USA > Alaska > History of Alaska : 1730-1885 > Part 51
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74
16 The Bordelais was provisioned for two years, carried one 24-pound can- non and six 8-pound carronades, and had ou board a large quantity of small arms. The cargo consisted chiefly of French manufactured goods. Roquefeuil, Jour. d'un Voy. autour du Monde, i. 4.
523
ROQUEFEUIL'S VOYAGE.
met the commanders of the Kutusof and Suvarof, then on their way to the Russian colonies, and when the Frenchman arrived at Novo Arkhangelsk, on the 5th of April, 1818, he was well received by Hagemeister, with whom he made a contract to hunt sea-otter on joint account in the channels of the Alexander Archi- pelago, Hagemeister agreeing to furnish him with thirty bidarkas.17
On the 7th of June the Bordelais arrived off the north-west side of Prince of Wales Island, where the vessel was moored a short distance from shore, the anchorage being selected by the advice of a Kaigan. On the 9th a reconnoissance was made, but neither peo- ple nor sea-otters were seen. On the following day a fleet of twenty-nine bidarkas, each provided with a rifle, a pair of pistols, and two daggers, went forth to hunt, the long-boat serving as escort. The catch was one sea-otter. On the same day four canoes came alongside with a few skins and some fish, and the Kaigan, being discovered in secret consultation with his countrymen, was driven out of the ship. The com- pany's agent proposed that the Aleutian hunters should camp on shore under the guns of the ship. To this Roquefeuil consented, detailing a guard for their protection. They hunted with but little success for a few days longer, the entire catch being but twenty sea-otter, while only ten were obtained by barter.
On the morning of the 17th a large number of natives came to the beach, offering to trade; but at noon all disappeared, and remained out of sight the following day. Roquefeuil now resolved to recall his Aleuts; and landing toward evening to observe the state of the tide, passed by their camp and walked to the head of the cove. On his way he was accosted by
17 A clause was inserted in their contract that 350 roubles (about $90) were to be paid as indemnity for any Aleut who might lose his life while engaged in hunting. Tikhmenef, Istor. Obos., i. 247. Roquefeuil, i. 64, makes the amount $200; but Tikhmenef is supported by the figures contained in the original contract preserved in the Sitka Archives of the Russian American Company. The statements of the Frenchman concerning this expedition have been found incorrect in most instances.
524
CLOSE OF BARANOF'S ADMINISTRATION.
an Indian, who was apparently unarmed. A few min- utes later a musket-shot was heard, followed imme- diately by a volley. The captain instantly turned back, but seeing the Aleuts running toward the beach without offering resistance, he hid himself in a thicket which lined the shore, and made signals for a boat to come off to his rescue. As soon as his signal was answered, he stripped and swam off toward the ship, holding his watch between his teeth. As the boat approached, the savages opened fire on her, and wounded four out of a crew of seven, but Roquefeuil was finally rescued. Meanwhile the sailors returned the fire, and a lieutenant was sent with two sail-boats to rescue the survivors. Seven men were lifted out of their torn and sinking bidarkas, two of them being at the point of death, four severely wounded, and from a small hole in the rocks crept forth seven others, who all escaped unhurt. On the 19th a strong party was sent on shore to search for more survivors, but with- out success. Most of the bidarkas were recovered, a few muskets were picked up near the beach, and nine- teen Aleuts lay dead within the encampment, the only traces of the fight being a few discharged pistols and broken spears.18
On Roquefeuil's return to Novo Arkhangelsk, Ha- gemeister offered him an opportunity to retrieve his losses by joining one of the Russian hunting parties then engaged among the islands, but the crew re- fused to receive on board any more Aleuts, or to en- gage a second time in the dangerous service of escort- ing them. The captain resolved, therefore, to confine himself to trading; and after repairing damages, he again sailed for the Alexander Archipelago. Hoping
18 Roquefeuil, Id., i. 71, states that of 47 Aleuts, 20 were killed, and 25 escaped or were picked up by the boats, the fate of the other two being unknown. Of the survivors, 12 were wounded, most of them seriously. Only one Kaigan was found dead on the scene of the massacre. In the accounts of the Russian American Company, contained in the Sitka Archives, vi., an entry speaks of 23 natives (20 men and 3 women) who had lost their lives on this occasion, and for each of whom Roquefeuil was made to pay $90, under the terms of his contract.
525
NEW EXPEDITIONS.
to deceive the savages, and capture some of their chiefs, to be held for ransom, he had painted his ship and changed the rigging; but his trouble was in vain; the ruse did not deceive the Kaigans, and not a canoe came near his craft.19
Roquefeuil then sailed for San Francisco to procure a cargo of grain with which to settle his indebtedness to the company. There he was detained by the author- ities for more than a month, but finally obtained Gov- ernor Sola's permission to trade, chiefly through the intervention of Golovnin, who was then at the same port. Returning once more to Novo Arkhangelsk, he found that Hagemeister was willing to accept a small cash payment in behalf of the relatives of the Aleutian hunters, and after landing his bread-stuffs, took his final leave on the 13th of December. We may presume that he was not very deeply impressed with the advantages of the fur trade on the upper north-west coast.
The end of the period for which the company's charter had been grantedwas now approaching. Anx- ious to make all possible progress, both in discovery and exploration, the directors ordered expeditions to be despatched in various directions, and at the same time new buildings were erected in nearly all the set- tlements. Two attempts had already been made to explore the head waters of the Copper River, but in both instances the leaders had been killed by the Atnas. From the Nikolaievsk redoubt another expedition was despatched, under command of Malak- hof, for the purpose of exploring the country north of Cook Inlet.20 From Petropavlovsk the company sent
19 At about the same time the Boston ship Brutus, Captain Nye, had some difficulty with the Kolosh in the archipelago, during which a few of the latter were killed. Captain Young was cruising in the same vicinity for the Russian American Company in the brig Finland, but was not attacked. The result of his expedition was by no means satisfactory, however, for only 400 sea-otter were obtained with a force of 70 bidarkas.
20 In the Sitka Archives, x., is a report transmitted by Malakhof to Yan- ovsky, describing the journey undertaken in accordance with his instruc-
526
CLOSE OF BARANOF'S ADMINISTRATION.
the sloop Dobroie Namerenie (Good Intent) to explore the Arctic coast. This craft sailed in 1818, but was delayed at the mouth of the Anadir River, and did not return till three years later. No report of the expedition is extant, but the voyage was continued at least as far as East Cape.21
The efforts made by the company at the same time to explore the Asiatic coast south of Kamchatka, and especially the mouths of the Amoor, do not prop- erly fall within the scope of this volume, but serve to show that the monopoly was straining every nerve to obtain a renewal of its privileges.
After reorganizing the affairs of the colony22 and visiting the different settlements, Hagemeister sailed on board the Kutusof for Kronstadt,23 where he arrived
tions. In this document, which does not bear the impress of reliability, Mal- akhof states that, striking eastward from the Kuskokvim across a chain of mountains, he found himself on the banks of a large river thickly dotted with native settlements, and flowing northward. It is not safe to assume that he reached the Yukon, as the time occupied in his exploration was altogether too short for such a journey. He probably heard from the natives on the Kus- kokvim of the existence of a large river toward the north.
21 Lieutenant Hooper of the royal navy, in his description of the voyage of the Plover, states that he saw near East Cape a cross on which was inscribed in Russian: 'In this place was buried the body of carpenter Stepan Naumof of the sloop Good Intent, August 12, 1821.' Tents of the Tuski, 151.
22 Among other measures, he ordered that the promyshleniki should re- ceive, instead of their usual remuneration from half-shares, a salary of 300 roubles a year, and one poud of flour per month. This system was first rec- ommended by Rezanof. He also instructed the officials to provide each of the Aleuts with seal-skins for bidarkas, a whale-bladder coat, and a bird-skin parka, for which they were to pay only one fifth of the regular price. From the pay of those who were indebted to the company, only one third must be de- ducted. All skins brought in by hunters were to be marked in their presence with the company's stamp, and with initials indicating their quality and grade. Khlebnikof, Zapiski in Materialui, 25-S. Tikhmenef says that Hagemeister proposed to fix the pay of hunters at 350 roubles, but that the directors would not consent. He also states that the latter made other regulations, which were approved by the general administration for the guidance of officials in Kadiak, Novo Arkhangelsk, Unalaska, and Ross, and revised regulations for foreign vessels visiting Novo Arkhangelsk. Tikhmenef, Istor. Obos., i. 246. In his remarks on Novo Arkhangelsk, Golovnin says: 'Perhaps the directors do not know of the loss which the company suffers from contrabandists, and of the injury done to the colony and its inhabitants.' He recommends that the matter be brought to the notice of the government. Id., 251.
23 When the Kutusof arrived, an English ship of 600 tons, purchased by the company and renamed the Borodino, was being fitted out for another naval expedition, the command being intrusted to Lieutenant Ponafidin, formerly of the Suvarof. The complement of the Borodino consisted of 12
527
FINANCIAL RESULTS.
on the 7th of September, 1819. Calling at Batavia, he purchased an assortment of goods to the amount of two hundred thousand roubles, and the value of his cargo of furs was estimated at a million. The vessel was at once refitted, and again despatched to the col- lonies about a year later under command of Lieu- tenant Dokhturof, who subsequently became famous in Russian naval annals.24 Arriving at Novo Ark- hangelsk in October 1821, after calling at several Cali- fornian ports, she returned the following year with another cargo of furs valued at over a million.
As we have now come to the close of the first term for which the privileges of the Russian American Company were granted, I will give a brief account of its operations during this period, or so much of them as can be obtained from the records which have come down to us. The original capital of 723,000 roubles was increased by the subscriptions of new shareholders to 1,238,740 roubles; and the net earnings between 1797 and 1820, the first years including the operations of the Shelikof-Golikof Company, were 7,685,608 rou- bles. Of this sum about 4,250,000 roubles were dis- tributed as dividends, and the remainder added to the capital, which amounted in 1820 to about 4,570,000 roubles.25 Meanwhile, furs were sold or exchanged for other commodities at Kiakhta to the amount of 16,376,696 roubles,26 and at Canton through foreign
officers and petty officers, and 79 seamen of the navy. She had also 33 la- borers on board. Tikhmenef, Istor. Obos., i. 201; Sitka Archives, i. Of the officers of this expedition, Chistiakof and Zarembo werc afterward proni- inently connected with the development of the Russian colonies. On Hage- meister's return the directors ordered Ponafidin to call at Rio de Janeiro, and then at Manila, where commodities could be purchased at low rates. As a mercantile speculation the enterprise proved a success, but it cost the lives of many of the crew. Disease broke out soon after leaving the latter port, and 40 of the crew fell victims to fever. On his return from the colonies in 1821, Ponafidin was temporarily suspended from duty.
24 With Dokhturof sailed 42 seamen of the navy, 28 laborers, and 3 creole youths who had completed their education in St Petersburg.
25 Divided in 1820 into 7,713 shares, and distributed among 630 share- holders. Tikhmenef, Istor. Obos., i. 255-6. The figures given are in paper rou- bles, then worth about 20 cents.
26 At Kiakhta furs were usually exchanged for tea, Chinese cloth, and some-
528
CLOSE OF BARANOF'S ADMINISTRATION.
vessels to the amount of 3,648,002 roubles. Of the company's transactions elsewhere we have no complete records. '
Notwithstanding the large shipments of furs made during the first twenty years of the company's exist- ence, the yield had greatly diminished since the first years of Baranof's administration. In the gulf of Kenaï, where Delarof had obtained 3,000 skins dur- ing his first year's hunting, the catch decreased, until in 1812 it amounted only to 100. In Chugatsch Bay, where seal had before been plentiful, the yield fell off in the same year to 50 skins. Between that point and Novo Arkhangelsk sea-otter abounded when the Rus- sians first took possession, but five years later they had almost disappeared. In Otter Bay, Queen Char- lotte Island, and Nootka Sound they were still plen- tiful, but the Americans absorbed most of this trade, bartering fire-arms and rum with the Kolosh in re- turn for skins, of which they obtained about 8,000 a year, while the Russians tried in vain to compete with them.
In Novo Arkhangelsk, which had now become the commercial centre of Russian America, there were, in 1818, 620 inhabitants, of whom more than 400 were male adults. Of the servants of the company, 190 were at that time engaged on shares, and 101 on fixed salaries. The income of the chief manager was 7,800 roubles a year; that of the head clerk from 3,000 to 4,000, of a trading skipper about the same, an as- sistant clerk or priest 600, and an Aleutian or creole hunter from 60 to 150 roubles. The total sum paid yearly at Novo Arkhangelsk on account of shares, salaries, premiums, and pensions, was about 120,000 roubles.
It will be seen that, with a few exceptions, the com- pany's servants had little chance to enrich themselves
times for silk or sugar. Sea-otter skins were valued at 110 to 124 roubles, fur-seal 5 to 7 roubles, and fox skins from 2 roubles and 20 kopeks to 13 rou- bles in tea, according to quality. Id., 254.
529
LIFE IN THE COLONIES.
during their sojourn in the farther north-west. More- over, the necessaries of life often became so scarce that they were beyond reach of most of the colo- nists.27 There were some exceptions, however. Bread, for instance, was usually sold to married men, at least after Hagemeister's arrival, at cost, and in sufficient quantity. To laborers goods were issued from the stores, on a written order from the chief manager, and charged to their accounts once a month or once in three months. On these occasions they received a present of a small quantity of flour or other provisions.
27 Khlebnikof, Zapiski in Materialui, 245. There are no data as to the prices at which goods were furnished to employees in 1818; but in previous years they were often purchased by the chief manager at very high rates, and of course retailed at a profit. In 1805, $25 per barrel was paid to Captain Wolf for salt beef, and the same price per cental for common soap; in 1808, $7.50 per cental was paid to Ayres for wheat, and $50 per cental for tobacco. In 1810, $16.80 per cental was paid to Davis for white sugar; and in 1811, $15 to Ebbets for brown sugar. Id., 14.
HIST. ALASKA. 34
CHAPTER XXVI. SECOND PERIOD OF THE RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY'S OPERATIONS.
1821-1842.
GOLOVNIN'S REPORT ON THE COLONIES-THE COMPANY'S CHARTER RE- NEWED-NEW PRIVILEGES GRANTED-MOURAVIEF APPOINTED GOVER- NOR-ALASKA DIVIDED INTO DISTRICTS-THREATENED STARVATION- CHISTIAKOF SUPERSEDES MOURAVIEF-FOREIGN TRADE PROHIBITED- THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN AND RUSSO-AMERICAN TREATIES-MORE EXPLOR- ATIONS-WRANGELL'S ADMINISTRATION-HE IS SUCCEEDED BY KUP- RIANOF-DISPUTES WITH THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY-THEIR ADJUST- MENT-FORT STIKEEN-ETHOLEN APPOINTED GOVERNOR-A SMALL-POX EPIDEMIC-STATISTICAL.
AT the end of the twenty years for which the ex- clusive privileges of the Russian American Company were granted, we find this powerful monopoly firmly established in the favor of the imperial government, many nobles of high rank and several members of the royal family being among the shareholders. The company already occupied nearly all that portion of the American continent and the adjacent islands south of the Yukon River now comprised in the territory of Alaska. The country north of Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound, and the Alexander Archi- pelago north of Dixon Sound, was also universally acknowledged as belonging to Russia, though her right was not established by treaty until some years later. With an imposing list of permanent stations represented as forts and redoubts, with a long list of tribes converted to Christianity and brought under subjection, the directors now sought to obtain, not
( 530 )
531
GOLOVNIN'S REPORT.
only a renewal of the favors already granted, but im- portant additions to their privileges.
Aware that such a request would be made, the government had instructed Captain Golovnin to in- quire into the condition of the settlements during his cruise in the Kamchatka.1 His report was by no means favorable. "Three things are wanting," he says, "in the organization of the company's colonies : a clearer definition of the duties belonging to the va- rious officers, a distinction of rank, and a regular uni- form, so that foreigners visiting these parts may see something indicating the existence of forts and troops belonging to the Russian sceptre-something resem- bling a regular garrison. At present they can come to no other conclusion than that these stations are but temporary fortifications erected by hunters as a defence against savages." The captain expresses almost unqualified condemnation of the treatment of creoles and hired laborers, but concludes his re- port with the following words: "I consider it my duty to remark that these abuses occurred before Lieuten- ant Hagemeister's accession to office. Though he has but recently assumed control, and their entire abolition cannot yet be expected, the measures which he has already adopted for improving the condition of natives and promyshleniki promise complete success in the near future." 2
It was of course to be expected that Golovnin, being a naval officer, should condemn Baranof's ad- ministration, and speak in favor of Hagemeister. Some of his suggestions were adopted, but notwithstanding his adverse criticism, an imperial oukaz was issued, in September 1821, granting exclusive privileges to the company for another period of twenty years.3
1 The instructions for his guidance were framed by the marquis de Trav- erse, minister of marine. They are given in the Materialui Istor. Russ., part i. 1-2.
2 In a letter to Captain Etholen, Alexander Kashevarof, a creole educated at St Petersburg at the company's expense, declares that the last paragraph was added to the report after the directors had read the proofs, and at their special solicitation. Russ. Amer. Co. Archives, iii.
3 A few days before the oukaz was issued, a communication from the
532
THE RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY'S OPERATIONS.
This document was introduced by the following words, which are in strong contrast with the tenor of the captain's report: "The Russian American Com- pany, under our highest protection, having enjoyed the privileges most graciously granted by us in the year 1799, has to the fullest extent justified our hopes and fulfilled our expectations, in extending navigation and discovery as well as the commerce of our empire, in addition to bringing considerable immediate profit to the shareholders in the enterprise. In consider- ation of this, and desiring to continue and confirm its existence, we renew the privileges given to it, with some necessary changes and additions, for twenty years from this time; and having made for its guid- ance certain rules, we hereby lay them before the governing senate, with our orders to promulgate the same, to be submitted to us for signature."
In the new charter, the text of which included twenty paragraphs, the jurisdiction of the company was established over all the territory from the northern cape of Vancouver Island, in latitude 51º N., to Ber- ing Strait and beyond, and to all islands belonging to that coast as well as to those between it and the coast of eastern Siberia, also to the Kurile Islands, where they were allowed to trade as far as the island of Ourupa, to the exclusion of other Russian subjects and of foreigners. It was granted the right to all that existed in those regions, on the surface as well as in the bosom of the earth, without regard to the claims of others. Communication could be carried on
emperor, containing 63 paragraphs, was laid before the senate, wherein were regulations for the management of the company's business and for the general administration of colonial affairs. It was called forth by representations made by the company as to losses suffered from the illicit trade of foreigners, and was accompanied by the following letter: 'From information laid before us, we have learned that the trade of our subjects on the Aleutian Islands and on the north-west coast of America in our possession, is suffering from the existence of illegitimate traffic in the same localities, and that the chief rea- son for this has been the absence cf definite rules and regulations for com- merce and navigation on the coasts mentioned, as well as on the shore of eastern Siberia, and the Kurile Islands. To remedy this fault, we hereby transmit to the senate the much-needed rules and regulations.' Tikhmenef, Istor. Obos., i. app. 27.
533
NEW REGULATIONS.
by sea between the colonies and adjoining regions be- longing to foreign powers, but only with the consent of their rulers.
Considering the vast territory controlled by the company, and the large numbers of its inhabitants, the government saw fit to confer certain rank and official standing on the company's servants. The chief manager was to be placed on the same footing as the governors of Siberia; government officials of the mili- tary, naval, and civil service were allowed to enter the company's service, retaining half their former pay, and without losing their turn for promotion; all officials in the company's employ, not previously invested with rank, were to be promoted to that of collegiate assessor after two years' service in the colonies; all servants of the company were exempt from conscription, and all officials and agents from the payment of taxes. Employés were granted the right of complaining to the senate for injustice or abuse on the part of the company, the complaint to be made within six months after the occurrence; right of appeal to the senate from the decision of the company's authorities was also given, the appeal to be made within the same period.
If the company's shares should fall fifty per cent in market value, the government was to assume the re- sponsibility and sell them at auction. The right to change the relations of the company was given to the larger assembly of the shareholders, subject to appeal to the senate, and permission was granted to the board of directors to despatch vessels from Kronstadt to the colonies with cargoes of Russian and foreign commodities free of duty, and also to ship goods to the colonies on government vessels at low rates. Finally, all military, naval, and other officers were enjoined to aid the company, and to insist on the strict observance of these rights by Russian subjects and foreigners. Most of the privileges contained in the
534
THE RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY'S OPERATIONS.
oukaz of 1799 were also renewed in the charter of 1821.4
The regulations appended to this charter were very voluminous, referring to the treatment of the natives, the obligation of the company to maintain churches and schools at its own expense, and to provide for the importation of supplies in sufficient quantity, the rights and privileges of creoles, and the rights and duties of shareholders and of the company's officials. It was provided that the chief manager must be se- lected from the naval service, and rank not lower than captain of the second class; the assistant manager must also be a naval officer; the board of directors, each of whom must hold not less than twenty-five shares, was to consist of four members, to be elected by the assembly of shareholders, and all the transac- tions of the company were to be subject to the super- vision of the minister of finance, to whom detailed re- ports were to be submitted.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.