieftain and three others as hostages, profusely ornamented with beads, furs,
and feathers. The interpreter had been detained as hostage on the other side,
but it was found necessary to surrender also a Russian ere confidence could be
established. Accompanied by fifteen of his best warriors, the Kaljush chief
then proceeded in state to the camp, and after the usual ceremonies
negotiations began in earnest. Purtof declared that the Russians desired to
live in friendship with them, and the chief, who probably had been plied with
strong drink, made a formal present to his new allies of the southern portion
of the bay and the small islands situated therein. The feelings of the latter
underwent a change, however, when he came to reflect on the advantage gained by
his visitors, and found that they also hunted on their own account, venturing
far out to sea where the clumsier canoes of the Kaljush dared not follow. He
and his followers were ready to trade, but they objected to see their stock of
fur seals exhausted by strangers without any benefit to themselves.
Trouble appeared, indeed, to be brewing, but the
arrival of the Chatham of Vancouver’s expedition, under Lieutenant
Puget, served to prevent any disturbance. Purtof maintained a most friendly
intercourse with the English, to whom he also tendered provisions, and received
in acknowledgment letters of commendation. Through some of the sailors it was
understood that English war-vessels might appear within two years to take
possession of Cook Inlet and other places, and, unworthy of credit as this
report was, it failed not to be transmitted to the government by the somewhat
agitated fur traders. Vancouver himself held a much higher opinion, both of
their territorial lights and control of trade, than a clearer view of affairs
might have conveyed, for he was ignorant of their dissensions, and regarded all
as united in one common interest; while the sight of the large native fleets
controlled by Purtof must have exalted the idea of their influence and of their
ability to distance competitors. The departure of Vancouver’s expedition was no
doubt a great relief to Baranof at least, who appears to have been afraid of
his coming across the English shipwrights, and luring them away ere he could
dispense with their services.
While the Chatham remained, Purtof’s command occupied a position near the anchorage. Other parties of natives
arrived from the interior of the bay and from Ltua,
giving occasion for further feasting, presents, and exchange of hostages. The
large number of guns, and the abundance of lead and powder in the possession of
these new arrivals, pointed to visits from European trading vessels, and at
this very time the Jackall, Captain Brown,
entered the bay in quest of furs, to the deep chagrin of Purtof.
As soon as the war-vessel departed, the treacherous
Kaljushes assumed a threatening attitude; and delayed from day to day the
promised delivery of additional hostages under various pretexts. At the same
time the interpreters left with the savages at the beginning of the
negotiations were held under strict surveillance, and not allowed to
communicate with their countrymen. At last Purtof decided upon a display of
force to support his demands for the surrender of his own men at least, and
approached the village in bidarkas with all the armed men at his command. The
squadron was reenforced by a boat with six armed men from the Jackall.
The presence of the Englishmen had no doubt an effect,
for the interview resulted in the surrender of a chief from Afognak Island,
with a promise to deliver up the remaining hostages.
On the following day came eight men in a large bidar,
bringing three more natives of Kadiak, but two were still detained. Fearing
that foul play was intended, Purtof detained some relatives of the Yakutat
chief, and carried the hostages whom he held from the Aglegmutes on board the Jackall for safe keeping. This
reprisal proved effectual; the necessary exchange of hostages was made, and,
after expressing his thanks to Captain Brown, Purtof took his party out of the
bay of Yakutat with five hundred and fifteen sea-otter skins obtained in a
little over two weeks.
On the return voyage, while the expeditionary force
was encamped on an island near Nuchek, Purtof despatched a letter to Repin, of the Lebedef Company, informing him that he had explored
the coast of the continent and pacified the natives of several villages by
exchanging hostages. He offered to verify this statement, and on the appearance
of Samoilof, the navigator of the Lebedef Company, allowed him to talk freely
with the interpreters, and to copy a list of the villages and chiefs from whom
he had obtained hostages. This would seem to be a strange proceeding in view of
the hostility between the two parties, but it was of the greatest importance
for the Shelikof Company, at that juncture, to make good their claim of
precedence on the continent, in view of the impending grant of exclusive
imperial privileges.
The success of Purtof, who brought with him a promise
from the Thlinkeet chief of a large supply of
sea-otter skins for the next visit, resulted in the despatch of another expedition the following year, under Zaikof,
who commanded a sea-going vessel. The chief failed to fulfil his promise, and
the Russians had to content themselves with the sea-otters captured by their
native hunters on the bay. Four hundred skins were secured, and the hunters
prepared to follow up their success, regardless of the manifest ill-feeling of
the bay people, which threatened to become more bitter than during the former
visit. What the result may have been is difficult to say, for just then two
Aleuts were seized with small-pox, and panic-stricken the party hastened away. Zaikof now steered in search of islands reported to exist
between Kadiak and the continent to the east. He ranged for over a month to the
southward and again to the north, until, sighting the snow-clad peaks of the Chugatsch alps and the Kenaï mountains, he was forced to
admit the futility of his quest.
|