USA > California > A history of California: the American period > Part 3
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
"I am a Subject of the United States of America, an honourable & independant Nation, a Nation, that never admites its Mer- chants the liberty of Capuring, and Plundering Merchant Ships of another Nation in a time of Piece-In time of War, the inhuman treatment that I have receiv'd, would not go unpunished by any Christian Nation whatever-
" All cases admits a hearing & Trial, and am I, who is an In- dependant American, Commandor of an honest Merchant Ship, to be deprived this liberty-Had my Ship been taken, and I not allowed a second Shirt to my back, been pute in confinement & sent to some Capital for Trial, it would not have been equal to my treatment, if Property is liable to be taken, human flesh I presume is not."
The damage sustained by Eayrs in the seizure of the Mercury represented the maximum loss suffered by Ameri- can fur traders on the California coast. And in connection with this case, it is well to point out that the "lawless Don Nicholas Noar," (as Eayrs habitually calls him-the real spelling was Noé), who acted "contrary to the laws of all Christian countries" in seizing captain, ship, cargo, and an Indian concubine, whom Eayrs "esteemed equally the same as if [she had been] lawfully married to him," and even went so far as to confiscate six highly prized gold and silver watches which the Russian Governor of Alaska had entrusted to Eayrs for safe conveyance to Canton, was not under the jurisdiction of the California government, but had sailed from Lima, Peru, under direct orders from the viceroy.
The seizure of Eayrs, accordingly, was not the work of provincial authorities, nor did it at all represent their general attitude. For the Californians looked with great favor upon the foreign traders, and local officials had no desire to destroy a commercial intercourse by means of which the people of
21
RESTRICTIONS AND EVASIONS
the isolated province obtained all of their luxuries, and many of the very necessities of life.
This eagerness for foreign trade on the part of the Cali- fornians, in spite of Spanish, and later of Mexican opposition, is one of the striking characteristics of California history down to the time of the American occupation. The plan of the parent country to maintain control of the province by isolating it from the rest of the world was defeated, not only by the enterprise of the foreigner, but also by the re- fusal of the native to limit himself to the beef and grain of his own raising, or the cloth of his own weaving. This demand for more varied commodities meant a welcome to foreign ships, and with foreign traders came inevitably the extension of foreign influence in the affairs of California.
In addition to the Shaler-Cleveland narratives previously listed, the following manuscripts in the Los Angeles Public Library proved especially valuable in the preparation of this chapter:
1. Documents concerning G. W. Eayrs, the Alexander, the Mercury, and allied matters. 1803-1810. From manuscripts in the Archivo General Público de la Nación, Mexico. Typed transcript.
2. The Mercury Case. 1806-1816. Collection of original letters and proceedings relating to contraband trade on the California coast, the confiscation of the Mercury, and the troubles of George W. Eayrs. Also a typed transcript of the same documents.
CHAPTER III
THE RUSSIAN EXPERIMENT
WHILE the American fur traders were carrying on their operations in the Pacific, the danger of the Russian advance, which the Spanish crown had been fearful of for half a cen- tury, assumed new and formidable proportions. In 1811, at a time when Spain was torn by internal conflict, caught in the whirlwind of the French wars, and involved in the general revolt of her American possessions, a Russian colony was established within easy striking distance of her most valuable military and commercial asset in California-the Bay of San Francisco.
The story of the advance of the Russians to the American mainland, and the influence this exerted upon the Spanish occupation of California has already been told by the au- thoritative pen of the historian of the Spanish period. About the beginning of the nineteenth century two factors mate- rially strengthened the position of the Russians in Alaska and made them serious contenders for the mastery of the entire northwest. In 1799 the organization of the Russian- American Fur Company consolidated the resources of the various Russian settlements, and substituted unity and a common leadership for the disorganization and bloody rivalries of previous years. For twenty years the company was given the entire use and control of all the coast of America between the 55th parallel of latitude and Bering's Strait, together with the adjacent islands, including the Kurile and Aleutian groups. In economic affairs and in the exercise of political power its monopoly was complete. The company furthermore enjoyed the favor of imperial patronage and numbered the emperor's family among its share holders.
22
23
THE RUSSIAN EXPERIMENT
The second factor to quicken Russian activities in America was the able character of the first governor of the recently organized company. This ruler, Alexander Baránof, was a man of merciless ambition, far-sighted imperialism, and driving energy. His character and use of autocratic powers gave him the title of the "Little Czar."
The representatives of Baránof first came into direct contact with California through the agency of the American fur traders mentioned in the previous chapter. One of these New Englanders, Captain Joseph O'Cain, after con- siderable persuasion, succeeded in inducing Baránof to furnish him a company of Aleut Indians with which to hunt sea otter off the southern coasts. The expedition sailed from Kadiak in October, 1803, and after hunting and trading along the Upper California coasts, continued its activities as far south as San Quentin in Lower California. O'Cain returned to Kadiak in 1804 with over a thousand otter skins and a considerable quantity of supplies for the Baránof settlements.
The Russian officer who accompanied O'Cain also brought back an alluring account of the resources and possibilities of California; and from this time on Baránof's interest in the Mexican province steadily increased. The next year (1805), the arrival of the Czar's Chamberlain, Nikolai Rezá- nof, to make an inspection of the Russian settlements in Alaska and investigate Baránof's conduct of the Russian- American Fur Company, by which company Rezánof had also been clothed with extraordinary powers, led to still more direct dealings of the Russians with the California settlements.
Rezánof found the Alaskan colony better governed by Baránof than it had been in previous years; but disease and starvation still took frightful toll of the unfortunate inhabitants and made their lot wretchedly hard. A surgeon and naturalist named Langsdorff, who accompanied Rezánof on his visit, thus described the conditions of life at New Archangel:
24
A HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
"In the month of February, out of a hundred and fifty of the youngest and most healthy men that had been selected from the different settlements and brought hither, eight were already dead, and more than sixty were laid up in the barracks with their strength wholly exhausted, and full of scorbutic sores; the chambers in which they lay had neither stove nor chimney, and the windows were shut close and nailed down. The rooms were only warmed by the pestilential breath of such numbers huddled together; and to crown all, not the remotest idea of cleanliness prevailed among them. Besides all this, the workmen often came home in the even- ing wet through, perhaps covered with snow, and lay down upon the beds in their wet clothes or sheepskins, or hung them up in the room to dry, without any one appearing to think of the pernicious consequences that might ensue.
This lack of sanitary and health precautions was of minor significance, however, compared to the suffering caused by the chronic scarcity of fresh provisions and the frequent insufficiency of food of any kind. When, for any one of a dozen reasons, supplies failed to arrive from Kamchatka, the Alaskan settlements faced actual starvation; and not until 1800 was some measure of relief found in the visits of the Yankee trading ships.
One of these vessels, the Juno, under Captain Wolfe, arrived at Sitka in 1805. From this vessel the Russian officials first obtained a quantity of provisions; but the needs of the colony were so pressing that it was ultimately determined to purchase the entire cargo and the ship as well. The advantages of the transaction were thus described by a contemporary writer :
"By this purchase the Company obtained an excellent swift- sailing vessel, with a rich lading of objects of great importance for trading with the natives on the north-west coast of America, con- sisting of a great quantity of linen and woolen cloth, of kitchen utensils, knives, axes, hatchets, some fire arms, etc., etc. But above all, a large supply of excellent provisions was obtained, by which all apprehensions of the menaced famine were removed. In fact, it was principally for the sake of this supply that the pur- chase was made.
25
THE RUSSIAN EXPERIMENT
Besides a small quantity of peas; beans, butter, tallow, etc., the following substantial stores were procured :
Nineteen casks of salted pork, cach weighing two hundred pounds, English.
Forty-two casks of salted beef, each of the same weight.
One thousand nine hundred and fifty-five gallons of molasses.
Two thousand nine hundred and eighty-three pounds of pow- dered sugar.
Three hundred and fifteen pounds of loaf sugar.
Four thousand three hundred and forty-three pounds of rice.
Seven thousand three hundred and ninety-two pounds of biscuit.
Eleven casks of fine wheat flour, each of one hundred and seventy pounds weight."
Despite this large amount of supplies, however, the Russian colonists were before long again in hard straits. To remedy the situation, Rezánof resolved to send the Juno to California, there to bargain for grain and other provisions with the Spanish officials. But in this decision there was something more involved than the desire to obtain necessary foodstuffs. The Chamberlain's surgeon frankly wrote,
"The most northerly of the Spanish possessions in this part of the globe, St. Francisco, on the coast of New Albion, was the place fixed upon for this visit. The Sandwich Islands might perhaps have been preferred for the purpose in an economical point of view; but political reasons led to the choice of St. Francisco."
After a trying voyage, accompanied by much sickness, the Juno sailed through the Golden Gate on April 5, and anchored beyond the range of the guns of the presidio. After prolonged negotiations with the governor, Arrillaga, Rezánof found that the prospects of exchanging the cargo of the Juno for the desired supplies were very slight. Then followed the courtship of Doña Concepción, daughter of the influential commandant, José Argüello, and Rezánof's formal bethrothal to the California belle.
The details of this romance have been told by the historian of the Spanish period, and need not be repeated here. It is sufficient to say that having been accepted by Concepción and acknowledged a member of the family by the Argüellos,
26
A HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
Rezánof had no further difficulty in effecting the sale of his cargo and purchasing all the food stuffs he required. Some- time after the middle of May the Juno left San Francisco, and thirty days later reached Sitka.
This voyage more than ever impressed upon the Russian officials the advantages of California and the necessity of developing a regular trade between the Alaskan settlements and those of the Spanish province. Rezanof's aide saw but one way of realizing this desire.
"If Russia would engage in an advantageous commerce with these parts, and procure from them provisions for the supply of her northern settlements, the only means of doing it is by planting a colony of her own," wrote Langsdorff. "In a country which is blessed with so mild a climate as California, where there is such plenty of wood and water, with so many other means for the sup- port of life, and several excellent harbours, persons of enterprising spirits might, in a few years, establish a very flourishing colony. With the assistance of the able mechanics who are to be found at Sitcha, wind and water mills might soon be constructed, looms established, and manufactories for burning brandy. Large and small vessels, and granaries for corn, would then be built; vast herds of cattle would be raised, and sea-otters in abundance taken; thus, in time, Kamschatka and Eastern Asia would be amply supplied from hence with all kinds of vegetable and animal pro- ductions for the support of life. The Russio-American Company have already sufficient sources of wealth in their present posses- sions from the extensive fur-trade they yield, nor has any occasion been omitted to aim at increasing it by foreign dealings. Their settlements only want a better administration to rise with fresh vigour from their ruins; but to effect this, their strength must be concentrated, and they must abandon the mistaken policy of ex- tending them to such a degree as to weaken every part."
To establish this Russian colony in California became Rezanof's ambition. From an economic standpoint it would not only serve as a basis for sea otter expeditions as far south as Lower California, but would also furnish the Russian settlements of Alaska and even of Kamchatka with food. As a political factor, in conjunction with another
27
THE RUSSIAN EXPERIMENT
settlement to be established at the mouth of the Columbia, the California colony was even more important. In this connection Rezánof's own words are illuminating.
"If we can only obtain the means for the beginning of this plan, I think I may say that at the Columbia we could attract a popu- lation from various parts, and in the course of ten years we should become strong enough to make use of any favorable turn in Euro- pean politics to include the coast of California in the Russian pos- sessions. .. The Spaniards are very weak in these countries, and if in 1798 when war was declared by Spain our company had had a force corresponding to its proportions, it would have been very easy to seize a piece of California from 34° to Santa Barbara . .. and to appropriate this territory forever since the geographi- cal position of Mexico would have prevented her from sending any assistance overland."
In pursuance of the plan to plant Russian settlements on the Columbia and in California, two vessels were sent down to the south from Sitka in 1808. The one bound for the Col- umbia was wrecked, so that the Oregon enterprise came to nothing. The other vessel, commanded by an official named Kuskof, reached Bodega Bay, some thirty miles north of San Francisco, January 8, 1809. Here Kuskof remained nearly eight months, trading with the natives, taking sea otter skins, and above all, examining the possibilities of the region as a site for the prospective Russian colony. Upon Kuskof's return to Alaska in October, plans were definitely laid for actually establishing the long talked of settlement.
In 1811, after an unsuccessful attempt to return to Cali- fornia the preceding year, Kuskof again anchored in Bodega Bay. The hunters who accompanied him on the expedition succeeded in taking over 1,200 otter skins, most of which were poached in the forbidden waters of San Francisco Harbor. Probably on the same expedition the Russian commander secured title from the Indians to a considerable stretch of territory around the bay. Tradition fixes the purchase price at "three blankets, two axes, three hoes, and a miscellaneous assortment of beads."
Either in the latter part of 1811, or early the next year,
28
A HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
Kuskof once more returned to Bodega, this time with the necessary colonists and equipment to build a permanent establishment. The site chosen was about eighteen miles above Bodega, on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Here a fort was erected, which, after formal dedication on Septem- ber 10, 1812, was appropriately named Fort Ross.
The original inhabitants of the new settlement consisted of nearly a hundred Russians and some eighty Aleuts. Life for a time went hard with them, owing to the lack of food and the difficulty experienced in opening up the de- sired trade with the Californians. When this latter object was accomplished, however, conditions became much more agreeable, and before many years the Ross colonists were themselves raising sufficient grain, vegetables, and cattle to relieve in some measure the chronic need of the Alaskan settlements. The following description, written at a much later date, gives an interesting picture of the colony after its period of hardship was past:
"The Presidia Ross lies in 38 deg. 40 min. north latitude, im- mediately on the ocean, on a hill sloping gradually towards the sea. The rear is crowned by a range of hills 1,500 feet in height, covered with pines, firs, cedar, and laurel, rendering the position of the fort highly picturesque. The fort is an enclosure 100 yards square, picketed with timber 8 inches thick by 18 feet high; mounts four 12-pound carronades on each angle, and four 6-pound brass howitzers fronting the principal gate; has two octangular block- houses, with loopholes for musketry, and 8 buildings within the enclosure, and 48 outside, beside a large boathouse at the landing place, blacksmith's shop, carpenter's and cooper's shop, and a large stable for 200 cows, the number usually milked."
It does not lie within the scope of this particular volume to discuss at length the relations of the Russian colonists with their neighbors to the south. It is enough to say that aside from official protest against the presence of the for- eigners in Spanish territory, almost no friction developed between the two peoples. The trade gradually built up by the Ross settlers with the Californians was mutually advantageous; and in California itself, no matter what
29
THE RUSSIAN EXPERIMENT
attitude the Spanish crown maintained, there was little inclination, and certainly no adequate means, to bring this commerce to an end.
From the standpoint of far sighted American statesmen, however, the Russian colony in California was a menace of serious import. On November 11, 1818, J. B. Prevost, a special commissioner appointed by the United States govern- ment to receive the re-surrender of Astoria from the British, wrote thus from "Monte Rey, New California," to the Department of State:
"The speculations of Humboldt, and his glowing description of the soil and climate of this province, have probably given a new direction to the ambition of Russia, and determined its Emperor to the acquisition of empire in America. Until 1816, the settle- ments of this Power did not reach to the southward of 55°, and were of no consideration, although dignified by them with the title of Russian America.
In the commencement of that year two distinct establishments were made, of a different and of a more imposing character. The first at Atooi, one of the Sandwich islands; the other in this vicin- ity, within a few leagues of St. Francisco, the most northerly pos- session of Spain, in 37° 56'. The sketch I subjoin was procured from a member of the Government at this place, from whom I also learned that its augmentation has since become so consider- able as to excite serious alarm. Two Russian ships left this port on their way thither a few days anterior to our arrival-one having on board mechanics of every description, together with imple- inents of husbandry. We passed sufficiently near the spot assigned to it to distinguish the coast with some precision, and ascertained that it was an open road-a circumstance that renders the position liable to many objections, if intended to be permanent; in other respects, the choice is judicious for an infant colony. It enjoys a climate still milder than that of Columbia; is environed by a beau- tiful country ; and its proximity to an old settlement enables the Russians to partake of the numerous herds of black cattle and horses that have been there multiplying for the last fifty years. The port of St. Francis is one of the most convenient, extensive, and safe in the world, wholly without defence, and in the neigh- borhood of a feeble, diffused, and disaffected population. Under all these circumstances, may we not infer views as to the early
30
A HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA
possession of this harbor, and ultimately to the sovereignty of all California? Surely the growth of a race on these shores, scarcely emerged from the savage state, guided by a chief who seeks not to emancipate, but to enthral, is an event to be deprecated-an event, the mere apprehension of which ought to excite the jealousies of the United States, so far at least as to induce the cautionary measure of preserving a station which may serve as a barrier to a northern aggrandizement."
In the following year a rumor arose that Spain had ceded to Russia a strip of territory on the Pacific Coast 800 miles long, in return for assistance furnished to the expeditions against the revolutionists of Lima and Buenos Aires. In the St. Louis Enquirer an unknown writer (perhaps Senator Benton) issued a warning against the " Progress of the Rus- sian Empire " well calculated to arouse the apprehension of those to whom Russia, as a member of the Holy Alliance and a rival in the northwest trade, was already an object of sufficient distrust.
" Looking to the east for everything," said the article, " Ameri- cans have failed to notice the advance of the Russians on the Pacific Coast until they have succeeded in pushing their settle- ments as far south as Bodega. Their policy is merely the exten- sion of the policy of Peter the Great and Catherine. Alexander is occupied with a scheme worthy of his vast ambition. . . . the acquisition of the gulf and peninsula of California and the Spanish claim to North America. . . . We learn this not from diplomatic correspondence, but from American fur traders who learn it from the Russian traders now protected by the Emperor in carrying off our furs!"
Such warnings as those sounded by Prevost and the St. Louis Enquirer were soon echoed in the halls of Congress. On January 25, 1821, the Committee on the Occupation of the Columbia River rendered its report to the House of Representatives. In this report, Floyd, the chairman of the committee, issued the following warning against the Russian peril.
"Russia, whose dominions on the Asiatic coast occupy nearly the same position upon that side which ours do on this, has long
31
THE RUSSIAN EXPERIMENT
been well informed of the great and increasing value of that com- merce; and whilst she has been nowhere visible, not even to the powers of Europe, only as she has of late taken part in a few mem- orable enterprises, she has been felt everywhere. No labor, care, or expense is avoided, to make tributary the four quarters of the globe; forts, magazines, towns, cities, and trade seem to rise on that coast as if by magic; with an army of a million of men, she sits not only in proud security as it regards Europe, and menaces the Turk, the Persian, the Japanese, and Chinese, but even the King of Spain's dominions in North America are equally easy of access, and equally exposed to her fearful weight of power. Her watchfulness is ever in advance in discerning the most practicable avenues of profitable commerce. In the midst of all her busy arrangements, she has not neglected the opportunity of possessing herself of two important stations of the American shore of the Pacific-the one at a place called New Archangel, in about 59° of north latitude; the other at Bodiga bay, in latitude 38° 34'. At the former of these military positions, for the protection of her commerce, it is presumed, she has incurred much expense, and built a fort of great strength, situated upon one of the best harbors on the coast, standing upon a point of land projecting into the little bay, giving something the appearance of a conical island in the centre of it; this fort is well supplied at all times with provis- ions and military stores, mounting a hundred and twenty cannon, carrying balls from eighteen to twenty-four pounds weight. That at Bodiga is well constructed and supplied with cannon, and has a good harbor; at this point they have ammunition and merchandise in abundance, and find the Indian trade at this post as well as at New Archangel very considerable. Besides the fine condition of this fort and its defences, they have many field-pieces, some of brass of the finest construction, in good order, and well mounted. All these supplies have been conveyed to those places through immense oceans, round Cape Horn, which would have appalled any but Russian policy and perseverance. The light articles destined for this trade are transported from St. Petersburg in sledges, which will perform in three months that which would require two summers of water conveyance to effect; their communi- cations are open to Kamtschatka, to Fort St. Peter and St. Paul, by Ohotsk, in the Pacific, where they have the finest harbor in the world; the distance is estimated at ten thousand miles. The nation which can encounter such journeys as these, often through
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.