The development of the lands of America by the Russian Empire. Russians in Alaska. 100 years of colonization of the American coast

History of Alaska

The first inhabitants of Alaska came to the territory of the modern US state about 15 or 20,000 years ago - they moved from Eurasia to North America through the isthmus that then connected the two continents in the place where the Bering Strait is today.

By the time the Europeans arrived in Alaska, several peoples inhabited it, including the Tsimshians, Haida and Tlingit, Aleuts and Athabaskans, as well as the Eskimos, Inupiat and Yupik. But all modern natives of Alaska and Siberia have common ancestors - their genetic relationship has already been proven.

Discovery of Alaska by Russian explorers

History has not preserved the name of the first European who set foot on the land of Alaska. But at the same time, it is very likely that it was a member of the Russian expedition. Perhaps it was the expedition of Semyon Dezhnev in 1648. It is possible that in 1732 members of the crew of the small ship "Saint Gabriel", who explored Chukotka, landed on the coast of the North American continent.

However, the official discovery of Alaska is July 15, 1741 - on this day, from one of the ships of the Second Kamchatka Expedition, the famous explorer Vitus Bering saw the land. It was Prince of Wales Island, which is located in the southeast of Alaska.

Subsequently, the island, the sea and the strait between Chukotka and Alaska were named after Vitus Bering. Assessing the scientific and political results of the second expedition of V. Bering, the Soviet historian A.V. Efimov recognized them as huge, because during the Second Kamchatka expedition, the American coast for the first time in history was reliably mapped as “part of North America”. However, the Russian Empress Elizabeth did not show any noticeable interest in the lands of North America. She issued a decree obliging the local population to pay a fee for trade, but did not take any further steps towards developing relations with Alaska.

However, the attention of Russian industrialists came to the sea otters living in coastal waters - sea otters. Their fur was considered one of the most valuable in the world, so sea otters were extremely profitable. So by 1743, Russian traders and fur hunters had established close contact with the Aleuts.

Development of Russian Alaska: North-Eastern Company

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subsequent years Russian travelers repeatedly landed on the islands of Alaska, fished for sea otters and traded with local residents, and even entered into skirmishes with them.

In 1762, Empress Catherine the Great ascended the Russian throne. Her government turned its attention back to Alaska. In 1769, the duty on trade with the Aleuts was abolished. The development of Alaska went by leaps and bounds. In 1772 on large island Unalaska founded the first Russian trading settlement. Another 12 years later, in 1784, an expedition under the command of Grigory Shelikhov landed on the Aleutian Islands, which founded the Russian settlement of Kodiak in the Bay of Three Saints.

The Irkutsk merchant Grigory Shelikhov, a Russian explorer, navigator and industrialist, glorified his name in history by the fact that since 1775 he was engaged in the arrangement of commercial merchant shipping between the Kuril and Aleutian island ridges as the founder of the North-East Company.

His associates arrived in Alaska on three galliots, "Three Saints", "St. Simeon" and "St. Michael". "Shelikhovtsy" begin to intensively develop the island. They subdue the local Eskimos (Konyags), try to develop agriculture by planting turnips and potatoes, and also conduct spiritual activities, converting the indigenous people to their faith. Orthodox missionaries made a tangible contribution to the development of Russian America.

The colony on Kodiak functioned relatively successfully until the early 90s of the XVIII century. In 1792, the city, which was named Pavlovsk Harbor, was moved to a new location - this was the result of a powerful tsunami that damaged the Russian settlement.

Russian-American company

With the merger of the companies of merchants G.I. Shelikhova, I.I. and M.S. Golikovs and N.P. Mylnikov in 1798-99, a single "Russian-American Company" was created. From Paul I, who ruled Russia at that time, she received monopoly rights to fur trade, trade and the discovery of new lands in the northeastern part Pacific Ocean. The company was called upon to represent and defend with its own means the interests of Russia in the Pacific Ocean, and was under the "highest patronage." Since 1801, Alexander I and the Grand Dukes, major statesmen have become shareholders of the company. The main board of the company was located in St. Petersburg, but in fact the management of all affairs was carried out from Irkutsk, where Shelikhov lived.

Alexander Baranov became the first governor of Alaska under the control of the RAC. During the years of his reign, the boundaries of Russian possessions in Alaska expanded significantly, new Russian settlements arose. Redoubts appeared in the Kenai and Chugatsky bays. The construction of Novorossiysk in Yakutat Bay began. In 1796, moving south along the coast of America, the Russians reached the island of Sitka.

The basis of the economy of Russian America was still the fishing of sea animals: sea otters, sea lions, which was carried out with the support of the Aleuts.

Russian Indian War

However, the indigenous people did not always meet the Russian settlers with open arms. Having reached the island of Sitka, the Russians ran into fierce resistance from the Tlingit Indians, and in 1802 the Russo-Indian War broke out. Control of the island and fishing for sea otters in coastal waters became the cornerstone of the conflict.

The first skirmish on the mainland took place on May 23, 1802. In June, a detachment of 600 Indians, led by the leader Katlian, attacked the Mikhailovsky fortress on the island of Sitka. By June, during the ensuing series of attacks, the 165-member Sitka Party had been completely crushed. The English brig Unicorn, which sailed into the area a little later, helped the miraculously surviving Russians to escape. The loss of Sitka was a severe blow to the Russian colonies and personally to Governor Baranov. The total losses of the Russian-American Company amounted to 24 Russians and 200 Aleuts.

In 1804, Baranov moved from Yakutat to conquer Sitka. After a long siege and shelling of the fortress occupied by the Tlingits, on October 8, 1804, the Russian flag was raised over the native settlement. The construction of a fort and a new settlement began. Soon the city of Novo-Arkhangelsk grew up here.

However, on August 20, 1805, the Eyak warriors of the Tlahaik-Tekuedi clan and their Tlingit allies burned Yakutat and killed the Russians and Aleuts who remained there. In addition, at the same time, in a distant sea crossing, they got into a storm and about 250 more people died. The fall of Yakutat and the death of Demyanenkov's party became another heavy blow for the Russian colonies. An important economic and strategic base on the coast of America was lost.

Further confrontation continued until 1805, when a truce was concluded with the Indians and the RAC tried to fish in the waters of the Tlingit in large numbers under the cover of Russian warships. However, the Tlingits even then opened fire from guns, already at the beast, which made fishing almost impossible.

As a result of Indian attacks, 2 Russian fortresses and a village in Southeast Alaska were destroyed, about 45 Russians and more than 230 natives died. All this for several years stopped the advance of the Russians in southbound along the northwest coast of America. The Indian threat further fettered the RAC forces in the region of the Alexander Archipelago and did not allow the systematic colonization of Southeast Alaska to begin. However, after the cessation of fishing in the lands of the Indians, relations improved somewhat, and the RAC resumed trade with the Tlingit and even allowed them to restore their ancestral village near Novoarkhangelsk.

It should be noted that the complete settlement of relations with the Tlingit took place two hundred years later - in October 2004, an official peace ceremony was held between the Kiksadi clan and Russia.

The Russo-Indian War secured Alaska for Russia, but limited the further advance of the Russians deep into America.

Under the control of Irkutsk

Grigory Shelikhov had already died by this time: he died in 1795. His place in the management of the RAC and Alaska was taken by the son-in-law and legal heir of the Russian-American Company, Count Nikolai Petrovich Ryazanov. In 1799, he received from the ruler of Russia, Emperor Paul I, the right to monopoly the American fur trade.

Nikolai Rezanov was born in 1764 in St. Petersburg, but after some time his father was appointed chairman of the civil chamber of the provincial court in Irkutsk. Rezanov himself serves in the Life Guards of the Izmailovsky Regiment, and is even personally responsible for the protection of Catherine II, but in 1791 he was also assigned to Irkutsk. Here he was supposed to inspect the activities of Shelikhov's company.

In Irkutsk, Rezanov met "Columbus Rossky": that was how contemporaries called Shelikhov, the founder of the first Russian settlements in America. In an effort to strengthen his position, Shelikhov marries his eldest daughter, Anna, for Rezanov. Thanks to this marriage, Nikolai Rezanov received the right to participate in the affairs of the family company and became a co-owner of huge capital, and the bride from a merchant family - the family coat of arms and all the privileges of the titled Russian nobility. From that moment on, the fate of Rezanov is closely connected with Russian America. And his young wife (Anna was 15 years old at the time of marriage) died a few years later.

RAC activity was unique phenomenon in the history of Russia at that time. It was the first such a large monopoly organization with fundamentally new forms of doing business that took into account the specifics of the Pacific fur trade. Today, this would be called a public-private partnership: merchants, resellers and fishermen closely interacted with the state authorities. Such a need was dictated by the moment: firstly, the distances between the areas of fishing and marketing were huge. Secondly, the practice of using equity capital was approved: financial flows from people who had no direct relation to it were involved in the fur trade. The government partly regulated these relations and supported them. The fortunes of merchants and the fate of people who went to the ocean for "soft gold" often depended on his position.

And in the interests of the state was the speedy development of economic relations with China and the establishment of a further path to the East. The new Minister of Commerce N.P. Rumyantsev presented two notes to Alexander I, where he described the advantages of this direction: until the Russians themselves pave the way to Canton.” Rumyantsev foresaw the benefits of opening trade with Japan "not only for American villages, but for the entire northern region of Siberia" and proposed using a round-the-world expedition to send "an embassy to the Japanese court" led by a person "with abilities and knowledge of political and commercial affairs" . Historians believe that even then he meant Nikolai Rezanov as such a person, since it was assumed that upon completion of the Japanese mission, he would go to survey Russian possessions in America.

Around the world Rezanov

Rezanov knew about the planned expedition already in the spring of 1803. “Now I am preparing for a campaign,” she wrote in a private letter. - Two merchant ships, bought in London, are given to my superiors. They are equipped with a decent crew, guard officers are assigned to the mission with me, and in general an expedition has been set up for the journey. My journey from Kronstadt to Portsmouth, from there to Tenerife, then to Brazil and, bypassing Cape Horn, to Valpareso, from there to the Sandwich Islands, finally to Japan, and in 1805 wintering in Kamchatka. From there I will go to Unalaska, to Kodiak, to Prince William Sound and go down to Nootka, from which I will return to Kodiak and, loaded with goods, I will go to Canton, to the Philippine Islands ... I will return around the Cape of Good Hope.

In the meantime, the RAC took on the service of Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern and entrusted two ships, called Nadezhda and Neva, to his "bosses". In a special supplement, the board announced the appointment of N.P. Rezanov as the head of the embassy to Japan and authorized "his full master's face not only during the voyage, but also in America."

“The Russian-American company,” reported the Hamburg Vedomosti (No. 137, 1802), “is zealous about the expansion of its trade, which in time will be very useful for Russia, and is now engaged in a great enterprise, important not only for commerce, but also for the honor of the Russian people, namely, she equips two ships that will be loaded in Petersburg with food, anchors, ropes, sails, etc., and should sail to the northwestern shores of America in order to supply the Russian colonies on the Aleutian Islands with these needs, to load there with furs, exchange them in China for its goods, establish a colony on Urup, one of the Kuril Islands, for the most convenient trade with Japan, go from there to the Cape of Good Hope, and return to Europe. Only Russians will be on these ships. The emperor approved the plan, ordered to select the best naval officers and sailors for the success of this expedition, which will be the first Russian trip around the world.

The historian Karamzin wrote the following about the expedition and the attitude of various circles of Russian society towards it: “Anglomans and Gallomaniacs, who wish to be called cosmopolitans, think that the Russians should trade locally. Peter thought differently - he was Russian at heart and a patriot. We stand on the ground and on Russian land, we look at the world not through the glasses of taxonomists, but with our natural eyes, we also need the development of the fleet and industry, enterprise and daring. In Vestnik Evropy, Karamzin printed letters from officers who had gone on a voyage, and all of Russia awaited this news with trepidation.

On August 7, 1803, exactly 100 years after the founding of St. Petersburg and Kronstadt by Peter, the Nadezhda and the Neva weighed anchor. The circumnavigation has begun. Through Copenhagen, Falmouth, Tenerife to the coast of Brazil, and then around Cape Horn, the expedition reached the Marquesas and by June 1804 - the Hawaiian Islands. Here the ships separated: "Nadezhda" went to Petropavlovsk-on-Kamchatka, and "Neva" went to Kodiak Island. When Nadezhda arrived in Kamchatka, preparations began for an embassy to Japan.

Reza new in Japan

Leaving Petropavlovsk on August 27, 1804, Nadezhda headed southwest. A month later, the shores of northern Japan appeared in the distance. A great celebration took place on the ship, the participants of the expedition were awarded silver medals. However, the joy turned out to be premature: due to the abundance of errors in the charts, the ship embarked on the wrong course. In addition, a severe storm began, in which the Nadezhda was badly damaged, but, fortunately, she managed to stay afloat, despite serious damage. And on September 28, the ship entered the port of Nagasaki.

However, here again difficulties arose: a Japanese official who met the expedition stated that the entrance to the Nagasaki harbor was open only to Dutch ships, and for others it was impossible without a special order from the Japanese emperor. Fortunately, Rezanov had such permission. And despite the fact that Alexander I secured the consent of the Japanese "colleague" 12 years ago, access to the harbor for the Russian ship, albeit with some bewilderment, was open. True, "Nadezhda" was obliged to issue gunpowder, cannons and all firearms, sabers and swords, of which only one can be provided to the ambassador. Rezanov knew about such Japanese laws for foreign ships and agreed to hand over all weapons, except for the swords of officers and the guns of his personal guard.

However, several more months of sophisticated diplomatic treaties passed before the ship was allowed to come close to the Japanese coast, and the envoy Rezanov himself was allowed to move to land. The team, all this time, until the end of December, continued to live on board. An exception was provided only for astronomers who made their observations - they were allowed to land on the ground. At the same time, the Japanese vigilantly watched the sailors and the embassy. They were even forbidden to send letters to their homeland with a Dutch ship leaving for Batavia. Only the envoy was allowed to write a brief report to Alexander I about a safe voyage.

The envoy and the persons of his retinue had to live in honorable imprisonment for four months, until the very departure from Japan. Only occasionally Rezanov could see our sailors and the director of the Dutch trading post. Rezanov, however, did not waste time: he diligently continued his studies in Japanese, simultaneously compiling two manuscripts (“A Concise Russian-Japanese Manual” and a dictionary containing more than five thousand words), which Rezanov later wanted to transfer to the Navigation School in Irkutsk. Subsequently, they were published by the Academy of Sciences.

Only on April 4, Rezanov's first audience with one of the high-ranking local dignitaries took place, who brought the Japanese Emperor's response to the message of Alexander I. The answer read: “The ruler of Japan is extremely surprised by the arrival of the Russian embassy; the emperor cannot accept the embassy, ​​and does not want correspondence and trade with the Russians and asks the ambassador to leave Japan.

Rezanov, in turn, noted that, although it is not for him to judge which of the emperors is more powerful, he considers the response of the Japanese ruler to be bold and emphasized that the offer of trade relations between countries from Russia was rather a mercy "out of common philanthropy." The dignitaries, embarrassed by such pressure, proposed to postpone the audience until another day, when the envoy would not be so excited.

The second audience was quieter. The dignitaries generally denied any possibility of cooperation with other countries, including trade, as prohibited by the fundamental law, and, moreover, explained it by their inability to undertake a response embassy. Then a third audience took place, during which the parties undertook to provide each other with written answers. But this time, too, the position of the Japanese government remained unchanged: referring to formal reasons and tradition, Japan firmly decided to maintain its former isolation. Rezanov drew up a memorandum to the Japanese government in connection with the refusal to establish trade relations and returned to Nadezhda.

Some historians see the reasons for the failure of the diplomatic mission in the ardor of the count himself, others suspect that the intrigues of the Dutch side, who wanted to maintain their priority in relations with Japan, were to blame for everything, but after almost seven months in Nagasaki on April 18, 1805, the Nadezhda weighed anchor and went out to the open sea.

The Russian ship was forbidden to continue to approach Japanese shores. However, Kruzenshtern nevertheless devoted another three months to the study of those places that La Perouse had not previously studied enough. He was going to clarify geographical position all Japanese islands, most of the coasts of Korea, the western coast of the island of Iessoy and the coast of Sakhalin, describe the coast of the Aniva and Patience bays and conduct a study of the Kuril Islands. A significant part of this huge plan was carried out.

Having completed the description of Aniva Bay, Kruzenshtern continued his work on marine surveys. east coast Sakhalin to Cape Patience, but should soon turn them off, as the ship encountered large accumulations of ice. Nadezhda with great difficulty entered the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and a few days later, overcoming bad weather, returned to the Peter and Paul harbor.

The envoy Rezanov transferred to the vessel of the Russian-American company "Maria", on which he went to the main base of the company on Kodiak Island, near Alaska, where he was supposed to streamline the organization of local management of colonies and fisheries.

Rezanov in Alaska

As the "owner" of the Russian-American company, Nikolai Rezanov delved into all the subtleties of management. He was struck by the fighting spirit of the Baranovites, the tirelessness, efficiency of Baranov himself. But there were more than enough difficulties: there was not enough food - famine was approaching, the land was infertile, there were not enough bricks for construction, there was no mica for windows, copper, without which it was impossible to equip the ship, was considered a terrible rarity.

Rezanov himself wrote in a letter from Sitka: “We all live very closely; but our purchaser of these places lives the worst of all, in some kind of plank yurt, filled with dampness to the point that every day the mold is wiped off and at the local heavy rains from all sides like a sieve of the current. Wonderful person! He cares only about the quiet room of others, but about himself he is careless to the point that one day I found his bed floating and asked if the wind had torn off the side board of the temple somewhere? No, he answered calmly, apparently it had flowed towards me from the square, and continued his orders.

The population of Russian America, as Alaska was called, grew very slowly. In 1805, the number of Russian colonists was about 470 people, in addition, a significant number of Indians depended on the company (according to Rezanov's census, there were 5,200 of them on Kodiak Island). The people who served in the company's institutions were mostly violent people, for which Nikolai Petrovich aptly called the Russian settlements a "drunken republic."

He did a lot to improve the life of the population: he resumed the work of the school for boys, and sent some of them to study in Irkutsk, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. A school for girls for one hundred pupils was also established. He founded a hospital, which could be used by both Russian employees and natives, and a court was established. Rezanov insisted that all Russians living in the colonies should learn the language of the natives, and he himself compiled dictionaries of the Russian-Kodiak and Russian-Unalash languages.

Having familiarized himself with the state of affairs in Russian America, Rezanov quite correctly decided that the way out and salvation from hunger was in organizing trade with California, in the foundation of a Russian settlement there, which would supply Russian America with bread and dairy products. By that time, the population of Russian America, according to the Rezanov census, carried out in the Unalashkinsky and Kodiaksky departments, was 5234 people.

"Juno and Avos"

It was decided to sail to California immediately. For this, one of the two ships that arrived in Sitka was purchased from the Englishman Wolfe for 68 thousand piastres. The ship "Juno" was purchased along with a cargo of provisions on board, the products were transferred to the settlers. And the ship itself under the Russian flag sailed for California on February 26, 1806.

Upon arrival in California, Rezanov subdued the commandant of the fortress Jose Dario Arguello with court manners and charmed his daughter, fifteen-year-old Concepción. It is not known whether the mysterious and beautiful 42-year-old foreigner confessed to her that he had already been married once and would become a widow, but the girl was smitten.

Of course, Conchita, like many young girls of all times and peoples, dreamed of meeting a handsome prince. It is not surprising that Commander Rezanov, his chamberlain Imperial Majesty, a stately, powerful, handsome man easily won her heart. In addition, he was the only one from the Russian delegation who owned Spanish and talked a lot with the girl, fogging her mind with stories about the brilliant St. Petersburg, Europe, the court of Catherine the Great ...

Was there a tender feeling on the part of Nikolai Rezanov himself? Despite the fact that the story of his love for Conchita became one of the most beautiful romantic legends, contemporaries doubted it. Rezanov himself, in a letter to his patron and friend Count Nikolai Rumyantsev, admitted that the reason that prompted him to propose a hand and heart to a young Spaniard was more good for the Fatherland than a warm feeling. The same opinion was shared by the ship's doctor, who wrote in his reports: “One would think that he fell in love with this beauty. However, in view of the prudence inherent in this cold man, it would be more cautious to admit that he simply had some diplomatic views on her.

One way or another, a marriage proposal was made and accepted. Here is how Rezanov himself writes about this:

“My proposal struck down her (Conchita’s) parents, raised in fanaticism. The difference of religions and ahead of separation from their daughter were a thunderous blow for them. They resorted to the missionaries, they did not know what to decide on. They took poor Concepsia to church, confessed her, persuaded her to refuse, but her determination finally calmed everyone.

The holy fathers left the permission of the Roman See, and if I could not complete my marriage, I made a conditional act and forced us to be engaged ... how my favors also demanded it, and the governor was extremely surprised, amazed, seeing that he assured me at the wrong time of the sincere dispositions of this house and that he himself, so to speak, found himself visiting me ... "

In addition, Rezanov got a cargo of “2156 pounds” very cheaply. wheat, 351 pounds. barley, 560 pounds. legumes. Fat and oils for 470 pounds. and all sorts of things for 100 pounds, so much so that the ship could not set off at first.

Conchita promised to wait for her fiancé, who was supposed to deliver a cargo of supplies to Alaska, and then was going to St. Petersburg. He intended to secure the Emperor's petition to the Pope in order to obtain official permission from the Catholic Church for their marriage. This could take about two years.

A month later, full provisions and other cargo "Juno" and "Avos" arrived in Novo-Arkhangelsk. Despite diplomatic calculations, Count Rezanov had no intention of deceiving the young Spaniard. He immediately goes to St. Petersburg in order to ask permission to conclude a family union, despite the mudslide and the weather that is not suitable for such a trip.

Crossing the rivers on horseback, on thin ice, he fell into the water several times, caught a cold and lay unconscious for 12 days. He was taken to Krasnoyarsk, where he died on March 1, 1807.

Concepson never married. She did charity work, taught the Indians. In the early 1840s, Donna Concepción entered the third Order of the White Clergy, and after founding in 1851 in the city of Benicia the monastery of St. Dominica became its first nun under the name Maria Dominga. She died at the age of 67 on December 23, 1857.

Alaska after le Rezanov

Since 1808, Novo-Arkhangelsk has become the center of Russian America. All this time, the management of the American territories has been carried out from Irkutsk, where the main headquarters of the Russian-American Company is still located. Officially, Russian America is included first in the Siberian General Government, and after its division in 1822 into Western and Eastern, - in the East Siberian General Government.

In 1812, Baranov, the director of the Russian-American Company, established a southern representative office of the company on the shores of California's Bodidge Bay. This representative office was named Russian Village, now known as Fort Ross.

Baranov retired from the post of director of the Russian-American Company in 1818. He dreamed of returning home - to Russia, but died on the way.

Naval officers came to the management of the company, who contributed to the development of the company, however, unlike Baranov, the naval leadership was very little interested in the trading business itself, and was extremely nervous about the settlement of Alaska by the British and Americans. The management of the company, in the name of the Russian Emperor, banned the invasion of all foreign ships for 160 km into the water area near the Russian colonies in Alaska. Of course, such an order was immediately protested by Great Britain and the United States government.

The dispute with the United States was settled by an 1824 convention that determined the exact northern and southern boundaries of Russian territory in Alaska. In 1825, Russia also came to an agreement with Britain, also defining the exact eastern and western borders. The Russian Empire gave both sides (Britain and the USA) the right to trade in Alaska for 10 years, after which Alaska completely passed into the possession of Russia.

Sale of Alaska

However, if at the beginning of the 19th century Alaska generated income through the fur trade, by the middle of the 19th century it began to appear that the costs of maintaining and protecting this remote and vulnerable, from a geopolitical point of view, territory outweighed the potential profit. The area of ​​the territory subsequently sold was 1,518,800 km² and was practically uninhabited - according to the RAC itself, at the time of the sale, the population of all Russian Alaska and the Aleutian Islands numbered about 2,500 Russians and up to about 60,000 Indians and Eskimos.

Historians assess the sale of Alaska ambiguously. Some are of the opinion that this measure was forced because of Russia's conduct of the Crimean campaign (1853-1856) and the difficult situation on the fronts. Others insist that the deal was purely commercial. One way or another, the first question about the sale of Alaska to the United States before the Russian government was raised by the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, Count N. N. Muravyov-Amursky in 1853. In his opinion, this was inevitable, and at the same time would allow Russia to strengthen its position on the Asian coast of the Pacific in the face of the growing penetration of the British Empire. At that time, her Canadian possessions extended directly to the east of Alaska.

Relations between Russia and Britain were sometimes openly hostile. During the Crimean War, when the British fleet tried to land troops in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the possibility of a direct confrontation in America became real.

In turn, the American government also wanted to prevent the occupation of Alaska by the British Empire. In the spring of 1854, he received a proposal for a fictitious (temporarily, for a period of three years) sale by the Russian-American Company of all its possessions and property for 7,600 thousand dollars. The RAC entered into such an agreement with the American-Russian Trading Company in San Francisco, controlled by the US government, but it did not enter into force, since the RAC managed to negotiate with the British Hudson's Bay Company.

Subsequent negotiations on this issue took another ten years. Finally, in March 1867, a draft agreement was agreed upon in general terms for the purchase of Russian possessions in America for $7.2 million. It is curious that this is how much the building cost, in which the contract for the sale of such a vast territory was signed.

The signing of the treaty took place on March 30, 1867 in Washington. And already on October 18, Alaska was officially transferred to the United States. Since 1917, this day has been celebrated in the United States as Alaska Day.

The entire Alaska Peninsula (along the line running along meridian 141° west of Greenwich), a coastal strip 10 miles south of Alaska along the western coast of British Columbia passed to the USA; Alexandra archipelago; Aleutian Islands with Attu Island; the islands of the Middle, Krys'i, Lis'i, Andreyanovsk, Shumagin, Trinity, Umnak, Unimak, Kodiak, Chirikov, Afognak and other smaller islands; islands in the Bering Sea: St. Lawrence, St. Matthew, Nunivak and the Pribylov Islands - St. George and St. Paul. Together with the territory, all real estate, all colonial archives, official and historical documents related to the transferred territories were transferred to the United States.

Alaska today

Despite the fact that Russia sold these lands as unpromising, the United States did not lose out on the deal. Already 30 years later, the famous gold rush began in Alaska - the word Klondike became a household word. According to some reports, more than 1,000 tons of gold have been exported from Alaska over the past century and a half. At the beginning of the 20th century, oil was also discovered there (today, the region's reserves are estimated at 4.5 billion barrels). Coal and non-ferrous metal ores are mined in Alaska. Thanks to the huge number of rivers and lakes, they thrive as large industries of private enterprise. fishing and the seafood industry. Tourism is also developed.

Today Alaska is the largest and one of the richest states in the United States.

Sources

• Commander Rezanov. Website dedicated to Russian explorers of new lands
• Abstract "History of Russian Alaska: from discovery to sale", St. Petersburg State University, 2007, the author is not specified

There are thousands of myths about the sale of Alaska. Many believe that it was sold by Catherine II. The official version tells that Alaska was sold on behalf of Tsar Alexander II, Baron Eduard Andreyevich Stekl, who received several checks for it from the US Treasury Department for a total of $ 7.2 million.However, this money never reached Russia. And were they at all? There is also the opinion of a number of historians who believe that Alaska was not sold, but was leased to the United States for a period of 90 years. And the Alaska lease expired in 1957. We will consider this version below.

In 1648, during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, Semyon Dezhnev crossed the 86-kilometer-wide strait separating Russia and America, later called the Bering Strait. In 1732, Mikhail Gvozdev was the first European to determine the coordinates and map 300 kilometers of the coast, describe the coasts and straits. In 1741, Vitus Bering explored the coast of Alaska. In 1784 Grigory Shelikhov mastered the peninsula. He spreads Orthodoxy among the native horsemen. accustoms local residents to potatoes and turnips. Founds an agricultural colony "Glory to Russia". And at the same time includes the inhabitants of Alaska in the number of Russian subjects. Simultaneously with Shelikhov, merchant Pavel Lebedev-Lastochkin was exploring Alaska. Russian territory expanded to the south and east.

In 1798, Shelikhov's company merged with the company of Ivan Golikov and Nikolai Mylnikov and became known as the Russian-American Company. The company founded St. Michael's Fortress (now Sitka), where it was Primary School, shipyard, church, arsenal, workshops. Each incoming ship was greeted with fireworks, as under Peter I.
Libraries and schools were established. There was a theater and a museum. Local children were taught Russian and French, mathematics, geography, etc. And four years later, the merchant Ivan Kuskov founded Fort Ross in California - the southernmost outpost of the Russian colony in America. He bought from the local Indians the territory that belonged to Spain. Russia has become a European, Asian and American power. Russian America included the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and Northern California. There were more than 200 Russian citizens in the fort - Creoles, Indians, Aleuts.

The sale of vodka was prohibited on the territory. Strict measures have been introduced to preserve and reproduce the number of animals. The British, invading Alaska, exterminated everything clean, soldered the natives and bought furs for next to nothing.
In 1803 Rumyantsev, the future chancellor, demanded the settlement of Russian America. He urged to build cities in it, develop industry, trade, build plants and factories that could work on local raw materials. Chamberlain Rezanov said that it was necessary to "invite more Russians there."

At that time, the United States was actually a minor country that had quite friendly relations with Russia. Thanks to the non-intervention of Russia, the colony separated from England. The great power hoped for the gratitude of the new state. But in 1819, US Secretary of State Quincy Adams declared that all states in the world must come to terms with the idea that the continent of North America is the territory of the United States alone.
He also developed the doctrine - "time and patience will be the best weapon to win back part of the American continent from the Russians." In 1821, the North American United States, as the country was called at that time, at the level of Congress noted the danger to the interests of the country of the Russian colonization of the northwestern coast of America - Alaska and California.

Issued in 1821, the Decree of Alexander I banning foreign ships from approaching Russian settlements in America caused a storm of protest among Americans. In 1823, the policy of dividing the world into two systems was finally determined - the doctrine of President Monroe, a message to Congress. America only for the USA - Europe for everyone else. On April 17 (April 5, old style), 1824, the Convention on the Delimitation of Russian Possessions in North America was signed in St. Petersburg. The boundary of the settlements was established along the 54˚40̕ parallel north latitude.

In the middle of the 19th century, a civil war broke out in the United States between northern and southern states. The balance of forces was unequal, the armed formations of the South outnumbered the North. And then the President of the United States, Lincoln, asked the Russian Emperor Alexander II for help.
The Russian tsar, with the help of his ambassadors, informed the French and English sides that their action against the North would be considered a declaration of war on Russia. At the same time, Alexander II seconded the Atlantic squadron under the command of Admiral Popov to the port of New York, and the Pacific squadron of Admiral Lisovsky to San Francisco. Orders were given to attack any fleet threatening the northern states. The Tsar ordered "to be ready for battle with any enemy force and to take command of Lincoln!"
On May 26, 1865, the last armed formations of the South were defeated, the hope for help promised by France and England back in 1861 disappeared with the surrender of General Kirby Smith.

It's incredible that no one bothered to think that Russia actually saved America during the years of the civil war described in the novel Gone with the Wind. There are numerous testimonials from survivors. civil war people who said orally and in writing at the beginning of the 20th century: "We Americans must never forget that we owe our salvation to Russia in 1863-1864."
So, in fact, thanks to Russia, the United States became an independent independent country. For Russian help, Lincoln had to pay off Russia. Subsequently, an agreement was reached between the United States and Russia on the transfer Money, having issued a lease agreement for Alaska, for a period of 90 years.
IN further events this story developed very sadly. President Lincoln was killed by an assassin's bullet, and Russian Emperor Alexander died at the hands of terrorists who threw a bomb into his crew. In any case, no one received money for Alaska in Russia, and was there any money?

Today it is no secret to anyone that history is an inexact science and every government rewrites it for itself. And even if there is a contract for the sale of Russian Alaska, is it possible to be sure that it is real?
Alaska's lease expired in 1957. The US, with pain in its heart, was going to give back the land or try to extend the lease for a very good amount. But Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev actually gave the land to America. And only after that, in 1959, Alaska became the 49th US state. Many argue that the treaty on the transfer of Alaska to the US ownership was never signed by the USSR - just as it was not signed by the Russian Empire. Therefore, Alaska may have been borrowed from Russia for free.
We know that history has no subjunctive mood and the past cannot be returned. But the very fact that the Russian land of Alaska and the Russian land of California turned out to be part of US territory raises huge doubts.

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Goofyap Nikita Khrushchev gave Ukraine Crimea, and the United States primordially Russian lands in America. Isn't it time to correct the mistakes of the corn genius?

The population of Crimea has already voted in a referendum for the return of the peninsula to Russia. The population of Alaska picked up the initiative. Signatures are now being collected for a petition to the Obama administration to return Alaska to Russia. At the moment, 27454 signatures have been collected.

Signatures for a petition to return Alaska to Russia are being collected here.

On October 18, 1867, in the capital of Russian America, in common parlance - Alaska, the city of Novoarkhangelsk, an official ceremony was held to transfer Russian possessions on the American continent to the possession of the United States of America. Thus ended the history of Russian discoveries and economic development of the northwestern part of America.

Since then, Alaska has been a US state. True, Russian America was territorially somewhat more territory the modern state, since it turned off some territories of California, Hawaii, the Canadian provinces of Yukon and British Columbia. . However, the state of Alaska is already huge - 1,518 thousand km2 (17% of the US territory).

Alaska includes the Aleutian Islands, the Alexander Archipelago, St. Lawrence Island, the Pribylov Islands, Kodiak Island, and a huge continental area. Alaska is washed by the Arctic and Pacific oceans. The islands of Alaska stretch for nearly 1,740 kilometers. The Aleutian Islands stretch from the southern tip of the peninsula to the west. There are many volcanoes on the islands, both dormant and extinct, and active.

The continental part of Alaska is a peninsula of the same name, about 700 km long, which later gave the name to the whole country. The Alaska Peninsula has more volcanoes than any other state in the United States. In general, Alaska is a mountainous country. The highest peak in North America - Mount McKinley (6,193 m) is also located in Alaska.

Alaska also has the largest tide in the world. Periodically, tsunamis hit the coast of Alaska.

Another feature of Alaska is a huge number of lakes (their number exceeds 3 million!). Swamps and permafrost cover about 487,747 square kilometers (more than Sweden). Glaciers occupy about 41,440 square kilometers (which corresponds to the territory of the whole of Holland!). The Bering Glacier, which occupies 5,827 square kilometers, stands out in particular. The intertidal zone is occupied by 3,110 km2.

The name of the country translated from the Aleut "a-la-as-ka" means "Great Land".

Alaska in the United States is considered an ice desert, a country of "white silence" and an incredibly harsh climate. Indeed, in most areas of Alaska, the climate is arctic and subarctic continental, with harsh winters, with frosts down to minus 50 degrees. But in this world, everything is relative, and in general the climate of Alaska, especially the island part and the Pacific coast, is incomparably better than, for example, in Chukotka. On the Pacific coast of Alaska, the climate is maritime, relatively mild and humid. A warm stream of the Alaska current turns here from the south and washes Alaska from the south. The mountains hold back the northern cold winds. As a result, winters in the coastal and insular part of Alaska are very mild. Minus temperatures in winter are very rare. The sea in winter in southern Alaska does not freeze

This explains why Russian industrialists sought to Alaska with its favorable natural conditions and richer fauna than in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Alaska was rich in fish: salmon, flounder, cod, herring, edible types of shellfish and marine mammals were found in abundance in coastal waters. On the fertile soil of these lands, thousands of plant species suitable for food grew, and in the forests there were many animals, especially fur-bearing ones.

Alaska was inhabited in glacial period. Scientists have found items from a person's everyday life, which were used in his household 12 thousand years ago. It was through Alaska, passing along the isthmus that connected Eurasia with America and subsequently sank to the bottom, which has now become the Bering Strait. By the 18th century, when the Russians penetrated Alaska, it was inhabited by various ethnic groups belonging to the most diverse language families and at the tribal stage of development. Simplifying somewhat, by the time the Russians arrived, the natives of Alaska were divided into Aleuts, related Eskimos, and Indians belonging to the Athabaskan group.

Russian explorers, coming to the shore of the Pacific Ocean, in 1648, under the leadership of Semyon Dezhnev, rounded the strait separating Asia and America. At the same time, part of the ships was carried to the American coast. It is quite possible that individual Russian industrialists penetrated Alaska as early as the 17th century. Considering the poor preservation of archival information (even the “skaski”, that is, the reports of Dezhnev himself were miraculously preserved), the names of these pioneers are unlikely to become known to science. However, the fact that the Jesuit Philipp Avril in 1686, with reference to the Siberian governor Musin-Pushkin, reported that there was a certain Big Land opposite the mouth of the Kolyma, where the natives hunt for ... hippos (that is, walruses or sea cows), testifies, that the Russians already had a certain knowledge of the economic significance of the future Russian America.

In 1697, the conqueror of Kamchatka Vladimir Atlasov reported to Moscow that against the "Necessary Nose" in the sea lies big Island, from where in winter "foreigners come over the ice, speak their own language and bring sables ...". An experienced industrialist Atlasov immediately determined that these sables differ from the Yakut ones, and for the worse: “sables are thin, and those sables have striped tails a quarter of an arshin.” It was, of course, not about the sable, but about the raccoon - a beast, at that time unknown in Russia.

In 1710-11. the serviceman Petr Popov opposite the "Nose" (Cape Dezhnev) met American Eskimos, who differed from the well-known Russian Chukchi.

New lands began to attract Russian industrialists as fur stocks in eastern Siberia were depleted. True, for all eastern Siberia at the end of the 17th century, there were only about 700 Russians of both sexes, of which fishermen were a minority. In Russia, Peter's reforms began, as a result of which the state was not up to the discovery of new lands for a long time. This explains a certain pause in the further advance of the Russians to the east.

Peter I immediately, as soon as circumstances allowed, began to organize scientific expeditions in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. In 1716, Colonel Yelchin was ordered to look for big earth but the trip did not take place. Three years later, lieutenant I. Evreinov and F. Luzhin received a decree with a proposal to find out: “whether America agreed with Asia,” but these navigators explored the Kuril Islands, far from Alaska.

In 1725, shortly before his death, Peter the Great sent Captain Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator in the Russian service, to explore the seashores of Siberia. Peter sent Bering on an expedition to study and describe the northeastern coast of Siberia. In 1728, Bering's expedition re-discovered the strait, which was first seen by Semyon Dezhnev. However, because of the fog, Bering was unable to see the outlines of the North American continent on the horizon.

In 1732, navigator Ivan Fedorov and surveyor Mikhail Gvozdev, who on the ship "Gabriel" reached the "Great Land", the westernmost cape on the American coast (now Cape Prince of Wales). Fedorov was the first to mark both shores of the Bering Strait on the map. But, having returned to his homeland, Fedorov soon dies, and Gvozdev finds himself in Biron's dungeons, and the great discovery of the Russian pioneers remains unknown for a long time.

The second expedition of Vitus Bering, who by this time had been promoted to captain-commander, set off for the shores of America from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on June 8, 1741 on two ships: St. Peter (under the command of Bering) and St. Paul (under the command of Alexei Chirikov) . Each ship had its own team of scientists and researchers on board.

On July 15, land was spotted on Chirikov's ship. And the ship under the control of Bering, which was moving north, the next day went to the shores of Kayak Island. Bering from the sea saw the top of the mountain, which he called the mountain of St. Elijah. The ship's doctor, Georg Wilhelm Steller, landed on the shore and collected samples of shells and herbs, discovered new species of birds and animals, from which the researchers concluded that their ship had reached a new continent.

Chirikov's ship returned on October 8 to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, but Bering's ship was carried by the current and wind to the east of the Kamchatka Peninsula - to the Commander Islands. At one of the islands, the ship was wrecked, and it was thrown ashore. Travelers were forced to spend the winter on the island, which now bears the name of Bering Island. On this island, the captain-commander died without surviving the harsh winter. In the spring, the surviving crew members built a boat from the wreckage of the wrecked St. Peter and returned to Kamchatka only in September. Thus ended the first Russian expedition, which opened the northwestern coast of the North American continent.

However, in St. Petersburg, the authorities reacted to the opening of Bering's expedition with indifference. The initiative in the development of new lands beyond the Bering Strait was taken by the fishermen, who (unlike St. Petersburg) immediately appreciated the reports of the members of the Bering expedition about the extensive rookeries of the sea animal. Starting from 1743, fishing expeditions explored and mastered the Aleutian archipelago in terms of fishing. In 1743-1755, 22 fishing expeditions known to historians took place, fishing on the Commander and Near Aleutian Islands. In 1756-1780. 48 expeditions were engaged in fishing throughout the Aleutian Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak Island and south coast modern Alaska. Finally, after 1780, Russian industrialists penetrated far along the Pacific coast of North America. Sooner or later, the Russians would begin to penetrate deep into the mainland of the open lands of America.

In 1773, the Spanish ambassador in St. Petersburg, F. Lacy, reported to Madrid (where they were seriously concerned about the approach of the Russians to the possessions of Spain in California), based on a conversation with a Russian who had come from Kamchatka, that there were already six Russian settlements in North America. It is unlikely that the simple-hearted fur trader from Kamchatka sought to misinform the Spanish ambassador. Probably, it was about temporary fishing villages. What was important, however, was the very fact that the Russians already felt at home in America.

In 1778, the English navigator James Cook found himself in these places. According to him, the total number of Russian industrialists who were in the Aleuts and in the waters of Alaska was about 500 people.

Fishing expeditions were organized and financed by various private companies of Siberian merchants. Sloops with a displacement of 30-60 tons were sent from Okhotsk and Kamchatka to the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. The remoteness of the fishing areas led to the fact that the expeditions lasted up to 6-10 years. Shipwrecks, hunger, scurvy, skirmishes with natives, and sometimes with the crews of ships of a competing company - all this was the everyday life of the “Russian Columbuses”.

The real discoverer and creator of Russian America was Grigory Ivanovich Shelekhov (Shelikhov). A merchant, a native of the city of Rylsk in the Kursk province, Shelekhov moved to Siberia, where he made a fortune in the fur trade. Starting in 1773, the 26-year-old Shelekhov began to independently send ships to sea fishing.

In August 1784, during his main expedition on three ships, he reached Kodiak Island, where he began to build a settlement. It was thanks to the energy and foresight of Shelekhov that the foundation of Russian possessions was laid in these new lands. in 1784-86 G. I. Shelekhov also began to build two more fortified settlements in America. His settlement plans included flat streets, schools, libraries, parks. Back in European Russia, Shelekhov put forward a proposal to start a mass resettlement of Russians in new lands.

At the same time, Shelekhov was not in the public service. He remained a merchant, industrialist, entrepreneur, acting with the permission of the government. Shelekhov himself, however, was distinguished by a remarkable state mind, perfectly understanding the possibilities of Russia in this region. No less important was the fact that Shelekhov was well versed in people and gathered a team of like-minded people who created Russian America.

Until 1786, Shelekhov was a successful fur trader in the Aleutian lands, but his fur empire needed other capable leaders. He saw one such assistant in Alexander Andreevich Baranov, a merchant from the ancient city of Kargopol, who moved to Siberia for business purposes. In 1791, as it turned out, forever, he arrived in Alaska. 43-year-old (that is, already middle-aged at that time) Alexander Baranov was appointed general manager on Kodiak Island. Baranov was on the verge of bankruptcy when Shelekhov took him as his assistant, guessing exceptional qualities in him: will, enterprise, perseverance, firmness, organizational skills. Baranov also possessed an unselfishness that was surprising for an entrepreneur - managing Russian America for more than two decades, controlling multimillion-dollar sums, providing high profits to the shareholders of the Russian-American company, which we will discuss below, he did not leave himself any fortune!

Baranov moved the company's representative office to the new city of Pavlovskaya Gavan, founded by him in the north of Kodiak Island. Now Pavlovsk is the main city of Kodiak Island.

In the meantime, Shelekhov's company forced out the rest of the competitors from the region. G. I. Shelekhov himself died in 1795, at the height of his undertakings. True, his proposals for the further development of American territories with the help of a commercial company, thanks to his associates and associates, received further development. In 1799, the Russian-American Company (RAC) was created, which became the main owner of all Russian possessions in America (as well as in the Kuriles). The creation of the RAC was based on the proposals of G. I. Shelekhov to create a commercial company of a special kind, capable of carrying out, along with commercial activities, also engaged in the colonization of lands, the construction of forts and cities. At the same time, formally, the RAC was not a fully state institution, and therefore its activities should not have caused international complications. She received from Paul I monopoly rights to fur trade, trade and the discovery of new lands in the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean, designed to represent and protect Russia's interests in the Pacific Ocean with her own means.

Shelekhov's son-in-law M. Buldakov became the director of the RAC. In Russian America, all powers were in the hands of A. A. Baranov, who was officially called the Chief Ruler.

Alexander Baranov faced many problems. Most of food and almost all goods for exchange had to be imported from Russia, and there were not enough ships. The colony constantly lacked people to build ships, protect the colony, and organize everyday life. Local Aleuts came to the rescue. They formed the main labor force of the colony. The Aleuts guarded the forts and carried guards.

During Baranov's tenure as the Ruler of Russian America, Russia's possessions expanded to the south and east. Baranov founded and built Russian settlements. The largest of them is Novoarkhangelsk, founded in 1799.

In 1802, the village was destroyed by the Tlingit. But in 1804 Baranov defeated the Tlingits. After the victory, Novoarkhangelsk was rebuilt. A number of settlements were founded, and only the lack of people held back the scale of colonization.

There were really few Russians. However, on the entire vast territory of the then Pacific possessions of Russia (Okhotsk-Kamchatka Territory) with an area of ​​​​2 million km2 and even more vast water area at the beginning of the 19th century, only about 5 thousand Russians lived, of which only 1.5 thousand lived in Kamchatka - the land most close to Russian America. In the town of Okhotsk there were only 1,300 inhabitants, in Gizhiginsk - 657, in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - 180 inhabitants, including 25 women. At the same time, this handful of people had to protect state interests in the region. And the pacification of Chukotka is not over yet. In 1806 alone, the Chukchi ravaged the Russian trading post and killed 14 Russians. Under these conditions, there were simply not enough people physically to develop Russian America.

It is impossible not to admire the fact that only about 400-800 Russian people managed to master such vast territories and water areas, making their way to California and Hawaii. Nevertheless, it was the lack of people that played a fatal role in the history of Russian America. The desire to attract new settlers was a constant and almost impossible desire of all Russian administrators in Alaska.

Even G. I. Shelekhov proposed to organize the resettlement of serfs to America, who in this case received freedom. It is clear that this proposal aroused dissatisfaction among the feudal lords, who feared to be left without their "souls". Then G.I. Shelekhov requested to provide him with a certain number of Siberian exiles who own the crafts necessary for the colony, as well as farmers. This time the government agreed, and in 1794 Shelekhov sent "settlers" from among Russian plowmen and artisans to Russian America. But there were very few of them, and in the future official St. Petersburg did not show any interest in Russian America (not counting the receipt of dividends on acquired shares). The number of Russian settlers arriving in Alaska was calculated in units.

Later, in 1808, the Senate forbade serfs and even those previously freed from serfdom from settling in Alaska. Under these conditions, it was not necessary to expect an increase in the Russian population of Alaska. Many Russian hunters, merchants, officials, having completed their business in Alaska, left for Siberia, and more often further, to European Russia. In order to consolidate the Russian population in Alaska, in 1809 the concept of “colonial citizens” was introduced, meaning Russian subjects permanently residing in Russian America, who could not be attributed to any of the estates.

Baranov, even with such deserted people, tirelessly worked on the study of Alaska and adjacent lands. With the incredible scarcity of funds and the small number of employees, Baranov equipped trading and research expeditions along the coast of the Bering Sea and the Pacific coast of North America to Upper California inclusive, as well as to the Hawaiian Islands. Russian America traded with Canton (China), New York, Boston, California and Hawaii. Ivan Kuskov penetrated the deserted rocky shore just north of San Francisco Bay and founded a Russian fortress, Fort Ross, on the banks of the river, which he called Slavyanka. Baranov started schools, a library, a museum, shipyards in Russian America, founded fortresses, launched Russian ships

In 1818, returning to Russia by ship, the tireless ruler of Russian America, Alexander Baranov, died near Java. After him, the rulers of Russian America were, in principle, sensible administrators, providing profits to the shareholders of the RAC, successfully maintaining order in the possessions entrusted to them. But none of them was either Shelekhov or Baranov to understand the full significance of the American settlements for Russia. Not surprisingly, in 1824, an agreement was signed with Great Britain on the delimitation in North America, according to which the border between Russian America and British Canada passed along 24 longitudes. In 1839-40. Russia abandoned Fort Ross in California.

Another problem characteristic of Russian America was the tyranny of space. The journey by land took three years! First, it was necessary to sail from Novarkhangelsk to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, or to Okhotsk, from where they had to travel about 10 thousand kilometers on horseback. Oddly enough, it was faster, more convenient and cheaper circumnavigation Petersburg across three oceans to Russian America. It was there that the ships of Kruzenshtern, Kotzebue, Gagemeister and other Russian navigators around the world, paid for by the RAC, were sent.

Climatic conditions also influenced the development of Russian America. Shelekhov also tried to breed turnips, potatoes and rutabaga in Alaska. Attempts to breed rye and wheat in the colonies were unsuccessful - the growing season was too short.

The lack of food for Russian America prompted the Russian authorities to create Fort Ross, and try to create a base in Hawaii. But the lack of people and the remoteness of the new possessions led to the rejection of the expansion of Russian America.

The colony more or less developed. Shareholders of RAK constantly received their dividends. Russia has firmly established itself on the American mainland. Small but active Russians became permanent ethnic elements of these lands.

There were also changes among the native population of Alaska. The Aleuts in the 50-70s of the 18th century experienced the consequences of epidemic diseases, from which they had no immunity. Their number has been drastically reduced. In the future, the number of Aleuts grew slowly, periodically as a result of epidemics and natural Disasters their number has been reduced again. In 1834, only 2,247 of them remained, in 1848 - already 1,400 people. In 1864, the number of Aleuts jumped to 2,005. Many Aleuts moved to the Kuriles and Kamchatka. Thus, the decline in the number of Aleuts in the Aleutian Islands was partly due to the settlement of Aleuts outside their former ethnic territory.

Relations with the Tlingit Indians were very complex. In 1805, 1809, 1813 and 1818 the Tlingits attacked Russian settlements, and Russian military expeditions followed in response.

In 1822, 488 Russians lived in Russian America, 5,334 Aleuts, Kenais (Tanaina Indians living on the Kenai Peninsula) - 1,432, Chugachs (Eskimos) - 479. Taking into account the "others", the total population was 8,286 people. The growth of the population of the colony was insignificant.

This number, however, did not include the so-called. "wild", that is, local tribes that are not subject to the Russian authorities. In addition, there were also categories of “semi-dependent” population, that is, tribes that, in principle, recognized dependence on the Russian tsar, traded with Russian settlers, but did not want to pay a poll tax, and for this reason not taken into account by the official statistics of Russian America. In general, the total number of inhabitants of Alaska in the middle of the 19th century numbered at least 40 thousand people, most of whom were classified as “wild”.

In 1839, the Russian population of Alaska was 823 people, which was the maximum in the history of Russian America. Usually there were a few less Russians.

In Russian America, the development of a new ethnic group, the Creoles, began. Usually in the countries of the New World, Europeans born here were called Creoles. But in the Russian possessions of North America, children from mixed marriages of Russians with local women were called Creoles. Russians settled in Alaska were represented mainly by men. There were few Russian women, about one in 10 (sometimes 16) men. At the same time, Shelekhov and Baranov, as well as the leadership of the local Orthodox Church, believed that mixed marriages of Orthodox Russians with local women would contribute to the spread of Orthodoxy. A. Baranov himself, who married an Indian woman, gave an example to the settlers.

As a result of marital and extramarital relations between Russians and Aleutian, Eskimo and Indian women, an ethnic and sociocultural community of Alaskan Creoles began to take shape in Alaska. The growth of the Creole population was rapid: 553 people in 1822 and 1,989 people (an increase of 3.6 times) in 1863. Russian America gradually began to resemble a Latin American society in the snow with its large number of mestizos and the originality of the local culture. From among the Creoles came a number of explorers of Alaska - Alexander Kashevarov, Ruf Serebryanikov and other travelers who penetrated deep into the North American continent. There was no racial discrimination. Many Creoles received education in St. Petersburg at the expense of the RAC, and immediately after receiving it, they joined the local elite. There were even special gymnasiums in St. Petersburg, where, along with other children, Creoles and children of RAC employees studied on an official basis. For boys, it was the First Provincial Gymnasium, and for girls, admission to the Mariinsky Gymnasium was opened. In principle, Alaskan Creoles could well become the basis of a new nation, Russian-speaking and Orthodox.

Finally, the Russian Orthodox Church was active in Russian America. As early as 1794, Valaam monk Herman began missionary work. By the middle of the 19th century, most Alaska natives had been baptized. The Aleuts and, to a lesser extent, the Indians of Alaska, are still Orthodox believers. In 1841, an episcopal see was established in Alaska. By the time Alaska was sold, the Russian Orthodox Church had 13,000 flocks here. In terms of the number of Orthodox Christians, Alaska still ranks first in the United States. The ministers of the church have made a huge contribution to the spread of literacy among the Alaska natives. Literacy among the Aleuts was at a high level - on the island of St. Paul, the entire adult population was able to read mother tongue.

With all the difficulties in the colonies, industry began to develop. In 1857, mines were laid in Coal Bay, in Kenai Bay, and the first miners of Alaska began to extract hard coal there. By the mid-1950s, coal production in Alaska exceeded 20,000 poods per month. Mica and clay were mined in Alaska for brick production. Alaskan oil, copper in the Mednaya River basin, amber on the Alaska Peninsula, graphite on Atha Island, obsidian and porphyry on Umnak Island were discovered. Contrary to popular belief, the Russians were well aware of the presence of gold in Alaska. In the 1840s its deposits on the islands of Kodiak and Sitkha, the shores of the Kenai Bay were explored by mining engineer Pyotr Doroshin. The Russian administration, which had before its eyes an example of the "gold rush" in California, fearing the invasion of thousands of American gold miners, preferred to classify this information.

Shipbuilders have been building ships since 1793. For 1799-1821. 15 ships were built in Novoarkhangelsk. In 1853, the first steam ship in the Pacific was launched in Novoarkhangelsk, and not a single part was imported: everything was made in Alaska.

The basis of the economic life of Russian America remained the extraction of marine mammals. On average for the 1840-60s. up to 18 thousand fur seals were mined per year. River beavers, otters, foxes, arctic foxes, bears, sables, as well as walrus tusks were also hunted.

Novoarkhangelsk in the 50-60s. XIX century looked like an average provincial town in the outskirts of Russia. It had a palace of the ruler, a theater, a club, Cathedral, a bishop's house, a seminary, a Lutheran prayer house, an observatory, a music school, a museum and a library, a nautical school, two hospitals and a pharmacy, several schools, a spiritual consistory, a drawing room, an admiralty, port facilities, an arsenal, several industrial enterprises, shops, shops and warehouses. Houses in Novoarkhangelsk were built on stone foundations, the roofs were made of iron. The possessions of the Russian-American Company were divided into six "departments", each of which was many times larger than any Russian district. The most populous was the Kodiak department, followed by Unalashkinsky and Novoarkhangelsky in terms of population. The most sparsely populated was the Northern, or Mikhailovsky, department, where only one hundred and thirty people lived on the lands gravitating towards the mouths of the Yukon, including thirty Russians and up to forty Creoles.

But in 1867, Alaska was sold to the United States for $7.2 million. The sale of Russian America was advocated (and disinterestedly!) by Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich. Note that Russia never received money for Alaska, since part of this money was embezzled by the Russian ambassador in Washington, Baron Steckl, and part was spent on bribes to US senators. Finally, on July 16, 1868, the ship carrying the precious cargo sank on the way to St. Petersburg. As a result, Russia never received anything from the abandonment of some of its possessions.

The Russian-American company was liquidated. During the liquidation of the affairs of the Russian-American Company in 1868, part of the Russians were taken from Alaska to their homeland. The last group of Russians, numbering 309 people, left Novoarkhangelsk on November 30, 1868. The other part - about 200 people - was left in Novoarkhangelsk due to the lack of ships. They were simply FORGOTTEN by the St. Petersburg authorities (as we can see, Russian liberals, who are prone to ranting about “rights,” are in fact not interested in ordinary people from whom it is impossible to get dollars). Remained in Alaska and most of the Creoles. Nevertheless, Russian America disappeared, the ethnic territory of the Russian nation was reduced, the potential nation of Alaskan Creoles did not take place.

For the United States, Alaska became the site of the "gold rush" of the 90s of the XIX century, sung by Jack London, and then the "oil rush" of the 70s. XX century. Today, Alaska is the largest US state in terms of territory, it ranks first in proven reserves of oil, coal, platinum, tin, antimony and many other elements of the periodic table.

The second sale of Alaska, more precisely, the water area of ​​Alaska, took place in 1990, when the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR E. Shevardnadze signed an agreement between the USSR and the USA on the delimitation of economic zones and the continental shelf in the Chukchi and Bering Seas. As a result of this agreement, the USSR recognized for the American side a vast, more than 50,000 km2, water area of ​​these seas, fabulously rich not only in bioresources, but also with vast oil deposits. Shevardnadze, realizing how "perestroika" in the USSR would end, hastened to demonstrate his loyalty to Uncle Sam. As a result, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he became the dictator of Georgia until he was overthrown as a result of another “velvet revolution”.

Modern America is a multinational country that positions itself as a state loyal to all peoples. How Russians appeared in America is a separate story that goes back to the past, and the appearance of the Russian diaspora, which currently makes up a significant part of the population of some cities, is by no means due to random migration in the 20th century. Since America was discovered, several centuries have passed before the Russians set foot on the land of this mainland in order to develop new lands. The first serious attempts to explore Alaska from Siberia were made by the Russian traveler Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev, when he landed on the shores of American lands together with his comrades in 1648. After that, settlements of Russian settlers began to appear on the west coast of America.
Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev, 1605 - 1673

Waves of Russian expansion in America

Several centuries ago, the concept of “Russian American” existed, and it meant something completely different from what is now customarily endowed with similar epithets. As you know, Alaska, at one time, belonged to Russia, and became American only as a result of a banal miscalculation and a desire to quickly get rid of a piece of land that was unprofitable, according to the authorities. Until that time, when the Russians appeared in America as owners, there was nothing out of the ordinary in the words “Russian part of America”.
In Alaska, there is still a village of Russian Old Believers called Nikolaevsk For many years, the Russian people settled along the coast of the mainland, trying to gain a foothold and establish life in the new land. It was incredibly difficult to do this without the support of the native country in foreign places. Moscow could not afford endless funding for settlers, and yet the Russians managed to settle places in California, parts of Alaska, and Oregon. Until now, the remains of Russian architecture in the form of churches and characteristic residential buildings have been preserved in these places. Some settlements have retained Russian names. However, when Alaska was sold for nothing to America, a massive outflow of settlers began back to their native lands.

First wave of immigration

If until the 19th century, cases of migration to America were considered isolated, then in the second half of it, migration assumed enormous proportions. The industrial revolution forced craftsmen to go in search of a better life. Also, people who for some reason were persecuted in their native lands were also concerned about this. The resettlement of citizens of the Russian Empire was also facilitated by the fact that in America the confrontation between Southerners and Northerners was growing, so the government of the North passed a law according to which all residents of the country who did not take the side of the Southerners in the conflict can receive a land allotment by paying a meager fee. A few years later, a person who was engaged in the development and cultivation of land on this site could get it into his property. Historians claim that only in the last years of the 19th century, more than 500 thousand citizens of the Russian Empire went to conquer America. At the beginning of the 20th century, this figure had already increased several times and reached one and a half million. Also, mass migration was provoked by the events that developed before the First World War - almost a million people fled from the conflict in the United States. Another of the social groups that began to massively move to the United States was Russian Jews, who were persecuted. Since each settler sought to be among "their own", groups began to populate certain places in America. The distribution of "castes" and groups by cities and regions is still preserved, albeit on a smaller scale.

The second wave of Russian expansion into America

For a short time, the migration of Russians to America froze, but the Russian Revolution of 1917 provoked new wave refugees who did not want to put up with the establishment of a new government, or simply fled from it. As the Russians appeared in America during the first wave, so, a few years later, a new mass migration to the shores of the United States began. Most of the intelligentsia and creative people, who were deprived of their homes by the oppression of the Bolsheviks, had to go on the run. Among them you can meet such historical figures as Igor Sikorsky, Alexander Kerensky, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Rachmaninov, Vladimir Zworykin and many others. Writers, musicians and scientists tried to avoid the fate of their friends who were shot, and subsequently were able to realize themselves in American culture and science, influencing their development. Many of the emigrants did not plan to gain a permanent foothold in the United States, and when revolutionary passions subsided in Russia, they tried to return to their homeland. Such attempts were not always successful, since up to the Khrushchev thaw, refugees in the United States were considered traitors to the Motherland, and could be subjected to repression. Second World War became another incentive for the resettlement of Russians in America. Ordinary peasants could not afford to run so far from the war, so they had to put up with war conditions. Near the end of the war, when the Americans took part in the release of prisoners concentration camps, built by the Nazis, many citizens of the USSR did not want to return to their homeland, where the attitude towards prisoners was not always positive. There was a massive outflow of Russians to the West: first to European cities, and then to the USA. Moreover, in those years it was much easier to obtain citizenship in America than it is today.

Russian emigration to America in the post-war period

After the establishment of the Iron Curtain between the USSR and the USA, emigration to America became almost impossible. The second wave of Russian expansion stopped. However, around the beginning of the 70s, exceptions began to be made for Russian Jews, and they did not fail to take advantage of this. This moment can be called the “third wave” with some stretch, but in terms of its scale it was already inferior to the first two. Thousands of citizens of the Soviet Union were able to cross the ocean and build a new life in America. Many of them became famous people and contributed to the history of mankind. For example, Sergey Brin (founder of Google), whose family moved to the US in 1979. Brin's parents also became respected people in America: his mother became a specialist at NASA, and his father began to teach at the University of Maryland. When the Iron Curtain finally fell, moving to the United States became relatively easy for a man tormented by Soviet prohibitions. The number of those wishing to change their lives for the better, having heard enough stories about the land of opportunity, has greatly increased. Anyone who could afford to move to America did not hesitate a moment. The poverty of the plundered country left no choice to engineers, scientists and people who were simply not indifferent to their fate. It was during these years that a massive outflow of "brains" to the West took place, as a result of which tens of thousands of Russian scientists began to work at American enterprises and universities. Many global brands that are valued at billions of dollars modern market, appeared due to the participation of Russian people in their development. Together with the intelligentsia, representatives of the criminal world, who felt freedom in the 90s, went to conquer the West. There were legends about the dominance of Russian mafiosi in America, and significant forces of law enforcement agencies were thrown into the fight against them. At one time, this fact became the cause of dissatisfaction with the Native Americans, who began to demand to limit the migration of Russians to the United States. The US government managed to reduce the degree of tension and practically eliminate the roots of the "Russian mafia", so the attitude towards Russian migrants again became loyal. At the moment, the most a large number of representatives of the Russian diaspora in the United States is concentrated in New York. Almost a third of all Russian speakers in America live there. In other cases, Russian speech can be found in almost all major US cities.

Many Europeans of different nationalities explored and settled the lands of North America. Although the Normans or Irish monks were the first to reach its shores, we dedicate the proposed series of articles to the 500th anniversary of the expedition of Christopher Columbus. We know a lot about the Spanish colonization of Florida and the American Southwest. The stories of French explorers in the east of Canada and in the Mississippi valley, English settlers on the Atlantic coast are also widely known. But the extent of Russian settlement in the New World may surprise many Americans. The Russians, having started the fur trade in Alaska under Catherine II, began to develop pacific coast and almost reached where San Francisco is now. About this little-known period of Russian and American history and say the authors of the article published here. It was first published in the catalog of the Russian America: A Forgotten Land exhibition, jointly organized by the Washington State Historical Society and the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Alaska. The exhibit has already been shown in Tacoma, Washington, Anchorage and Juneau, Alaska, and Oakland, California.

In early 1992, it will open in the US capital at the Library of Congress.

Russian America

BARBARA SUITLAND SMITH AND REDMOND BARNETT

The claims of the Russian Empire to the natural resources of the Northwest of America surprised many countries of the world. Russia was not maritime power and expanded its possessions at the expense of the territories of its nearest neighbors. Having mastered Siberia and reached the Pacific Ocean in 1639, Russia did not advance further for almost a hundred years. Peter I, not for nothing called the Great, foresaw a huge potential for his state in the islands lying to the east and the mainland of North America. Alarmed by the reduction of the fur trade, which brought a large income in trade with China, Peter I took the first steps in 1725, which subsequently led to the struggle for the development of North America.

Few Americans and even Russians are well acquainted with the history of the northwestern region of the United States, where the Russian Empire was opposed by England, Spain, France and America itself. Tourists visiting Alaska admire not only its nature, but also the Orthodox

churches in villages where almost exclusively Native Americans live: Aleuts, Eskimos and Tlingit. Tourists try to correctly pronounce the exotic Russian names of local villages, heights and bays. They seem to open Russian America.

The first Russians to enter America were fearless hunters who were exclusively interested in furs. Fulfilling the plan of Peter I, Vitus Bering in 1728 went to explore the waters between Russia and America. The first expedition was unsuccessful, although Bering passed the strait that now bears his name. In 1741, Bering and his former assistant, Captain-Commander Alexei Chirikov, reached the western coast of North America separately. Chirikov returned to Siberia, and the news of the islands abounding in fur-bearing animals caused a real pursuit of "soft gold". At first, enterprising industrialists organized reconnaissance expeditions to nearby islands. Then, putting things on a broader footing, they began to move further east and reached such remote islands as Unalaska and Kodiak. For 30 years no one disturbed the industrialists, with the exception of occasional visits by Spanish, French and English ships.

Watercolor drawing by Mikhail Tikhanov, depicting the inhabitants of about. Sitka (1818). The anthropological details of the drawing have been highly appreciated by modern scholars.

In 1762, Catherine II came to the throne. She decided to establish control over distant and random Russian settlements in America, and in 1764, at her behest, the first official expedition was organized to draw maps and determine the limits of Russian possessions. Soon Russian sailors began to make world travel, which contributed to the strengthening of their prestige and the further development of the northwestern shores of the American mainland.

This period in the history of Russian America is most often associated with the names of Grigory Shelikhov and Alexander Baranov. In 1788, the Siberian merchant Shelikhov vainly asked Catherine II to grant his company monopoly rights to trade in furs on the northwest coast of America. The tsarina, a supporter of free trade, strongly rejected his request, but nevertheless rewarded Shelikhov and his partner Golikov for their outstanding contribution to the expansion of Russian possessions to Kodiak Island. In 1799, under Emperor Paul I, son of Catherine, Shelikhov's company was transformed into the Russian-American Company and received monopoly rights, but Shelikhov himself did not live to see this moment.

Thanks to the energy and foresight of Shelikhov, the foundation of Russian possessions was laid in these new lands. The first permanent Russian settlement appeared on Kodiak Island. Shelikhov also headed the first agricultural colony "Glory to Russia" (now Yakutat). His settlement plans included flat streets, schools, libraries, parks. After him, the projects of the forts Afognak and Kenai remained, testifying to an excellent knowledge of geometry. At the same time, Shelikhov was not a government official. He remained a merchant, industrialist, entrepreneur, acting with the permission of the government.

Shelikhov's main merit was the foundation of a trading company and permanent settlements in North America. He also owned a happy idea: to appoint a merchant from Kargopol, 43-year-old Alexander Baranov, as the chief manager on Kodiak Island. Baranov was on the verge of bankruptcy when Shelikhov took him as his assistant, guessing exceptional qualities in this short, blond man: enterprise, perseverance, firmness. And he was not wrong. Baranov faithfully served Shelikhov and then the Russian-American Company from 1790 to 1818 until he retired at the age of 71. During his lifetime, legends circulated about him: he inspired respect and fear in the people around him. Even the strictest government auditors were amazed at his dedication, energy and dedication.

During Baranov's tenure as ruler of Russian America, Russia's possessions expanded south and east. In 1790, when Baranov arrived there, Shelikhov had only three settlements east of the Aleutian Islands: on Kodiak, Afognak and the Kenai Peninsula (Fort Aleksandrovsk). And in 1818, when he was leaving. The Russian-American Company reached as far afield as Prince William Bay, the Alexander Archipelago, and even Northern California, where he founded Fort Ross. From Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands to the shores of North America and even Hawaiian Islands Baranov was known as the master of Russian America. He moved the headquarters of the company first to the harbor of St. Paul on Kodiak Island, and then, from 1808, to the new center of Russian America Novoarkhangelsk (now Sitka) among the Tlingit settlements. Baranov took care of the development of all kinds of auxiliary economic sectors: he built shipyards, forges, woodworking and brick enterprises. He developed an educational program for local children, Creoles, who had Russian fathers and indigenous mothers. Children were prepared for service in the company, teaching them crafts and navigation. The program remained in force throughout the existence of the company. Many Creole teenagers were sent to study further in Irkutsk or St. Petersburg.

The Baranov leadership of the Russian-American Company was distinguished by ingenuity, dynamism, and sometimes harshness towards the indigenous population. Baranov's violent activity, which caused complaints, eventually became the subject of a government investigation. In 1818, Baranov resigned and resigned from his post.

After Baranov's departure, new orders took shape in Russian America. Shelikhov conceived Russian America, Baranov realized it. During the next 49 years of the existence of Russian America, the rule of Russian settlements passed to the imperial fleet. Beginning in 1818, all the rulers of the Russian-American Company were naval officers. Although the company was a commercial enterprise, it has always carried out government tasks. The state authorities did not consider it right that such a territory should be ruled by merchants; therefore, from the beginning of the 19th century, officials began to enter the board of the company.

This period in the history of Russian America has an enlightening character. The harsh measures associated with the discovery, retention and settlement of new lands were replaced by a period of improvement. The adventurism and all sorts of abuses of Baranov's time have given way to prudent use of resources. The new naval leadership encouraged the spiritual mission and cared for the education and health of the population. Geographical exploration and the strategic placement of trading posts opened up new opportunities in the interior of Alaska, whereby the decline in fur production was offset by the development of new trades. Agreements with Boston merchants from Massachusetts and the British Hudson's Bay Company operating in Canada helped to establish a supply that presented great difficulties from the very beginning. Russian possessions in California lost their importance and were sold in 1841.

In 1867, a confluence of various circumstances prompted Russia to sell its North American possessions to the United States. It is interesting to note that the economic factor did not play a decisive role for Russia. After the decline of the fur trade, the Russian colony managed to improve its business by expanding the scope of its activities and monopolizing the import of Chinese tea into Russia. Meanwhile, by 1867 - compared to 1821 and even more so since 1799 - North America had changed a lot. The northwestern regions were no longer a man's land. All lands south of the 49th parallel went to the United States. To the east, the British Hudson's Bay Company dominated. Shortly before this, Russia lost the difficult Crimean War, where one of its opponents was Great Britain. In St. Petersburg, supporters of the sale of Alaska also pointed to changes in Russian-Chinese relations. Military actions and treaties provided Russia with the richest lands of the Amur region. All this convinced Tsar Alexander II that the Russian colonies centered in Sitka had lost their significance for Russia in the second half of the 19th century. And Russian America became just America.

The Russian presence in North America was unique in the history of this continent from the 15th to the 18th century. Spain, England and France, having seized new lands, immediately established state control there. The Russians came to America for commercial purposes and to fill a vacuum. The Russian government only watched over the colony in North America, not caring about either the settlement of new lands or military control over them, and most importantly, did not use the rich resources as efficiently as England or Spain. The maximum number of Russians in Alaska was 823 people, and from 300 to 500 lived there permanently, mainly on Kodiak, in Sitka and in settlements organized by the colonial authorities.

Compared with other colonizers of North America, the Russians were distinguished by a much more humane attitude towards the indigenous people. From 1741 to 1867, Russian cartographers, linguists, ethnographers, botanists, teachers, priests, and officials lived and worked among the Aleuts, Eskimos, Tlingit, and, more rarely, the Athabaskans. For more than a hundred years, the relationship between Russians and natives has changed significantly. The first clashes were bloody and disastrous for the Aleuts. According to some historians, between 1743 and 1800 the Aleuts lost a significant part of their population. But despite such a deplorable beginning, the Russians left a good memory of themselves, which caused bewilderment among the Americans who came here.

This attitude is explained by the official policy of the Russian-American Company. Its charter of 1821 forbade the exploitation local population and provided for frequent verification of this requirement. Alaskan natives were educated and could count on advancement in the Russian service. The explorer and hydrograph A. Kashevarov, of Aleutorusian origin, retired with the rank of captain of the 1st rank. Many natives became shipbuilders, carpenters, teachers, paramedics, blacksmiths, icon painters, researchers, having received education in Russian educational institutions. In local schools, teaching was conducted in Russian and local languages. Orthodox Church attracted many, and among its missionaries were Alaska Natives. The Orthodox heritage has been preserved to our time and is currently supported by such figures of the church as Bishop Gregory and 35 priests, half of whom are Aleuts, Eskimos and Tlingit. In the villages of Alaska, Russian rituals and customs are still observed. Residents, speaking in local languages, put in a lot of Russian words; Russian names and surnames are very common among the local population.

Thus, Russian America is still felt in the language, culture and life of Alaskans. But for most Americans, it's a forgotten legacy, almost extinguished during the Cold War. The border with Russia retreated into the Bering Strait in 1867, and much of what the Russians contributed to American science, education, culture, and cartography has been forgotten even by many Alaskans. But now new bridges are being built across the Bering Strait between the two countries, more and more trade and cultural exchange agreements are being signed, more and more relatives are visiting each other. People meet again, but not as strangers, but as old friends.

Pages 14-15, Alaska Slate Library, Juneau. Pages 16-17, top left-Lydia T. Black, UnAlaska Church of the Holy Ascension of Our Lord; Anchorage Museum of History and Art; top center-University of Alaska, Fairbanks; bottom center-University of Alaska, Fairbanks; Washington State Historical Society; Sitka National Historical Park; top right, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Page 18, Anchorage Museum of History and Art; University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Page 19. top-Anchorage Museum of History and Art; University of Alaska, Fairbanks; center-Alaska State Library, Juneau; Anchorage Museum of History and Art; bottom-Alaska State Library, Juneau. Page 20. (c) N. B. Miller, University of Washington Libraries. Seattle; Alaska State Library, Juneau; Washington State Historical Society. Page 21, Kenneth E. White; Russian American Company.