As you know, all empires once arise, expand, but then inevitably fall apart for various reasons. In 1917 the Russian Empire collapsed, and in 1991 the USSR.

As a result of the Revolution of 1917, Russia lost Finland, Poland, the Kars region (now Turkey), lost the First World War.

As a result of 1991, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Estonia seceded from Russia.

Even earlier, as everyone knows, Tsar Alexander II sold Alaska to America.

However, few people know that the Russians also made attempts to create colonies in Africa, America, and the Pacific Ocean. Little is written or known about this in our country, for example, many will be surprised by the fact that there were Russian colonies in the Hawaiian Islands and California ...

Tobago Island(now part of Trinidad and Tobago). total area 300 sq. km.

The island of Tobago, which was a colony of Courland, which became part of the Russian Empire, could become a Russian colony off the coast of South America.

In 1652 the Duke of Courland Jacob took possession of Fr. Tobago off the coast of South America. Within 30 years, 400 Courlanders moved here, and more than 900 Negro slaves were purchased from Africa. In Africa, the Courlanders acquired the island of St. Andrew (James Island, now part of the Gambia).

However, in 1661 these territories in the two hemispheres were transferred to the use of England: the Duke of Courland actually contributed them as collateral for loans. When Courland became part of the Russian Empire, Catherine II until 1795 tried to seize these two islands from the British, but to no avail.

Trinidad is rich in oil and gas. Being relatively close to the US and the Panama Canal, the island is of great strategic importance.

"Russian America": Alaska, West Coast of North America, California

Alaska is a huge (1,481,347 sq km of land) US state, a former colony of Russia. The so-called Russian America was by no means limited to Alaska. Alexander Baranov, Nikolai Rezanov and other leaders of the Russian-American Company clearly understood the need to colonize the west coast of America, up to (and including) California.

As is well known, the Russian "discovery of America" ​​occurred in the process of developing the Far East in the first half of the 18th century. So, in 1741, during the Kamchatka expedition, an officer of the Russian fleet, Commander Ivan (Vitos) Bering, discovered the strait later named after him and discovered the coast of Alaska, which, in fact, was called Russian America. In the second half of the XVIII century. Russians began to populate the Aleutian Islands and the North American coast. In 1784, an expedition of the “Russian Columbus” of the navigator and industrialist Grigory Shelikhov (Shelekhov) landed on the Aleutian Islands, who in the same year founded the first Russian settlement in America on Kodiak Island. And in the first half of the 19th century, Shelikhov's associate, merchant Alexander Baranov, founded Novo-Arkhangelsk on the island of Sitka, which became the capital of Russian America, and more than twenty Russian settlements intended for fishing and trading activities.

At one time, Count Nikolai Rezanov was also appointed the ruler of the Russian-American Company. He received an order to inspect Russian settlements in Alaska and, upon arrival in Novo-Arkhangelsk, discovered the terrible state of the Russian colony: constant hunger reigned in Russian America, due to the difficulty of delivering the necessary food through Far East.

Nikolay Rezanov

Count Rezanov decided to establish trade relations and buy food in Spanish California. And for this purpose, he arrived in San Francisco on two ships "Juno" and "Avos" - a story based on which not a single work was created, from the text of the American prose writer Francis Braet Garth "Concepción de Arguelio" - to the poem by Andrei Voznesensky and rock Alexei Rybnikov's opera "Juno and Avos"

The storehouse of the material and spiritual culture of the Slavs, who so inadvertently settled on the wild formerly lands of the North-West of America, is now the subject of study by Americans. Russian America thus became part of American history.

Russian Old Believers in Alaska

It is not surprising that there are still more Russians in Alaska than Americans, and the Russian names of cities, islands and other toponyms - there are almost a hundred and fifty of them - never cease to amaze. On the current map of Alaska, not only all fourteen rulers of Russian America are “registered”, but also many sailors, explorers, pioneers and priests ...

If the history of the development of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands by Russian sailors is well known, the existence of a Russian colony and fortress Fort Ross in California many still find out with great surprise.

It was this Californian fortress that became the southernmost point on the territory of America, where the Russian colonists settled, and was directly related to Russian America, the Russian-American Company, and Count N.P. Rezanov.

This unique point of Russian California existed from 1812 to 1841, becoming the most important intermediate base that provided the entire territory of Russian America with the necessary food. By 1814, all the main structures of the fort were built, many of which turned out to be really innovative for the territory of California! According to the surviving information, the Russian settlers, who equipped their Californian colony, were distinguished by incredible diligence and were very skilled in a variety of crafts; which gives every reason to once again be surprised at the distorted, but unfortunately well-established in modern consciousness image of a Russian...

Fort Ross in 1828

The first windmills in California were built in Fort Ross, as well as the facilities necessary for a full-fledged settlement: a brick factory, a tannery, forges, stables, carpentry, locksmith and shoe shops, a dairy farm and others. In addition, in the vicinity of Fort Ross, Russian settlers set up large grain fields, vegetable gardens, as well as orchards and vineyards, and most of these fruit trees and vineyards were bred in this area, again for the first time in its history.

In addition to all of the above, according to the surviving information, the Russian colonists did not have any clashes with local Indian tribes, in contrast to the Spanish practice. So, Grigory Shelikhov, who in 1784 founded the first Russian settlement in America, in contrast to the massacre of the local population arranged by Columbus, not only established peaceful relations with him, but also organized several schools for the Indians. This unique practice stemmed directly from the official policy of the Russian-American Company, whose charter simply strictly forbade the exploitation of the local population and ordered the organization of frequent checks on compliance with this requirement. Moreover, the Russian colonists not only got along peacefully with the Indian tribes, but gave them an elementary education, including teaching them to read and write, as well as various professional skills. As a result, while receiving education in Russian schools, many Indians became carpenters, blacksmiths, shipbuilders, and paramedics.

As you know, in the middle of the XIX century, despite the work carried out, plans and projects, Russian America ceased to exist. In 1841, Fort Ross was sold to a large Mexican landowner, John Sutter, for almost 43,000 silver rubles, of which, by the way, he underpaid about 37,000. In 1850, Fort Ross, along with all of California, was annexed to the United States.

The sale of the Ross colony did not go unnoticed for Russia. The difficulties that arose in supplying Russian America with food added to the list of reasons that ultimately led to its sale. In 1867, one and a half million square kilometers Russian land, Alaska and 150 islands of the Aleutian ridge were sold to the United States for 7,200,000 american dollars(about 11 million rubles) - two cents per acre. In the same year, the Russian-American Company was abolished.

In 45 settlements of Russian America then there were already more than twelve thousand Russian citizens, however, there were only about 800 Russians among them, most of whom returned to their homeland. Those who remained in America united around the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church, which, under the terms of the agreement on the sale of Alaska, retained its buildings, lands, property and the right to continue its activities.

The Russian government easily sold Alaska, ignoring both its strategically important position, which allows it to dominate the Pacific Ocean, and the information about gold deposits that came to St. Petersburg more than once.

The reasons for the rejection of such a seemingly very important and promising project should be discussed separately. In any case, it can be stated that by the middle of the 19th century, the Russian-American Company failed to attract the necessary number of Russian settlers to the Russian colony. And above all, in connection with territorial difficulties: we must not forget that the journey from St. Petersburg or the European part of Russia to Russian America took about a year at that time. And besides, it was associated with a real risk to life, the strongest evidence of which is the biographies of its first figures - Grigory Shelikhov, and Alexander Baranov, and Nikolai Rezanov, who died just in this difficult path ...

Inside the fortress chapel

In our time, Fort Ross exists as one of the national parks of the state of California, while retaining the memory of its history, primarily by the efforts and desire of the Russian American community. A number of organizations have been operating with these goals for several years - such as the Congress of Russian Americans, which unites Russian emigrants, as well as the Fort Ross historical and educational association, which studies cultural heritage the first Russian settlers.

Children from the Russian community

Her forces created a small museum on the territory of the fortress, dedicated to the history of the founding of the Russian colony, its main figures and the Russian customs and traditions they brought. But apart from museum exhibits, the main historical monument is the fortress itself, a number of buildings of which have been preserved since those times.

On October 18, 1867, Alaska, formerly part of the Russian Empire, was officially transferred to the United States of America. The protocol on the transfer of Alaska was signed on board the American sloop of war "Ossip", on the Russian side it was signed by a special government commissioner, Captain 2nd Rank Alexei Alekseevich Peshchurov. The transfer of Alaska, then better known as "Russian America", was carried out as part of an agreement concluded with the United States of America on the sale of the territories belonging to Russia in the northwest of the American continent to the United States.

Recall that back in the 18th century, the territory of modern Alaska began to be actively developed by Russian explorers. In 1732, Alaska was discovered by a Russian expedition on the boat "St. Gabriel" under the command of Mikhail Gvozdev and Ivan Fedorov. Nine years later, in 1741, the Aleutian Islands and the coast of Alaska were explored by Bering on the St. Peter packet boat and Chirikov on the St. Pavel packet boat. However, the full development of the North American coast by Russian colonists began only in the 70s of the 18th century, when the first Russian settlement was founded on Unalaska. In 1784, galliots “Three Saints”, “St. Simeon" and "St. Mikhail", who were part of the expedition under the command of Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov. The Russian colonists who arrived on galliots built a settlement - Pavlovsk Harbor, and entered into relationships with local natives, trying to convert the latter to Orthodoxy and, thereby, strengthen Russian influence in these places.

Blessing of the Aleuts for fishing. Artist Vladimir Latyntsev

In 1783, the American Orthodox Diocese was founded, which marked the beginning of a new era in the colonization of the North American coast. In particular, in 1793, the famous Orthodox mission of Archimandrite Ioasaph (Bolotov), ​​consisting of 5 monks of the Valaam Monastery, arrived on Kodiak Island. The activity of the mission was to establish Orthodoxy among the aboriginal population of Kodiak Island. In 1796, the Kodiak vicariate was established as part of the Irkutsk diocese, headed by Joasaph (Bolotov). On April 10, 1799, Archimandrite Joasaph was consecrated bishop by Bishop Veniamin of Irkutsk and Nechinsk, after which he set off back to Kodiak Island. However, the fate of the 38-year-old father Joasaph was tragic. The ship "Phoenix", on which the bishop sailed with his assistants, sank in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. All the people on board were killed. After that, plans to establish an American diocese were put on hold for a long time.

The Russian state did not refuse to further assert its political and economic presence in Alaska. Measures aimed at the development of new lands were especially intensified even after the accession to the throne of Emperor Paul I. critical role in the development of Alaska, Russian merchants played, who were most interested in the fur trade and trade in the region of Japan and Kuril Islands. In 1797, preparations began for the creation of a single monopoly company that could take control of trade and fishing in the Alaska region. On July 19, 1799, the Russian-American Company (hereinafter - RAC) was officially established.

The uniqueness of the Russian-American Company lay in the fact that it was, in fact, the only real colonial monopoly company in the Russian Empire, which modeled its activities on foreign trading companies. Not only did the RAC have monopoly rights to trade and fishing functions on the coast of North America, it also had administrative powers delegated to it by the Russian state. Although back in the 1750s, four decades before the emergence of the Russian-American Company, the first trading monopolies—Persian, Central Asian, and Temernikov—already appeared in the Russian Empire, it was the Russian-American Company that in the fullest sense was a classic colonial administrative and trade monopoly. organization. The activity of the company satisfied the interests of both large entrepreneurs and the Russian state.

In 1801, the board of the company was transferred from Irkutsk to St. Petersburg, which inevitably resulted in a significant increase in the status and capabilities of the company. A huge contribution to this move was made by the actual State Councilor Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov, the son-in-law of the merchant and traveler Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov. Rezanov achieved not only the relocation of the company to the capital of the empire, but also the entry into the ranks of shareholders of members of the imperial family and the emperor himself. Gradually, the Russian-American company turned into a virtual government agency, for the management of which, since 1816, only officers of the Russian navy were appointed. It was believed that they would be better able to manage and maintain order in the distant overseas territories of Russian America. At the same time, although the effectiveness of the political and administrative sphere after the transition to the practice of appointing naval officers as company leaders increased markedly, the trade and economic affairs of the Russian-American Company were not successful.

The entire history of the Russian exploration of Alaska was connected with the activities of the Russian-American Company in the 19th century. Initially, the city of Kodiak remained the capital of Russian America, also known as Pavlovskaya Harbor, located on the island of Kodiak, about 90 km from the coast of Alaska. It was here that the residence of Alexander Andreevich Baranov, the first head of the Russian-American Company and the first chief ruler of Russian America in 1790-1819, was located. By the way, Baranov's house, built in late XVIII century, has survived to this day - in the already American city of Kodiak, where it is the oldest monument of Russian architecture. Currently, the Baranov House in Kodiak houses a museum, which was included in the National Register of Historic Places in the United States in 1966.

Back in 1799, on the shore of the ice-free Sitka Bay, the Mikhailovskaya Fortress was founded, around which the village of Novo-Arkhangelsk arose. In 1804 (according to other sources - in 1808) Novo-Arkhangelsk became the capital of Russian America, which was first included in the Siberian Governor General, and then, after its separation, in the East Siberian Governor General. Twenty years after its founding, in 1819, more than 200 Russians and about 1,000 Indians lived in Novo-Arkhangelsk. An elementary school, a church, as well as a ship repair yard, an arsenal, storehouses and workshops were opened in the village. Main activity local residents, providing the economic basis for the existence of the village, was hunting for sea otters. Valuable furs, which the natives were forced to extract, were sold.

Naturally, life in the farthest possession of the Russian Empire was difficult. Novo-Arkhangelsk depended on the supply of food, equipment, and ammunition from the "mainland". But since ships rarely came to the port, the townspeople had to save money and live in Spartan conditions. In the early 1840s. Naval officer Lavrenty Alekseevich Zagoskin visited Novo-Arkhangelsk, who then published a valuable book “A Pedestrian Inventory of Russian Possessions in America, Produced by Lieutenant Lavrenty Zagoskin in 1842, 1843 and 1844. with a Mercartor map, engraved on copper. He noted that in the city, which was considered the capital of Russian America, there were no streets, no squares, no courtyards. By that time, Novo-Arkhangelsk consisted of about a hundred wooden houses. The two-story residence of the governor was also wooden. Of course, for a strong enemy, the fortifications of Novo-Arkhangelsk did not pose any threat - a normally armed ship could not only destroy the fortifications, but also burn the entire town.

However, until the second half of the 19th century, Russian America managed to avoid tense relations with the neighboring British possessions in Canada. There were no other serious opponents near the borders of Russian possessions in Alaska. At the same time, the Russians during the development of Alaska came into conflict with the local natives - the Tlingit. This conflict went down in history as the Russian-Indian War or the Russian-Tlingit War of 1802-1805. In May 1802, an uprising of Tlingit Indians began, seeking to liberate their territories from Russian colonists. In June 1802, a detachment of 600 Tlingits, led by the leader Katlian, attacked the Mikhailovskaya fortress, in which there were only 15 people at the time of the attack. The Indians also destroyed a small detachment of Vasily Kochesov, who was returning from fishing, and also attacked a larger Sitka party of 165 people and completely defeated it. From imminent death, about twenty Russians who were captured by the Indians were saved by the British from the Unicorn brig that sailed, commanded by Captain Henry Barber. Thus, the Indians took control of the island of Sitka, and the Russian-American Company lost 24 Russians and about 200 Aleuts in battles.

However, in 1804 the main ruler of Russian America, Baranov, took revenge for the defeat of two years ago. He set out to conquer Sitka with a detachment of 150 Russians and 500-900 Aleuts. In September 1804, Baranov's detachment approached Sitka, after which the shelling of the wooden fort built by the Indians began from the ships Yermak, Alexander, Ekaterina and Rostislav. The Tlingits put up fierce resistance, during the battle Alexander Baranov himself was wounded in the arm. Nevertheless, the artillery of the Russian ships did their job - in the end, the Indians were forced to retreat from the fortress, losing about thirty people dead. So Sitka again fell into the hands of the Russian colonists, who began to restore the fortress and build an urban settlement. Novo-Arkhangelsk was revived, which became new capital Russian America instead of Kodiak. However, the Tlingit Indians continued their periodic raids against the Russian colonists over the years. Recent conflicts with the Indians were recorded in the 1850s, shortly before the transfer of Alaska to the United States of America.

In the middle of the XIX century. among some Russian officials close to imperial court, the opinion begins to spread that Alaska is more of a burden to the empire than an economically advantageous territory. In 1853, Count Nikolai Nikolaevich Muravyov-Amursky, then the East Siberian governor-general, raised the question of the possibility of selling Alaska to the United States of America. According to Count Muravyov-Amursky, the remoteness of Russian possessions in Alaska from the main Russian territory, on the one hand, and the spread of railway transport, on the other hand, will lead to the inevitable development of the lands of Alaska by the United States of America. Muravyov-Amursky believed that Russia would sooner or later have to cede Alaska to the United States. In addition, the Russian leaders were also concerned about the possibility of the capture of Alaska by the British. The fact is that from the south and east, Russian possessions in North America bordered on vast Canadian lands belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, and in fact - to the British Empire. Given that political relations The Russian Empire and Great Britain by this time were very tense, fears about the possibility of the British invading Russian possessions in Alaska were well founded.

When the Crimean War began, Great Britain tried to organize an amphibious landing in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Accordingly, the probability of an invasion of British troops into Russian America sharply increased. The empire would hardly have been able to provide significant support to the few settlers in Alaska. In this situation, the United States, which themselves feared the occupation of Alaska by Great Britain, offered to buy the possessions and property of the Russian-American Company for a period of three years for 7 million 600 thousand dollars. The leadership of the Russian-American Company agreed with this proposal and even signed an agreement with the American-Russian Trading Company in San Francisco, but soon managed to come to an agreement with the British Hudson's Bay Company, which ruled out the possibility of an armed conflict in Alaska. Therefore, the first agreement on the temporary sale of Russian possessions in America to the United States never entered into force.

Meanwhile, discussions continued in the Russian leadership about the possibility of selling Russian America to the United States. So, in 1857, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich expressed this idea to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire, Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov. The head of the diplomatic department supported this idea, but it was decided to temporarily postpone consideration of the issue of selling Alaska. On December 16, 1866, a special meeting was held, in which Emperor Alexander II himself, the initiator of the idea of ​​selling Alaska, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, the ministers of finance and the naval ministry, and the Russian envoy to Washington, Baron Eduard Stekl, took part. At this meeting, it was decided to sell Alaska to the United States of America. After consultations with representatives of the American leadership, the parties came to a common denominator. It was decided to cede Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million.

On March 30, 1867, an agreement was signed in Washington between the Russian Empire and the United States of America. On May 3, 1867, the treaty was signed by Emperor Alexander II. According to the treaty, the entire Alaska Peninsula, the Alexander Archipelago, the Aleutian Islands with the island of Attu, the Near Islands, Krysyi, Fox, Andreyanovsky, Shumagina, Trinity, Umnak, Unimak, Kodiak, Chirikov, Afognak and other smaller islands passed to the United States; islands in the Bering Sea: St. Lawrence, St. Matthew, Nunivak and the Pribylov Islands - St. George and St. Paul. Together with the territory, the United States of America was given all the property that was in Russian possessions in Alaska and the islands.

On March 18/30, 1867, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands were sold by Alexander II to the United States.

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.

Geography

Country name translated from Aleutian "a-la-as-ka" means "Big Land".

Alaska Territory includes into yourself Aleutian Islands (110 islands and many rocks), alexandra archipelago (about 1100 islands and rocks, the total area of ​​​​which is 36.8 thousand km²), St. Lawrence Island (80 km from Chukotka), Pribilof Islands , Kodiak Island (the second largest US island after the island of Hawaii), and huge continental part . The islands of Alaska stretch for almost 1,740 kilometers. On the Aleutian Islands there are many volcanoes, both extinct and active. Alaska is washed by the Arctic and Pacific oceans.

The continental part of Alaska is a peninsula of the same name, about 700 km long. In general, Alaska is a mountainous country - there are more volcanoes in Alaska than in all other US states. The highest peak in North America Mount McKinley (6193m altitude) is also located in Alaska.

McKinley is the most high mountain USA

Another feature of Alaska is a huge number of lakes (their number exceeds 3 million!). Swamps and permafrost cover about 487,747 km² (more than Sweden). Glaciers occupy about 41,440 km² (which corresponds to the entire territory of Holland!).

Alaska is considered a country with a harsh climate. Indeed, in most parts of Alaska, the climate is arctic and subarctic continental, with severe winters, with frosts down to minus 50 degrees. But the climate of the island part and the Pacific coast of Alaska 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 southern Alaska does not freeze in winter.

Alaska has always been rich in fish: salmon, flounder, cod, herring, edible species shellfish and marine mammals abounded 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. This explains why Russian industrialists sought to Alaska with its favorable natural conditions and richer than in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk fauna.

Discovery of Alaska by Russian explorers

The history of Alaska before it was sold to the United States in 1867 is one of the pages in the history of Russia.

The first people came to the territory of Alaska from Siberia about 15-20 thousand years ago. Then Eurasia and North America were connected by an isthmus located on the site of the Bering Strait. By the time the Russians arrived in the 18th century, the native inhabitants of Alaska were divided into Aleuts, Eskimos and Indians belonging to the Athabaskan group.

It is assumed that the first Europeans to see the shores of Alaska were members of the expedition of Semyon Dezhnev in 1648 , who were the first to sail along the Bering Strait from the Icy Sea to the Warm Sea.According to legend, Dezhnev's boats, which had gone astray, landed on the coast of Alaska.

In 1697, the conqueror of Kamchatka, Vladimir Atlasov, reported to Moscow that opposite the “Necessary Nose” (Cape Dezhnev) there was a large island in the sea, from where in winter the ice "foreigners come, 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 about 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.

However, at the end of the 17th century, Peter's transformations began in Russia, as a result of which the state was not up to the discovery of new lands. This explains a certain pause in the further advance of the Russians to the east.

Russian industrialists began to attract new lands only at the beginning of the 18th century, as fur stocks in eastern Siberia were depleted.Peter I immediately, as soon as circumstances allowed, began to organize scientific expeditions in the North Pacific.In 1725, shortly before his death, Peter the Great sent Captain Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator in the Russian service, to explore the sea coast 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.

It is believed that the first Europeans to land on the coast of Alaska were members of the crew of the ship "Saint Gabriel" under the command of surveyor Mikhail Gvozdev and navigator Ivan Fedorov. They were members Chukchi expedition 1729-1735 under the leadership of A. F. Shestakov and D. I. Pavlutsky.

Travelers landed on the coast of Alaska on August 21, 1732 . 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 next step in the "discovery of Alaska" was Second Kamchatka expedition famous explorer Vitus Bering in 1740 - 1741 An island, a sea and a strait between Chukotka and Alaska were subsequently named after him - Vitus Bering.

The 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. They crossed the Pacific Ocean and July 15, 1741 discovered the northwestern shores of America. 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 "Saint Pavel" returned on October 8 to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. On the way back, the Umnak Islands were discovered, Unalaska and others. 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 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 second Russian expedition, which discovered the northwestern coast of the North American continent.

Russian America

The authorities in St. Petersburg reacted with indifference to the opening of Bering's expedition.The Russian Empress Elizabeth had no 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.For the next 50 years, Russia showed very little interest in this land.

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.

In 1743, Russian traders and fur hunters established very close contact with the Aleuts. In 1743-1755, 22 fishing expeditions 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 the southern coast of modern Alaska. Fishing expeditions were organized and financed by various private companies of Siberian merchants.

Merchant ships off the coast of Alaska

Until the 1770s, Grigory Ivanovich Shelekhov, Pavel Sergeevich Lebedev-Lastochkin, as well as the brothers Grigory and Peter Panov were considered the richest and most famous among the merchants and fur buyers in Alaska.

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".

One of the first to establish a permanent Russian settlement on Unalashka (an island in the archipelago of the Aleutian Islands), discovered in 1741 during the Second Bering Expedition.

Unalaska on the map

Subsequently, Analashka became the main Russian port in the region, through which the fur trade was carried out. The main base of the future Russian-American Company was also located here. In 1825 was built Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension .

Church of the Ascension on Unalaska

The founder of the parish, Innokenty (Veniaminov) - Saint Innocent of Moscow , - created with the help of local residents the first Aleutian script and translated the Bible into the Aleutian language.

Unalaska today

In 1778 he arrived at Unalaska English explorer James Cook . According to him, total number Russian industrialists, who were in the Aleuts and in the waters of Alaska, amounted to about 500 people.

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.

The real discoverer and creator of Russian America was Grigory Ivanovich Shelekhov. 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 3 ships ("Three Hierarchs", "Saint Simeon the God-bearer and Anna the Prophetess" and "Archangel Michael"), he reached Kodiak Islands where he began to build a fortress and a settlement. From there it was easier to swim to the shores of Alaska. 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. Shelekhov also began to build two more fortified settlements in America. His settlement plans included flat streets, schools, libraries, parks. Returning to 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 remarkable for his 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.

In 1791, Shelekhov took as his assistant, a 43-year-old who had just arrived in Alaska. Alexandra Baranova - a merchant from the ancient city of Kargopol, who at one time moved to Siberia for business purposes. Baranov was appointed chief manager of Kodiak island . He possessed an unselfishness surprising for an entrepreneur - managing Russian America for more than two decades, controlling multi-million 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 (Pavlovsk) - main city the Kodiak Islands.

In the meantime, Shelekhov's company forced out the rest of the competitors from the region. Myself Shelekhov died in 1795 , in the midst of their endeavors. True, his proposals for the further development of American territories with the help of commercial company, thanks to his associates and associates, were further developed.

Russian-American Company

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). She received from Paul I the 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 the interests of Russia in the Pacific Ocean with her own means. Since 1801, Alexander I and the Grand Dukes, major statesmen have become shareholders of the company.

Shelekhov's son-in-law became one of the founders of the RAC Nikolay Rezanov, whose name is known today to many as the name of the hero of the musical "Juno and Avos". The first head of the company was Alexander Baranov , which was officially named Chief Ruler .

The creation of the RAC was based on Shelekhov's proposals 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.

Until the 1820s, the profits of the company allowed them to develop the territories themselves, so, according to Baranov, in 1811 the profit from the sale of sea otter skins amounted to 4.5 million rubles, a huge amount of money at that time. The profitability of the Russian-American Company was 700-1100% per year. This was facilitated by the great demand for the skins of sea otters, their cost from the end of the 18th century to the 20s of the 19th century increased from 100 rubles per skin to 300 (sable cost about 20 times less).

In the early 1800s, Baranov established trade with Hawaii. Baranov was a real Russian statesman, and under other circumstances (for example, another emperor on the throne) The Hawaiian Islands could become a Russian naval base and resort . From Hawaii, Russian ships carried salt, sandalwood, tropical fruits, coffee, and sugar. They planned to populate the islands with Pomor Old Believers from the Arkhangelsk province. Since the local princelings were constantly at war with each other, Baranov offered patronage to one of them. In May 1816, one of the leaders - Tomari (Kaumualiya) - officially transferred to Russian citizenship. By 1821, several Russian outposts had been built in Hawaii. The Russians could also control the Marshall Islands. By 1825, Russian power was becoming stronger, Tomari became king, the children of the leaders studied in the capital of the Russian Empire, and the first Russian-Hawaiian dictionary was created. But in the end, St. Petersburg abandoned the idea of ​​making the Hawaiian and Marshall Islands Russian . Although their strategic position is obvious, their development was also economically beneficial.

Thanks to Baranov, a number of Russian settlements were founded in Alaska, in particular Novoarkhangelsk (today - Sitka ).

Novoarkhangelsk

Novoarkhangelsk in the 50-60s. XIX century looked like an average provincial town in the outskirts of Russia. It had a ruler's palace, a theater, a club, a 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 office, an admiralty, port buildings, an arsenal, several industrial enterprises, shops, stores and warehouses. Houses in Novoarkhangelsk were built on stone foundations, the roofs were made of iron.

Under the leadership of Baranov, the Russian-American Company expanded its scope of interests: in California, just 80 kilometers north of San Francisco, the southernmost settlement of Russia in North America was built - Fort Ross. Russian settlers in California were engaged in fishing for sea otters, agriculture and cattle breeding. Trade links were established with New York, Boston, California and Hawaii. The California colony was to become the main supplier of food to Alaska, which at that time belonged to Russia.

Fort Ross in 1828. Russian fortress in California

But the hopes were not justified. In general, Fort Ross turned out to be unprofitable for the Russian-American Company. Russia was forced to abandon it. In 1841 Fort Ross was sold for 42,857 rubles to Mexican citizen John Sutter, a German industrialist who got into the history of California thanks to his sawmill in Coloma, on the territory of which in 1848 was found Goldmine that started the famous California Gold Rush. As payment, Sutter supplied wheat to Alaska, but, according to P. Golovin, he did not pay almost 37.5 thousand rubles in addition.

Russians in Alaska founded settlements, built churches, created schools, a library, a museum, shipyards and hospitals for local residents, launched Russian ships.

A number of manufacturing industries have been established in Alaska. Especially noteworthy is the development of shipbuilding. Shipbuilders have been building ships in Alaska 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: absolutely everything, including steam machine, was made on site. Russian Novoarkhangelsk was the first point of steam shipbuilding on the entire western coast of America.

Novoarkhangelsk

The city of Sitka (former Novoarkhangelsk) today

At the same time, formally, the Russian-American Company was not a fully state institution.

In 1824, Russia signs an agreement with the governments of the USA and England. The boundaries of Russian possessions in North America were determined at the state level.

1830 world map

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. 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.

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.

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.

The Russian Orthodox Church was active in Russian America. As early as 1794 he began missionary work Valaam monk Herman . 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, everyone adult population able to read in their native language.

Sale of Alaska

Oddly enough, but the fate of Alaska, according to a number of historians, was decided by the Crimea, or rather, the Crimean War (1853-1856). The Russian government began to see ideas about strengthening relations with the United States as opposed to Great Britain.

Despite the fact that the Russians founded settlements in Alaska, built churches, created schools and hospitals for local residents, there was no truly deep and thorough development of American lands. After the resignation of Alexander Baranov in 1818 from the post of ruler of the Russian-American Company, due to illness, there were no leaders of this magnitude in Russian America.

The interests of the Russian-American Company were mainly limited to the extraction of furs, and by the middle of the 19th century, the number of sea otters in Alaska had sharply decreased due to uncontrolled hunting.

The geopolitical situation did not contribute to the development of Alaska as a Russian colony. In 1856 Russia was defeated in Crimean War, and relatively close to Alaska was English colony British Columbia (the westernmost province of modern Canada).

Contrary to popular belief, Russians were well aware of the presence of gold in Alaska . In 1848, a Russian explorer and mining engineer, lieutenant Pyotr Doroshin, found small placers of gold on the Kodiak and Sitkha islands, the shores of the Kenai Bay near the future city of Anchorage (the largest city in Alaska today). However, the amount of precious metal discovered was small. 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. Subsequently, gold was found in other parts of Alaska. But it was no longer Russian Alaska.

Besides oil discovered in Alaska . It is this fact, however absurd it may sound, that has become one of the incentives to get rid of Alaska as soon as possible. The fact is that American prospectors began to actively arrive in Alaska, and the Russian government reasonably feared that they would come after them. American troops. Russia was not ready for the war, and it was completely imprudent to give Alaska penniless.Russia seriously feared that it would not be able to ensure the security of its colony in America in the event of an armed conflict. The United States of America was chosen as a potential buyer of Alaska to offset the growing British influence in the region.

In this way, Alaska could become the cause of a new war for Russia.

The initiative to sell Alaska to the United States of America belonged to the emperor's brother, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich Romanov, who served as head of the Russian Naval Staff. Back in 1857, he suggested that his elder brother, the emperor, sell "excess territory", because the discovery of gold deposits there will certainly attract the attention of England - a long-time sworn enemy of the Russian Empire, and Russia is not able to defend it, and there really is no military fleet in the northern seas . If England seizes Alaska, then Russia will receive absolutely nothing for it, and in this way it will be possible to gain at least some money, save face and strengthen friendly relations with the United States. It should be noted that in the 19th century, the Russian Empire and the United States developed extremely friendly relations - Russia refused to help the West regain control over North American territories, which infuriated the monarchs of Great Britain and inspired the colonists of America to continue the liberation struggle.

However, consultations with the US government about a possible sale, in fact, negotiations began only after the end of the American Civil War.

In December 1866, Emperor Alexander II made the final decision. The borders of the sold territory and the minimum price - five million dollars were determined.

In March Russian ambassador in the United States of America Baron Eduard Stekl made a proposal to sell Alaska to US Secretary of State William Seward.

Signing of the Sale of Alaska, March 30, 1867 Robert S. Chu, William G. Seward, William Hunter, Vladimir Bodisko, Edouard Steckl, Charles Sumner, Frederick Seward

Negotiations were successful and On March 30, 1867, an agreement was signed in Washington according to which Russia sold Alaska for $7,200,000 in gold.(at the rate of 2009 - approximately $108 million in gold). Withdrawn to the USA: the entire Alaska Peninsula (along the meridian 141 ° west of Greenwich), a coastal strip 10 miles south of Alaska along West Bank British Columbia; the archipelago of Alexander; 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. The total area of ​​the sold territories amounted to more than 1.5 million square meters. km. Russia sold Alaska for less than 5 cents per hectare.

On October 18, 1867, an official ceremony was held in Novoarkhangelsk (Sitka) for the transfer of Alaska to the United States. Russian and American soldiers passed in a solemn march, was lowered Russian flag and raised the US flag.

Painting by N. Leitze "Signing the contract for the sale of Alaska" (1867)

Immediately after the transfer of Alaska to the United States, American troops entered Sitka and looted the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, private houses and shops, and General Jefferson Davis ordered all Russians to leave their homes to the Americans.

On August 1, 1868, Baron Stekl was presented with a US Treasury check with which the United States paid Russia for its new lands.

Check issued to the Russian Ambassador by the Americans when buying Alaska

notice, that Russia never received money for Alaska , since part of this money was appropriated by the Russian ambassador in Washington, Baron Steckl, part went to bribes to American senators. Baron Steckl then instructed Riggs Bank to transfer $7.035 million to London, to the Barings Bank. Both of these banks have now ceased to exist. The trace of this money has been lost in time, giving rise to a variety of theories. According to one of them, the check was cashed in London, and gold bars were purchased for it, which were planned to be transferred to Russia. However, the cargo was never delivered. The ship "Orkney" (Orkney), on board which was a precious cargo, sank on July 16, 1868 on the way to St. Petersburg. Whether there was gold on it at that time, or whether it did not leave the limits of Foggy Albion at all, is unknown. The insurance company that insured the ship and cargo declared itself bankrupt, and the damage was only partially reimbursed. (Now the site of the sinking of the Orkney is in the territorial waters of Finland. In 1975, a joint Soviet-Finnish expedition examined the area of ​​​​its flooding and found the wreckage of the ship. The study of these found that the ship was powerful explosion and a big fire. However, gold could not be found - most likely, it remained in England.). As a result, Russia never received anything from the abandonment of some of its possessions.

It should be noted that There is no official text of the agreement on the sale of Alaska in Russian. The deal was not approved by the Russian Senate and the State Council.

In 1868, the Russian-American Company was liquidated. During its elimination, 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. Stayed in Alaska most of Creoles (descendants from mixed marriages Russians with Aleuts, Eskimos and Indians).

Rise of Alaska

After 1867, the part of the North American continent ceded by Russia to the USA received Alaska Territory status.

For the United States, Alaska became the site of the "gold rush" in the 90s. XIX century, sung by Jack London, and then the "oil fever" in the 70s. XX century.

In 1880, the largest ore deposit in Alaska, Juneau, was discovered. At the beginning of the 20th century, the largest alluvial gold deposit, Fairbanks, was discovered. By the mid 80s. XX in Alaska in total produced almost a thousand tons of gold.

To dateAlaska ranks 2nd in the US (after Nevada) in terms of gold production . The state provides about 8% of silver mining in the United States of America. The Red Dog Mine in northern Alaska is the largest zinc mine in the world and provides about 10% of the world's production of this metal, as well as significant amounts of silver and lead.

Oil was found in Alaska 100 years after the conclusion of the agreement - in the early 70s. XX century. TodayAlaska ranks 2nd in the US in the production of "black gold", 20% of American oil is produced here. Huge reserves of oil and gas have been explored in the north of the state. The Prudhoe Bay field is the largest in the United States (8% of US oil production).

January 3, 1959 territoryAlaska was converted to49th state of the USA.

Alaska is the largest US state in terms of territory - 1,518 thousand km² (17% of the US territory). In general, today Alaska is one of the most promising regions of the world from the transport and energy point of view. For the United States, this is both a key point on the way to Asia and a springboard for more active development of resources and the presentation of territorial claims in the Arctic.

The history of Russian America serves as an example not only of the courage of explorers, the energy of Russian entrepreneurs, but also of the venality and betrayal of the upper spheres of Russia.

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

Charitable wall newspaper for schoolchildren, parents and teachers of St. Petersburg "Briefly and clearly about the most interesting". Issue #73, March 2015.

"Russian America"

(The history of the discovery and development of Alaska by Russian sailors. The indigenous population of Alaska: Aleuts, Eskimos and Indians)

Campaigns of Vitus Bering and Alexei Chirikov in 1741.

Russian possessions in North America in 1816.

Charity wall newspapers educational project"Briefly and clearly about the most interesting" are intended for schoolchildren, parents and teachers of St. Petersburg. They ship for free to most educational institutions, as well as to a number of hospitals, orphanages and other institutions of the city. The publications of the project do not contain any advertising (only logos of the founders), politically and religiously neutral, written in easy language, well illustrated. They are conceived as an information "slowdown" of students, the awakening of cognitive activity and the desire to read. Authors and publishers, without claiming to be academically complete in the presentation of the material, publish Interesting Facts, illustrations, interviews with well-known figures of science and culture and hope thereby to increase the interest of schoolchildren in educational process. Please send comments and suggestions to: [email protected] We thank the Department of Education of the Administration of the Kirovsky District of St. Petersburg and everyone who selflessly helps in distributing our wall newspapers. Our sincere gratitude to the authors of the material in this issue, Margarita Emelina and Mikhail Savinov, researchers of the Krasin Icebreaker Museum (branch of the Museum of the World Ocean in St. Petersburg, www.world-ocean.ru and www.krassin.ru).

Introduction

A little more than 280 years ago, the first European ship reached the shores of Alaska. It was a Russian boat "Saint Gabriel" under the command of military surveyor Mikhail Gvozdev. Russian colonization of continental Alaska began 220 years ago. 190 years ago (in March 1825), the Russian Emperor Alexander I and the "King of Great Britain" George IV signed a convention on the boundaries of "their mutual possessions on the northwestern coast of America." And in March 1867, an agreement was signed on the sale of Alaska to the young United States of America. So what is “Russian America”, when it became Russian, did it bring income to the imperial treasury, did Emperor Alexander II do the right thing when he decided to sell this land? We asked the researchers of the Krasin Icebreaker Museum, historians Margarita Emelina and Mikhail Savinov, to tell about this. By the way, we are pleased to congratulate all our readers (and especially history teachers) on world day historian, which is celebrated on March 28!

Our discovery of America

Campaign of Semyon Dezhnev. Drawing from the book "Semyon Dezhnev".

Types of Russian ships in Siberia: plank, kayuk and koch (drawing of the 17th century).

Captain-Commander Vitus Bering.

In 1648, Russian sailors on kochs (boats with double skins) under the leadership of Semyon Dezhnev and Fedot Popov entered the strait separating Asia and America. Koch Dezhneva reached the Anadyr River, from where the navigator sent a report to Yakutsk. In it, he wrote that Chukotka can be bypassed by sea - in other words, he suggested that there is a strait between Asia and America ... The report was sent to the archive, where it lay for more than 80 years, until it was accidentally noticed when parsing documents. So in the XVII century, the discovery "did not take place."

In 1724, Peter I issued a decree on finding and exploring the strait between Asia and America, thus initiating the expeditions of Vitus Bering. The first Kamchatka expedition began in 1728 - the boat "Saint Gabriel" left the Nizhnekamchatsky prison. Brave sailors managed to notice that the coast of the Chukotka Peninsula, along which they sailed, deviated more and more to the west.

At the same time, by decision of the Senate, a large military expedition was sent to the northeast under the leadership of the Cossack Afanasy Shestakov, who was appointed chief commander of the Kamchatka Territory. The naval detachment of Shestakov's expedition led by Mikhail Gvozdev in 1732 reached the coast of Alaska in the area of ​​Cape Prince of Wales (the extreme continental point of northwestern America). Here Gvozdev mapped about 300 km of the coast (now these lands are called the Seward Peninsula), described the shores of the strait and the nearest islands.

In 1741, Vitus Bering, who led the campaign of two packet boats "Saint Peter" and "Saint Paul", approached the mainland - North America was officially discovered from the Pacific Ocean. Then the Aleutian Islands were discovered. New lands became the property of Russia. They began to regularly equip fishing expeditions.

The first Russian settlements in Alaska

"Russian merchant ships off the coast of Alaska" (artist - Vladimir Latynsky).

The fishermen returned from the newly discovered lands with rich booty of furs. In 1759, the fur trader Stepan Glotov landed on the shores of Unalaska Island. So the ships of Russian fishermen began to constantly arrive here. Hunters were divided into small artels and went to collect furs on different islands. At the same time, they began to treat the local population in the same way as in Siberia - to demand the payment of a fur tax (yasak). The Aleuts resisted and in 1763 destroyed all the property and almost all the ships of the fishermen, many of whom died in this armed clash. The following year, the conflicts continued, and this time ended not in favor of the local population - about five thousand Aleuts died. Looking ahead a little, let's say that since 1772, in the Dutch harbor on the island of Unalaska, the Russian settlement has become permanent.

In St. Petersburg, finally, they decided to pay closer attention to the new lands. In 1766, Catherine II ordered to send a new expedition to the shores of America. She was commanded by Captain Peter Krenitsyn, Lieutenant Commander Mikhail Levashov became his assistant. The flagship crashed near the Kuril ridge, other ships reached Alaska only in 1768. Here, during the winter, many died of scurvy. On the way back, Krenitsyn himself died. But the results of the expedition were great: the discovery and description of hundreds of the Aleutian Islands, stretching for two thousand kilometers, was completed!

"Colomb of Russia"

Monument to Grigory Shelikhov in Rylsk.

So called the merchant Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov, the poet and writer Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin. In his youth, Shelikhov went to Siberia in search of "happiness", entered the service of the merchant Ivan Larionovich Golikov, and then became his companion. Possessing great energy, Shelikhov persuaded Golikov to send ships "to the Alaskan land called American ... for the production of fur trade ... and the establishment of voluntary bargaining with the natives." The ship "St. Paul" was built, which in 1776 went to the shores of America. Four years later, Shelikhov returned to Okhotsk with a rich cargo of furs.

The second expedition of 1783-1786 was also successful and led to the appearance of the first Russian settlements in the Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island. And in August 1790, Shelikhov invited his new partner Alexander Andreevich Baranov to become the main ruler of the newly founded North-Eastern Fur Company.

The activity of the fishermen led to conflicts with the local population, but subsequently, neighborly relations improved. In addition, Shelikhov organized the planting of crops familiar to Russians (potatoes and turnips). This reduced the severity of the food issue, although the plants did not take root well.

Chief ruler of Russian settlements in North America

"Portrait of Alexander Andreevich Baranov" (artist - Mikhail Tikhanov).

Alexander Baranov lived in North America for 28 years. All these years - he is the main ruler of both the company and the Russian possessions. For diligence "to the establishment, approval and expansion of Russian trade in America" ​​back in 1799, Emperor Paul I awarded Baranov a nominal medal. At the same time, on the initiative of Alexander Andreevich, the Mikhailovskaya Fortress was founded (then Novoarkhangelsk and now Sitka). It was this settlement that since 1808 became the capital of Russian America. Baranov sent ships to explore the territories adjacent to the Pacific coast of Northwest America, established trade relations with California, the Hawaiian Islands, China, and established trade with the British and Spaniards. By his order, in 1812, Fort Ross was founded in California.

Baranov sought to strengthen peaceful relations with the natives. It was under him that comfortable settlements, shipyards, workshops, schools, and hospitals were created on the territory of Russian America. Marriages of Russians with indigenous people became common. Baranov himself was married to the daughter of the leader of an Indian tribe, and they had three children. The Russian-American company tried to educate children from mixed marriages (Creoles). They were sent to study in Okhotsk, Yakutsk, Irkutsk, Petersburg. As a rule, they all returned to their native places to serve the company.

The company's income increased from 2.5 to 7 million rubles. We can say that it was under Baranov that the Russians gained a foothold in America. Alexander Andreevich retired in 1818 and went home. But the sea voyage was not close. On the way, Baranov fell ill and died. The waves of the Indian Ocean became his grave.

Commander Rezanov

Monument to Commander Nikolai Rezanov in Krasnoyarsk.

Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov was born in St. Petersburg into a poor noble family in 1764. In 1778 he entered military service in artillery, soon switched to civilian - he became an official, an inspector. In 1794 he was sent to Irkutsk, where he met Grigory Shelikhov. Soon Rezanov married Anna Shelikhova, the eldest daughter of Colomb Rossky, and took up the activities of the family company. It was entrusted to Rezanov "in the entire space of the power of attorney given to him and the highest privileges bestowed by us to intercede on the affairs of the company in everything that can be of benefit and the preservation of common trust."

At the beginning of the 19th century, plans for a round-the-world trip began to be developed at the court. Rezanov pointed out the need to establish ties with America by sea. And in 1802, by the highest command, Nikolai Petrovich became commander - he was appointed head of the first Russian round-the-world expedition on the sloops "Nadezhda" and "Neva" (1803-1806) and envoy to Japan. Establishing relations with the Land of the Rising Sun and inspecting Russian America were the main goals of the trip. Rezanov's mission was preceded by personal grief - his wife died ...

Russian-American company

The building of the Board of the Russian-American Company.

Back in the mid-1780s, G.I. Shelikhov turned to the Empress with a proposal to grant certain privileges to his company. The patronage of the Governor-General of the Irkutsk province, permission to trade with India and the countries of the Pacific basin, sending a military team to American settlements, permission to conduct various transactions with native leaders, the introduction of a ban on foreign trade and fishing activities within the emerging Russian America - these are the components of his project . To organize such work, he asked the treasury for financial assistance in the amount of 500 thousand rubles. The Collegium of Commerce supported these ideas, but Catherine II rejected them, believing that the interests of the state would be infringed.

In 1795 G.I. Shelikhov died. His son-in-law Nikolai Rezanov took over his affairs. In 1797, the creation of a single monopoly company in the Pacific North began (Kamchatka, the Kuril and Aleutian Islands, Japan, Alaska). The leading role in it belonged to the heirs and companions of G.I. Shelikhov. On July 8 (19), 1799, Emperor Paul I signed a decree establishing the Russian-American Company (RAC).

The charter of the company was copied from the monopoly trade associations of other countries. The state, as it were, temporarily delegated to the RAC a significant part of its powers, since the company disposed of the state funds allocated to it and organized the entire fur trade and trade in the region. Russia has already had a similar experience - for example, the Persian and Central Asian companies. And the most famous foreign company, of course, was the East India in England. Only in our country did the emperor still control the activities of merchants more.

The company's board was in Irkutsk. And in 1801 it was transferred to St. Petersburg. Its building can be seen walking along the embankment of the Moika River. Now it is a historical monument of federal significance.

The first Russian expedition around the world

The first Russian round-the-world expedition on the sloops "Nadezhda" and "Neva" began on July 26, 1803. "Nadezhda" was commanded by Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern (he was also entrusted with the general maritime leadership), "Neva" - Yuri Fedorovich Lisyansky. The head of the expedition, as we have already said, was Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov.

One of the ships - "Neva" - was equipped with funds from the Russian-American Company. He was to approach the shores of America, while the "Hope" was heading to Japan. During the preparation of the expedition, its leaders were given a lot of various assignments of an economic, political, scientific nature, including the study of the American shores. The Neva approached the islands of Kodiak and Sitka, where the necessary supplies were brought. Then the crew members took part in the battle of Sitka. Then Lisyansky sent his ship to sail along the coast of the northwestern part of America. The Neva spent almost a year and a half off the coast of America. During this time, the coastline was studied, a collection of household items of the Indians and a lot of information about their way of life was collected. The ship was loaded valuable furs to be shipped to China. Not without difficulties, but the furs were still sold, and the Neva continued to sail.

Rezanov at that time was on the Nadezhda sloop off the coast of Japan. His diplomatic mission lasted six months, but was not successful. At the same time, relations between him and Krusenstern did not work out at all. The discord reached the point that they communicated with each other, exchanging notes! Upon returning to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Nikolai Petrovich was released from further participation in the voyage.

In August 1805, Rezanov arrived in Novoarkhangelsk on the trading brig "Maria", where he met Baranov. Here he drew attention to the food problem and tried to solve it ...

rock opera hero

Poster of the rock opera "Juno" and "Avos".

In 1806, Rezanov, having equipped the ships "Juno" and "Avos", went to California, hoping to purchase food for the colony. Soon more than 2,000 poods of wheat were delivered to Novoarkhangelsk. In San Francisco, Nikolai Petrovich met the daughter of the governor, Conchita Arguello. They got engaged, but the count had a trip to Petersburg. The overland journey through Siberia turned out to be fatal for him - he caught a cold and died in Krasnoyarsk in the spring of 1807. The bride was waiting for him and did not believe the rumors about his death. Only when, 35 years later, the English traveler George Simpson told her sad details, did she believe. And she decided to connect her life with God - she took a vow of silence and went to the monastery, where she lived for almost 20 years ...

In the twentieth century, Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov became the hero of a rock opera. The basis of the sad and poignant story, which talented performers tell from the stage in the songs, was the real events described above. The poet Andrei Voznesensky wrote a poem about the unhappy love of Rezanov and Conchita, and the composer Alexei Rybnikov composed the music for it. Until now, the rock opera Juno and Avos is being played at the Lenkom Theater in Moscow with a constant full house. And in 2000, Nikolai Rezanov and Conchita Arguello seemed to have met: the sheriff of the Californian city of Benisha brought a handful of earth from the grave of Conchita to Krasnoyarsk to the white memorial cross in honor of Rezanov. On it is the inscription: "I will never forget you, I will never see you." These words are also heard in the most famous of the compositions of the rock opera, they are a symbol of love and fidelity.

Fort Ross

Fort Ross is a Russian fortress in California.

“A Russian fortress in California? It can't be!" You say, and you're wrong. Such a fortress really existed. In 1812, Baranov decided to create a southern settlement to supply food to the Russian colony. He sent a small detachment led by an employee of the company Ivan Kuskov in search of a convenient place. Kuskov needed to make several campaigns before he managed to negotiate with the Indians. In the spring of 1812, a fortress (fort) was founded in the possessions of the Kashaya Pomo tribe, which was named "Ross" on September 11 of the same year. Kuskov needed three blankets, three pairs of trousers, two axes, three hoes, and several strings of beads to succeed in negotiations with the Indians. The Spaniards also claimed these lands, but fortune turned away from them.

The main occupation of the population of Ross was agriculture (primarily the cultivation of wheat), but soon trade and cattle breeding became of great importance. The development of the colony proceeded under the close attention of the Spanish neighbors, and later the Mexicans (Mexico was formed in 1821). During the entire existence of the fortress, it has never been threatened by enemies - neither the Spaniards nor the Indians. The protocol of the conversation that took place in 1817 was even signed with the Indian leaders. It recorded that the leaders "are very pleased with the occupation of this place by the Russians."

In Fort Ross, the first windmills in California and shipyards, orchards appeared. But, alas, the colony brought only losses to the Russian-American company. Harvests were not great, and due to the proximity of the Spaniards, the settlement could not grow. In 1839, the RAC decided to sell Fort Ross. However, the neighbors were not interested, hoping that the Russians would simply abandon the colony. Only in 1841, Ross was acquired by the Mexican John Sutter for 42,857 silver rubles. The fort changed several owners and in 1906 became the property of the State of California.

America is Russian, America is British…

When it comes to America, we primarily think of the settlers from England and Ireland and young state United States of America. And how did their relations with the Russian colonies develop?

American and British companies were also interested in Alaska's fur trade and development. Therefore, a clash of interests was inevitable, and the question of the border of the possessions of different countries became more and more urgent every year. Representatives of the companies tried to win over the Indians.

At the initiative of the Russian-American Company, negotiations began with the United States and Great Britain, whose possessions were called British Columbia and stretched east from the Rocky Mountains, which were considered a natural border. The era of geographical discoveries was still ongoing, so natural obstacles - rivers, mountain ranges - served as borders. Now the region was better known, and the task of its economic development arose. At the same time, representatives of companies sought, first of all, to take advantage of his wealth - furs.

On September 4 (16), 1821, Emperor Alexander I issued a decree expanding Russian possessions in America to the 51st parallel and banning foreign trade there. The United States and England were unhappy with this. Not wanting to aggravate the situation, Alexander I proposed to hold tripartite negotiations. They started in 1823. And in 1824, the Russian-American Convention was signed, and the next - the Anglo-Russian. Borders were established (up to the 54th parallel), trade relations were established.

Sale of Alaska: how it was

US$7.2 million check presented to pay for the Alaska Purchase. Today, its amount corresponds to 119 million US dollars.

Russian America was very far from the capital Petersburg and the central part of the Russian Empire, the sea route was very difficult and still dangerous and full of hardships. Despite the fact that the Russian-American Company was in charge of all the affairs, the state did not receive income from this territory. Quite the contrary, they suffered losses.

In the middle of the 19th century, Russia participated in the Crimean War, which ended unsuccessfully for our country. There was an acute shortage in the treasury Money, and the costs of a distant colony became onerous. And in 1857, Minister of Finance Reitern expressed the idea of ​​selling Russian America. Was it necessary to do it? The question still haunts the mind. But let's not forget that the people who made this difficult decision acted in the circumstances of their time, sometimes very difficult. Can we blame them for this?

The matter was finally settled in December 1866, when preliminary negotiations were held with the government of the United States. Then a secret "special meeting" was held, which was attended by Emperor Alexander II and Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, Foreign Minister Alexei Mikhailovich Gorchakov, Finance Minister Reitern, Vice Admiral Nikolai Karlovich Krabbe, and also the American envoy Stekl. It was these people who decided the fate of Russian America. All of them unanimously supported its sale to the United States.

The Russian colonies in America were sold for $7.2 million in gold. On October 6, 1867, the tricolor RAC was solemnly lowered over the New Arkhangelsk fortress in Sitka and the star-striped flag of the United States was raised. The era of Russian America is over.

Most of the Russian settlers left Alaska. But of course, Russian rule did not pass without a trace for this region - Orthodox churches continued to operate, many Russian words settled forever in the languages ​​​​of the peoples of Alaska and in the names of local villages ...

Alaska Gold

The gold rush - the lust for gold - has happened at all times and on all continents. Some of its victims sought to escape from poverty, others were driven by greed. When gold was found in Alaska at the end of the 19th century, thousands of miners rushed there. America was no longer Russian, but this is also a page of its history, so we will briefly talk about it.

In 1896, placers of gold were discovered on the Klondike River. Lucky Indian George Carmack. News of his discovery spread like lightning, and a real fever began. There was unemployment in America, and a few years before the opening, a financial crisis began ...

The path of prospectors began in villages located along the banks of rivers and lakes. In the mountainous terrain, the road became more difficult, the weather conditions were more severe. Finally, they reached the shores of the Yukon and the Klondike, where they could occupy a site and conduct searches on it, wash the sand. At the same time, everyone dreamed of immediately finding a big nugget, because the work - washing - turned out to be hard and exhausting, and cold and hunger were eternal companions. The way back - for food or with reclaimed golden sand, with found nuggets - was also difficult and dangerous. Few are lucky. The word "Klondike" has become a household word for some valuable find. And we know about the search in Alaska from numerous documentary evidence - after all, most American newspapers sent their correspondents there, who wrote detailed reports and were not averse to finding some gold themselves. Jack London became the author of the most famous stories and stories about the gold rush in Alaska, since he himself came here in search of gold in 1897.

Why did Jack London write about Alaska?

Jack London. Photo portrait of the late 19th - early 20th century.

In 1897, young Jack was 21 years old. He worked from the age of ten and after the death of his stepfather supported his mother and two sisters. But working in San Francisco as a jute mill, as a newspaper salesman, or as a porter didn't bring in more than a dollar a day. And Jack also loved to read, learn new things and travel. Therefore, he decided to leave everything and take the risk by going to Alaska in search of gold. His sister's husband made him company, but at the very first mountain pass he realized that his health would not allow him to continue his journey ...

All winter Jack lived in a forest hut in the headwaters of the Yukon River. The miners' camp was small - a little over 50 people lived in it. Everyone was in plain sight - courageous or weak, noble or vile in relation to comrades. And it was not easy to live here - you had to endure the cold, hunger, find your place among the same desperate adventurers and, finally, work - look for gold. Prospectors liked to visit Jack. At his place they argued, made plans, told stories. Jack wrote them down - this is how the future heroes of his stories were born on the pages of notebooks - Kish, Smoke Belew, the Kid, the dog White Fang ...

Immediately upon his return from the North, Jack London began to write, one after another, stories were born. Publishers were in no hurry to publish them, but Jack was confident in his abilities - a year in Alaska hardened him, made him more stubborn. Finally, the first story - "For those who are on the road" - was published in the magazine. Its author had to borrow 10 cents to buy this magazine! Thus the writer was born. Although he did not find gold in Alaska, he found himself and eventually became one of the most famous American writers.
Read his stories and tales about Alaska. His characters are alive. And Alaska is also the heroine of his stories - cold, frosty, silent, testing ...

Crow and Wolf People

Koloshi. Drawing from the atlas of Gustav-Theodor Pauli "Ethnographic description of the peoples of the Russian Empire", 1862.

The indigenous peoples of Alaska belonged to several different language families (scientists combine related languages ​​into such families), their culture and economy also differed, depending on the living conditions. Eskimos and Aleuts settled on the coast and islands, who lived by hunting sea animals. In the depths of the mainland lived caribou deer hunters - Athabaskan Indians. The Russian settlers knew best of all the Athabaskan tribe of the Tanaina (the Russians called them "Kenai"). Finally, the most numerous and warlike people of this region lived on the southeastern coast of Alaska - the Tlingit Indians, whom the Russians called "kolosh".

The way of life of the Tlingits was very different from the life of forest hunters. Like all the Indians of the northwestern coast of North America, the Tlingit lived not so much by hunting as by fishing - the numerous rivers that flowed into the Pacific Ocean were rich in fish, which spawned in countless schools.

All Alaskan Indians revered the spirits of nature and believed in their origin from animals, in the hierarchy of which the raven occupied the first place. According to the Tlingit beliefs, the raven Elk was the progenitor of all people. He could take on any appearance, usually helped people, but he could also get angry for something - then natural disasters occurred.

The intermediaries between the world of spirits and the world of people in Indian society were shamans, who, in the eyes of their fellow tribesmen, had supernatural powers. Entering into a trance during the ritual, shamans could not only talk with the spirits, but also control them - for example, expel the spirit of illness from the body of a sick person. Shamanic rituals used special musical instruments- tambourines and rattles, the sounds of which helped the shaman enter a state of trance.

The entire Tlingit tribe was divided into two large associations - phratries, whose patrons were considered a raven and a wolf. It was possible to marry only between representatives of different phratries: for example, a man from the Raven phratry could choose a wife only from the Wolf phratry. The phratries, in turn, were divided into many clans, each of which revered its own totem: a deer, a bear, a killer whale, a frog, a salmon, etc.

Do not keep wealth for yourself!

Modern Tlingit Indian.

The tribes of the Northwest coast, without being engaged in either cattle breeding or agriculture, came quite close to the emergence of the state. In the society of these Indians there were noble leaders who boasted of their origins and treasures to each other, rich and poor relatives, and disenfranchised slaves, who got all the menial work in the household.

The Tribes of the Coast—Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Nootka, Kwakiutl, Bella Kula, and Coast Salish—fought ceaseless wars to capture slaves. But more often it was not tribes that fought, but separate clans within them. In addition to slaves, chilkat blankets, metal weapons were valued, and Indian leaders considered large copper plates, which the inhabitants of the Coast exchanged from forest tribes, to be a real treasure. These plates had no practical meaning.

In the Indian attitude to material wealth there was an important feature - the leaders did not accumulate treasures for themselves! As a reaction to property inequality, the institution of potlatch arose in the society of the Tlingit and other coastal tribes. Potlatch is a great holiday that rich relatives arranged for their fellow tribesmen. On it, the organizer expressed contempt for the accumulated values ​​- he gave them away or defiantly destroyed them (for example, he threw copper plates into the sea or killed slaves). Keeping wealth for oneself was considered indecent by the Indians. However, having given away the treasures, the organizer of the potlatch did not remain at a loss - the invitees felt obliged to the owner, and in the future he could count on reciprocal gifts and help from the guests in various matters. The reason for the potlatch could be any significant event- the birth of a child, a housewarming party, a successful military campaign, a wedding or a commemoration.

Chilkat, canoe and totem pole

Festive Tlingit headdress embellished with mother-of-pearl and sea lion whiskers.

How do we imagine North American Indians? Half-naked warriors in war paint with tomahawk axes in their hands are the Indians of the forest northeast. Riders in luxuriant feathers and beaded bison-skin garments are the Indians of the Great Plains. The inhabitants of the Northwest Coast were very different from both.

The Tlingit and Athabaskans of the interior of Alaska did not grow fibrous plants and made their clothes from leather (more precisely, suede) and fur. From plant materials, flexible pine roots were used. From such roots, the Indians wove wide-brimmed conical hats, which were then painted with mineral paints. In general, in the Indian culture of the Coast there are many bright colors, but main element ornament - masks of animals, real or fantastic. Everything was decorated with such masks - clothes, housing, boats, weapons ...

However, coastal tribes knew spinning and weaving. From the wool of snow goats that lived in the Rocky Mountains, Tlingit women made ceremonial capes-chilkats, striking with the thoroughness of execution. Chilkats throughout the area were decorated with masks of spirits and sacred animals, the edges of the capes were embroidered with a long fringe. Holiday shirts were made in the same manner.
Like all Indian tribes, the Tlingit costume gave a complete picture of its owner. For example, the rank of the leader could be determined by his headdress. In the center of his hat, wooden rings were fixed one above the other. The more noble and richer the Indian was, the higher was the column of such rings.

The Coast Indians achieved a remarkable skill in woodworking. They hollowed out large seaworthy canoes from cedar trunks, which could accommodate dozens of soldiers. The villages of the Indians were decorated with many totem poles, each of which was a kind of family chronicle. At the very bottom of the column, the mythical progenitor of a clan or a particular family was carved - for example, a raven. Then, from bottom to top, followed by images of subsequent generations of ancestors of the living Indians of this kind. The height of such a chronicle column could exceed ten meters!

Invulnerable Warriors

A Tlingit warrior wearing a wooden helmet, combat shirt, and armor made of wood and sinew.

The inhabitants of Alaska managed to create a distinctive military culture. Not knowing the metal, they made very durable protective weapons from improvised materials. The Eskimos made shells from bone and leather plates. The Tlingit Indians made their armor from wood and tendons. Preparing for battle, a Tlingit warrior put on a shirt made of thick and durable elk skin under such a shell, and a heavy wooden helmet with a frightening mask on his head. According to the Russian colonists, even a rifle bullet often could not take such protection!

The weapons of the Indians were spears, bows and arrows, over time, guns were added to them, which were considered valuable. In addition, each warrior had a large double-edged dagger. The pointed oars of war canoes could also be used as weapons.

The Indians usually attacked at night, trying to take the enemy by surprise. In the predawn darkness, the awesome effect of their equipment was especially great. “And they really seemed to us in the dark more terrible than the most infernal devils ...” - wrote the ruler of Russian America Alexander Baranov about the first clash of Russian industrialists with the Tlingit in 1792. But the Indians could not withstand a long battle - all their tactics were focused on sudden raids. Having received a decisive rebuff, they, as a rule, retreated from the battlefield.

Kotlean vs. Baranov

The Indians capture the Mikhailovskaya fortress.

"Kotlean and his family" (artist Mikhail Tikhanov, member of Vasily Golovnin's round-the-world expedition, 1817-1819).

The largest action of the Indians against the Russian colonists took place in 1802. The leader of the Sitka Tlingits, Skoutlelt, and his nephew Kotlean organized a campaign against the New Arkhangelsk fortress. It was attended not only by the Tlingit, but also by the Tsimshians and Haida who lived to the south. The Russian fortification was looted and burned, and all its defenders and inhabitants were killed or taken into slavery. Both sides later explained the reasons for the attack as intrigues of the enemy. The Russians accused the Tlingit of bloodthirstiness, and the Indians, in turn, were dissatisfied with the actions of Russian industrialists in their territorial waters. It may not have been without the instigation of American sailors who were nearby at the time.

Alexander Baranov actively took up the restoration of Russian power in the southeast of Alaska, but he was able to organize a full-fledged expedition only in 1804. A large kayak flotilla advanced towards Sitka. The sailors of the Neva sloop, one of the two ships of the first Russian round-the-world expedition, joined the operation. When Baranov's squadron appeared, the Tlingits abandoned their main village on the shore and rebuilt a powerful wooden fortification nearby. An attempt to storm the Indian fortress failed - at the very important point the Kodiaks and part of the Russian industrialists could not withstand the fire of the Tlingit and fled. Kotlean immediately launched a counterattack, and the besiegers retreated under the cover of the Neva's guns. In this battle, three sailors from the crew of the sloop were killed, and Baranov himself was wounded in the arm.

In the end, the Indians themselves left the fortress and went to the opposite shore of the island. Peace was made the following year. And Cotlean turned out to be one of the first Indians of the Coast captured by European draftsmen - a portrait has been preserved in which he is depicted with his family.

How to talk to the leader?

Tlingit wearing a chilkat and a carved ritual mask.

An Eskimo hunter took aim from a bow at a reindeer. An Aleut in a kamlika brought a deadly harpoon to throw. The shaman shakes the sick Indian with a magic rattle - drives away evil spirit illness. A Tlingit warrior in wooden armor glares menacingly from under the visor of a carved helmet - now he will rush into battle ...

In order to see all this with your own eyes, it is not necessary to go to America. In our city, the expositions of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (MAE) will fascinatingly tell about the life of Eximos, Aleuts, Tlingits and Forest Athabaskans.

The MAE is the oldest museum in our country, its history begins with Peter's Kunstkamera. The American collection of the museum was formed from the collections of items brought from Russian America by naval sailors - Yu.F. Lisyansky, V.M. Golovnin. And materials on the ethnography of the Indians of other regions of North America were obtained through exchange programs with museums in the United States.

In the museum exposition you can see Aleut and Eskimo clothing, fishing tools, Aleut headdresses in the form of pointed wooden visors, Tlingit ritual masks, Chilkat capes and a full suit of a Sitka warrior - with a combat shirt and a heavy wooden helmet! And also - Athabaskan-Aten tomahawks made of deer antlers and many other amazing things created by the peoples of Russian America.

Collections of Russian military sailors are stored not only in the MAE, but also in another oldest museum in St. Petersburg - the Central Naval Museum. In the showcases of the new exposition of this museum, you can see models of Aleutian kayaks with miniature figures of rowers.

Hunters in kayaks

Models of Aleutian kayaks.

On the coast of Alaska and nearby islands lived peoples whose life was closely connected with the sea - the Eskimos and the Aleuts. During the time of Russian America, they were the main earners of expensive furs - the basis of the well-being of the Russian-American Company.

Eskimos (Inuit) settled very widely - from Chukotka to Greenland, throughout the North American Arctic. The Aleuts lived on the Alaska Peninsula and on the Aleutian Islands, closing the Bering Sea from the south. After the sale of American possessions, a certain number of Aleuts remained within our country at the trading posts of the Commander Islands.

Sea hunting was the main occupation of the coastal inhabitants. They caught walruses, seals, sea otters and even huge whales - gray and bowhead. The beast gave everything to the Eskimos and Aleuts - food, clothes, light for dwellings and even furniture - seats were made from whale vertebrae. By the way, with the rest of the furniture in the Eskimo yarangas it was difficult because of the lack of wood.

The most striking element of the hunting culture of the Eskimos and Aleuts was their boats made of animal skins - kayaks and canoes. The Aleutian kayak (from which modern sports kayaks and kayaks originate) had a wooden frame covered with skins, and was completely sewn up on top, leaving only one or two round hatches for rowers. Having settled down in such a hatch, the hunter, dressed in a waterproof hoodie made of seal intestines, tightened a leather apron around him. Now even the capsizing of the boat was not dangerous for him. The short oars used in kayaks had blades at both ends.

The Eskimos hunted somewhat differently. In addition to kayaks, they used large canoe boats (not to be confused with kayaks!). Canoes were also made of skins, but were completely open at the top and could accommodate up to ten people. Such a boat could even have a small sail. The weapons of the Eskimo and Aleut hunters were harpoons with detachable bone tips.

Sea prey was the basis of the diet of coastal peoples, and most often meat and fat were eaten raw or slightly decomposed. For long-term storage meat and fish were dried in the wind. In the harsh conditions of the Arctic, a monotonous diet easily led to severe vitamin deficiency - scurvy, berries, algae and a number of tundra plants were salvation.

Native Americans and Orthodox missionaries

"St. Tikhon and the Aleuts" (artist Philip Moskvitin).

The first Orthodox spiritual mission was sent to the American possessions of the Russian Empire in 1794 - to Kodiak Island. After 22 years, a church was established on Sitka, and by the middle of the 19th century, there were nine churches and more than 12,000 Christians in Russian America. “Have so many Russians come here?” - you ask. No, Indians and Aleuts converted to Orthodoxy under the influence of Russian spiritual mentors-missionaries.

Let's talk about one such ascetic of faith. In 1823, a young priest from Irkutsk, John Evseevich Popov-Veniaminov, arrived in Russian America. Initially, he served on Unalashka, thoroughly studied the Aleut language and translated a number of church books for them. Later, Father John lived in Sitka, where he studied the manners and customs of the Tlingit Indians (“Kolosh”), believing that such a study must necessarily precede any attempt to convert a warlike and wayward people.

The Aleuts succumbed most easily to conversion to Orthodoxy, who by the middle of the 19th century were almost completely baptized. The missionaries had the hardest time working with the Tlingit, although a translation of the Gospel was made into their language. The Indians were reluctant to listen to sermons, and when they converted to a new faith, they demanded gifts and treats. Among the property of the noble Tlingit, who loved all kinds of regalia, sometimes there were also items of church use ...

Russian missionaries not only preached among the indigenous people, but even treated them if necessary! In 1862, when the threat of a smallpox epidemic developed, the clergy personally engaged in smallpox vaccination in the villages of the Tlingit and Tanayna Indians.

It should be noted that it was the missionaries who worked with the natives of Alaska who collected a lot of valuable information about the life and beliefs of the Eskimos, Aleuts and Indians. For example, ethnographers learned a lot from the book of Archimandrite Anatoly (Kamensky) "In the land of shamans", written on the basis of the author's observations made already in American Alaska.

"Alaska is bigger than you think"

A shaman heals a sick Indian. Despite the activities of missionaries, shamans firmly retained their authority in Tlingit society.

In Soviet times, several tens of kilometers of the Bering Strait separated two completely different political systems. The post-war world was divided. The times of the Cold War, the military rivalry between the USSR and the USA, have come. It was in the region of Alaska and Chukotka that the two superpowers came into direct contact with each other. On both sides of the strait there is the same nature, peoples close in their way of life, who have similar problems. How are the nearest neighbors? Are they different from us? Is it possible to communicate with them in a friendly way? - these questions worried people on both sides of the border who were not indifferent. At the same time, precisely because of their close proximity, the Soviet Far East and Alaska, with their military bases, were the most closed territories for foreigners.

By the end of the 1980s, the international situation softened. The authorities of the USSR and the USA even arranged a meeting of the Soviet and American Eskimos. And a little later, an employee of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, the famous traveler Vasily Mikhailovich Peskov, organized a trip for Americans to Kamchatka, and he went on a visit to Alaska.

The result of Peskov's trip was the book "Alaska is bigger than you think" - a real encyclopedia of the life of this region. Vasily Mikhailovich visited the Yukon and Sitka, cities and Indian villages, talked with hunters, fishermen, pilots and even state governors! And in his book you will find detailed historical excursions - about Russian America, the sale of Alaska, the "gold rush" and another, more modern "fever" - oil. The book also mentions emergencies in which Soviet sailors came to the aid of the inhabitants of Alaska (for example, an oil spill after an American tanker accident in 1989) - no borders can interfere with the cause of help and rescue!

Peskov's book is by no means outdated even today, because the main thing in it is the captured images of the inhabitants of Alaska with their stories, reflections, joys and sorrows.

"North to the Future"

Flag of Alaska. It was invented by 13-year-old Benny Benson, whose mother was half Russian, half Aleut.

In 1959, Alaska became the 49th state of the United States. The state motto is "North to the Future". the future"). And the future is promising: new mineral deposits, the growth of polar shipping. It is Alaska that makes the United States an Arctic state and makes it possible to conduct a wide variety of activities in the Arctic - industrial, scientific and military.
Deposits are explored and developed here, powerful military bases operate. At the same time, Alaska is the most sparsely populated state with a population density of one person per 2.5 square kilometers. Her most Big city- Anchorage, where about 300 thousand people live.

Alaska has the largest percentage of indigenous people in the United States. Eskimos, Aleuts and Indians make up 14.8% of the population here. And it is also here that the largest areas of wilderness in the United States are located - the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the territory of the National Petroleum Reserve, where oil fields have been identified, but not yet developed.

The most convenient and popular transport in Alaska is a small plane. But although modern technology firmly entered the life of Native Americans, the Indians today celebrate potlatch and firmly believe in the ancestor-Raven. Even the radio station in Sitka is called Raven Radio!

The inhabitants of Alaska also have connections with the descendants of Russian settlers who once left America. In 2004, the descendants of A.A. visited Sitka. Baranov. A solemn peace ceremony was held with the leaders of the Tlingit clan of Kiksadi, whose military leader was once Baranov's opponent Kotlean...

The entire era of Russian America and the subsequent history of Alaska does not even span three hundred years. So Alaska, by historical standards, is very young.

We usually imagine Indians without beards and mustaches. Indeed, among most Indian tribes, men plucked facial hair, and the inhabitants of the Northwest Coast also did this. But here this custom was not strict - the Tlingit, Haida and other Indians of this region often wore mustaches and small beards.

The Tlingit kinship was kept along the female line. For example, the primary heirs of the leader were not the sons, but the children of his sisters, who also had to avenge him if the leader was killed by enemies. Women ran the household and enjoyed significant rights, up to and including the initiative to divorce.

Noble Indians considered only feasts and war suitable for themselves. When traveling, some leaders even used porters to move their person in a palanquin (or simply on their shoulders) from their dwelling to the boat.

TO late XIX centuries of bloody inter-clan wars of the Indians are a thing of the past. The conflicts between individual clans did not disappear, but now the parties appealed to the justice of the colonial administration and hired lawyers for good money.

Visiting tourists became the main consumers of Tlingit handicrafts at that time. The Indians themselves wore traditional chilkats only for festive dances, and increasingly wore European clothing, such as suits with vests and bowler hats.

Thank you friends for being with us!

History of Russian America. Russian America - the possessions of the Russian Empire in North America, which included Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, the Alexander Archipelago and settlements on the Pacific coast modern USA(Fortress Ross).

Discovery of Russian America.
The first Russians who discovered Alaska (America) from Siberia were the expedition of Semyon Dezhnev in 1648.
In 1732, Mikhail Gvozdev on the boat "Saint Gabriel" sailed to the shores of northwestern America, the first European to reach the coast of Alaska in the area of ​​Cape Prince of Wales. In October 1732 he returned to the Nizhnekamchatka prison.
In 1741, Bering's expedition on two packet boats "Saint Peter" (Bering) and "Saint Paul" (Chirikov) explored the Aleutian Islands and the coast of Alaska. And in 1772, the first Russian settlement was founded on the Aleutian Unalashka.
On August 3, 1784, Shelikhov's expedition consisting of three galliots (“Three Saints”, “St. Simeon” and “St. Michael”) arrives on Kodiak Island (Bay of Three Saints). "Shelikhovtsy"
In 1788, Russian possessions in Alaska were hit by a powerful tsunami. The settlement on the island of Kodiak had to be moved in 1792 to a new place, the city was named Pavlovsk harbor. In 1793, an Orthodox mission arrived on Kodiak Island, consisting of 5 monks of the Valaam Monastery. Immediately upon their arrival, the missionaries immediately began to build a temple and convert the Gentiles to Orthodox faith. In 1795, Russian industrialists led by Baranov managed to advance to Yakutat.
In parallel with Shelikhov's company, Alaska was being explored by a rival company of the merchant Lebedev-Lastochkin. The galliot “St. George "(Konovalov) arrived in 1791 in Cook Bay, and his crew founded the Nikolaevsky redoubt. In 1792, the "Lebedevites" founded a settlement on the shores of Lake Iliamna and equipped Vasily Ivanov's expedition to the banks of the Yukon River. However, the Lebedev-Lastochkin company failed by 1798, unable to withstand competition with the Shelikhovites.
In 1799, the Mikhailovsky fortress (Sitka) was founded. The village grew rapidly. By 1819, more than 200 Russians and a thousand natives lived here. An elementary school, a shipyard, a church, arsenals, an arsenal and various workshops appeared. Basic labor force there were Aleuts in the colonies. So the Russians called all the natives who were forced to go fishing for sea otters.
In the spring of 1802, the Tlingit captured and burned the Mikhailovskaya fortress. In 1804, a major armed clash took place between the Indians and the Russian colonists. In 1805, the Yakutat fortress fell. In one of the museums in Alaska, the trophies captured at that time are kept: a copper cannon and the sword of commandant Larionov. In Yakutat, 14 Russians and many natives who were in their service were killed.
Since 1808, Novo-Arkhangelsk has become the center of Russian America. In fact, the management of the American territories is carried out by the Russian-American Company, whose main headquarters was in Irkutsk, officially Russian America was included in the Siberian General Governorship at first.

Fort Ross in California

On September 11, 1812, Ivan Kuskov founded the fortress of Ross (80 km north of San Francisco in California), which became the southernmost outpost of the Russian colonization of America. Formally, this land belonged to Spain, but Kuskov bought it from the Indians. Together with him, he brought 95 Russians and 80 Aleuts.
"Map of the Arctic Sea and the Eastern Ocean", compiled in 1844 by the Hydrographic Department of the Naval Ministry of the Russian Empire with a detailed indication of Russian America.
In 1824, the Russian-American Convention was signed, which fixed the southern border of the possessions of the Russian Empire in Alaska at a latitude of 54 ° 40'N. The convention also confirmed the possession of the United States and Great Britain (until 1846) in Oregon.
In 1825, the Anglo-Russian Convention was signed on the delimitation of their possessions in North America (in British Columbia). Under the terms of the Convention, a boundary line was established separating British possessions from Russian possessions on the western coast of North America, adjacent to the Alaska Peninsula, so that the border ran along the entire length of the coastal strip belonging to Russia, from 54 ° N. latitude. to 60° N, at a distance of 10 miles from the edge of the ocean, taking into account all the curves of the coast. Thus, the line of the Russian-British border in this place was not straight (as was the case with the border line of Alaska and Yukon), but extremely winding. That same year, the British build Vancouver, which turns Fortress Ross into an enclave.

Loss of Russian America.

Historians are ambivalent about the sale of Alaska. Some are of the opinion that the measure was forced because of Russia's Crimean campaign (1853-1856) and the difficult situation on the fronts. Others insist that it was a purely commercial deal, not devoid of corruption in the Russian government.
In January 1841, Fortress Ross was sold to Mexican citizen John Sutter. And in 1867, Alaska was sold to the United States for $7,200,000.
On January 1, 1868, 69 soldiers and officers of the Novo-Arkhangelsk garrison left for Nikolaevsk-on-Amur on the ship RAC "Nakhimov". The last group of Russians left Novo-Arkhangelsk on November 30, 1868 on the ship "Winged Arrow" bought for this purpose, which followed to Kronstadt. In total, 309 people left on this ship.
Population of Russian America
Alaska's original population was the Aleuts, Indians, and Eskimos. The Russian notes mention the Chugach Eskimos (living near the Chugach Mountains), the Kenai Indians (near the Kenai Peninsula). The Aleuts were mentioned under their own name, although the Kodiaks (from Kodiak Island) stand out separately. The Eyak and Koloshi Indians are also called (Tlingit from the vicinity of Yakutat or Sitka: Sitka Koloshi).
The Eskimos called the Russians shoals (Cossacks), and the descendants of the natives and Russians were called Creoles.
According to the degree of dependence, the natives turned into mushers or amanats.
Administrative division of Russian America
The control center was Okhotsk, then Kodiak, and from 1804 (or 1808) Novo-Arkhangelsk. The colony was divided into departments, which were controlled by offices. The head of the department was called the ruler of the office.
In 1804, the Sitka department was formed.
In the 1860s there were 6 departments:
Russian America in Western Historiography.
The interest of Western science in the Russian exploration of North America manifested itself after the sale of Alaska by Russia in 1867. The development of Russian America in Western historiography is considered an important point in the history of "Russian eastern expansion". According to the prevailing view, Russian exploration of North America was doomed from the start. Researchers G. H. Bancroft and W. H. Doll, advocating the speedy "Americanization" of the former possessions of Russia, wrote about the negative consequences Russian politics in America: the extermination of fur-bearing animals and the "barbaric" attitude of Russians towards the indigenous population. C. L. Andrews (d. 1948) challenged the prevailing view of the history of Russian America. The reasons for the arrival of Russians in North America were trade interests (R. Kerner), the loss of Amur in 1689, and a combination of political and commercial interests. The German historian Yu. Semenov believed that Russia was restrained from being active in America by fear of clashes with the British and Spaniards. This author argued that the purpose of the creation of the RAC was the desire of Paul I to weaken the position of the East India Company. Canadian researcher G. Barret also wrote about Russia's excessive caution in North America. Canadian historian J. Gibson, who saw the decline of the fur trade as the reason for the loss of American possessions by Russia, noted at the end of the 20th century: “Russia has always been a backward country. One can imagine the backwardness of the most remote of its colonies.
Memory of Russian America.
Fort Ross is visited by 150,000 people annually. It hosts a number of cultural events. The most significant is the Cultural Heritage Day, held annually on the last Saturday of July, the program of which includes an Orthodox liturgy, performances by musical and folklore groups, demonstration firing from historical small arms.