An illustrated history of Sonoma County, California. Containing a history of the county of Sonoma from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, Part 3

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 786

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" Together with his order requiring precau- tions against the English 'and other foreigners with a special view of keeping Spanish weak- ness from their knowledge, and subsequently. the viceroy announced his intention of remedy- ing that weakness by strengthening the four presidios and by the immediate occupation of Bodega. The 16th of July Arrillaga sent in a report on the state and needs of Californian de- fenses. Vancouver, unwisely permitted to in- vestigate, had been surprised to find California so inadequately protected, and the Spaniards seem to have realized the utter insufficiency of their coast defenses at about the same time; but nothing was accomplished in 1793 beyond an unsuccessful attempt to ocenpy Bodega Port. This Bodega scheme and the whole project of strengthening the California defense were de- vised by Viceroy Revilla Giedo, and urged most ably in his report of April 12, 1793, a docu- ment which covers the whole northern question from a Spanish standpoint, and although little consulted by modern writers, is a most important anthority.

"After giving a complete history of his sub- jeet the distinguished author argues that dis- tant and costly outposts in the north are not

desirable for Spain; and attention should De given exclusively to the preservation and utili- zation of the establishments now existing in C'alifornia, and to prevent the too near approach of any foreign power. To this end Bodega should be held, and the English plan of making a boundary of San Francisco Bay be thus de- feated. Probably this one measure may suffice in the north; Nootka may be given up. and Fnca, and also the Entrada de leceta, or ('o- Inmbia River, unless it should prove to afford a passage to the Atlantic or to New Mexico. # #

" Because of its supposed excellence as a har- bor, and because of its vicinity to San Francisco, making its occupation by England equivalent to an occupation of that harbor for purposes of contraband trade, it was decided to found a Spanish settlement at Bodega. Moreover, there were rumors that foreigners were already taking steps in that direction. To this end, the 10th of February the viceroy announced the giving of orders to the commandante at San Blas to des- patch a schooner and long-boat for the service, and Arrillaga was directed to go to San Francisco to meet the vessels. He gave orders the 20th of March to have a road opened from San Francisco across to Bodega. These instructions came up on the Acanzaza, which arrived at San Francisco on the 24th of July. Arrillaga obtained boats from the vessels, set across some thirty horses, and on the 5th of August Lieutenant Goycolchea, with a sergeant and ten inen, set ont to open the road and to meet at Bodega. Matute, who with the Sutil and Mexicana had probably been sent direct to that port from San Blas. Unfor- tunately I have not found Goycolchea's diary which was sent to Mexico, and we know abso- Intely nothing of either the exploration by sea or land, save that Matute returned to San Fran- cisco on August 12th, and five days later Arril- laga informs the viceroy that the occupation of Bodega is put off for this year. The postpone- ment proved to be a permanent one, for some unexplained cause, and the ten soldiers and tive mechanics with some stores intended for Bodega were retained by Sal at San Francisco."

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

So nearly came Sonoma County to civilized occupancy before the commencement of the cur- rent century. The only other, and more defi- nite statement, of Spanish visitation to territory now within Sonoma County jurisdiction during the early years of this century, is that in Sep- tember of 1810. Moraga, a Spanish officer, visited Bodega, "discovering and exploring to some extent a fertile valley in that region, to which, however, he gave no name."

Thus, in a hurried way, have we followed the fortunes of the Catholic cross northward from San Diego until it was securely planted at Lone Mountain. Over a third of a century had been marked on the dial of time, and yet that emblem of Christianity was yet unplanted on the northern side of the bay. The flocks and

herds of the nineteen established missions had increased until their numbers were pressing upon the ntmost limits of pasture supply. The opu lenee of the Padres, taken in conjunction with the fact that they were being made largely to bear the burthen of civil and military govern- ment, seemed to have somewhat dampened their ardor in mission work; at least so far as related to venturing ont into new and unexplored fields. HIere, for the present, we place a period to Spanish occupation, and turn to hyperborean latitudes to note the southward coming of the Greek trinne cross. Before the close of our next chapter these emblems of two mighty churches, one being carried northward and the other sonthward, will have met and been planted within the limits of Sonoma County.

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

THE RUSSIANS AT ROSS.

CHAPTER II.

THE RUSSIAN-AMERICAN FUR COMPANY - RAZANOF, ITS HEAD MANAGER, VISITS SAN FRANCISCO IN 1505-RETURNS TO ALASKA WITH A CARGO OF WHEAT-FISHING FOR SEA OTTER ALONG THE COAST BECOMES COMMON-THE MAGNITUDE OF THE BUSINESS IN 1809, KUSKOF, AN OFFICER OF THE ALASKA FUR COMPANY, ANCHORED IN BODEGA BAY, AND WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF ALEUT FISHERMEN WHOM HE BROUGHT WITH HIM, SPENT EIGHT MONTHS FISHING AND EXPLOR- ING -- IN 1911 THE RUSSIANS CAME BACK TO BODEGA WITH AN OUTFIT TO FOUND A SETTLE- MENT -- THEY ESTABLISH FORT ROSS-WERE THE FIRST TO ESTABLISH A PERMANENT SETTLEMENT IN SONOMA COUNTY -- THE CALIFORNIA AUTHORITIES OBJECT, BUT THE RUSSIANS STAY-THEY MAKE EXTENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS; PLANT ORCHARDS AND RAISE GRAIN-WHAT THE FRENCHMAN, DUHAUT CILLY, SAID OF ROSS IN 1928-WHAT VARIED OCCUPATION. THE RUSSIANS FOLLOWED THEY BUILT SEVERAL VESSELS-ROSS A BUSY BEE-HIVE OF INDUSTRY.

HILE Spain was always in a state of nn- rest coast possessions, she was not bronght face to in regard to the security of her Pacific face with any real danger until in the first decade of the present century. At first it was England and France toward which her appre- hensions were directed, with an occasional spasm of suspicion that the United States had a lust- ful desire for expansion in this direction. Of course Spain was having spats and wars with other European powers, and the people of Cal- ifornia, when informed as to the government with which Spain for the time being was em- broiled, naturally felt uneasy when a vessel carrying the flag of sneh government was seen hovering along the California coast.

The possessions of Russia up north had been turned to account and were then under the dominion of the Russian-American Fur Com- pany. As Russia and Spain were then as near

at peace as was compatible with nations always in armed expectaney of war, no serious danger to California seemed to be apprehended from that source. But there were canses at work that turned the attention of Alaska anthorities sonthward. The provision supplies they were dependent on From Russia, on account of ad- verse winds and other unavoidable causes, did not always reach them in season, and as a result, several times the gannt wolf Famine stalked in their midst. Hunger knows no law, and in its presenee the amenities usually observable be- tween nations at peace, are liable to be set at nanght. In 1805 the newly appointed Russian Chamberlain, Nicholi Petrovich Razanof, reached Sitka at a time when the inhabitants were in sore distress for food supplies. Ile had a ves- sel laden with such articles as he thought would be needed by the presidios and missions of California and came down to San Francisco.

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

Razanof was too great a diplomat to let the Spaniards know the real-condition of affairs at Alaska. He had to feel his way carefully, for the authorities were under injunctions to en- courage no trade with foreign vessels. The missions had plenty of wheat, just what he most coveted, and he had many articles of utility and ornament that the Californians needed and wanted. To make a long story short, Razanof returned to Alaska with his vessel well stowed with wheat. And more than this, it did not escape his keen eyes that the whole coast north of San Francisco was lying idle and un- productive. And another thing he did not fail to observe was that the waters abounded with sea otter. This same thing seems to have been taken in by the lynx-eyed Yankees even before Razanof visited this coast, for we find it recorded that in 1803-'4 Captain Joseph O'Cain, in the American vessel ('Cain, made a sea otter poaching expedition along the coast, going certainly as far south as San Diego, and being rewarded with a take of 1,100 otter-skins.

Arrillaga had been appointed Governor of Cal- ifornia, and on his arrival at Monterey, the cap- ital, in 1806, one of his first pronunciamentos was a determination to put an end to illicit and contraband trade. He expressed himself cognizant of the fact that instructions from the head government had been, if not entirely evaded, at least loosely obeyed, and that he should not eonnive at such flagrant abuses. His intentions were doubtless honest, but then, humanity is fallible ! Thenceforward there were always vessels hovering along the coast, and it seemed remarkable how often they run out of water, or provisions, or had to make some needed repairs, and found excuses for anchoring for a time near some coast mission. The Gov- ernor of California and his handful of military could froth and fume as much as they pleased, but then what could they do about it ? While these coast poachers in Spanish waters may not have direct connection with Sonoma County history, yet their meanderings were all con- verging toward Bodega Bay and the ultimate

occupation of the country from that point north- ward by the Russians. In truth, the only way to convey to the readers an intelligent concep- tion why the Russians made this long skip from Alaska to Ross, is by taking into account the wealth offered by the sea as well as the pro- duetiveness of the shore. In 1806 Captain Jonathan Winship, in the American vessel ('Cain, with his brother Nathan as mate, made a sea-otter expedition on this coast. They were acting under the auspices of the Russian-Amer- ican Fur Company, and were accompanied by northern Indians and canoes to do the fishing. The Farallone Islands were found a fruitful field of operation. In September of that year Captain Winship returned to Alaska with 5,000 otter-skins. In October of 1806 Captain Camp- bell, another American under contract with the Alaska Fur Company, and accompanied by Aleut fishermen with twelve bidaskes (fishing boats), passed a season on this coast and re- turned to Alaska in Angust of 1807 with 1,230 otter-skins. In 1807 Captain Winship was baek to the coast again accompanied by fifty native hunters from Alaska, and his objective point seems to have been the Farallone Islands. How great was his success may be known from the fact that he returned north in April. Sev- eral other vessels are mentioned as having fished along the coast, and in every instance they are reported to have made a profitable catch of sea-otter. Although outside of the chronological order of occurrences to be re- corded in this history we, in order to make clear the magnitude of the sea-otter fisheries along this coast, qnote the following from Hubert Ilowe Bancroft's History of California: "On April 1, 1811, the Albatross sailed for the north, leaving the O'Cuin to look after affairs on the lower coast, and returned to the Farallones to leave supplies. Then she went to Drake Bay. where she was joined by the ( Cain and Isabel on the 11th of May. Here the two vessels re- mained a month, often communicating with the different gangs of hunters by means of boats. In June the Albatross went south

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY

again and was occupied in picking up for final departure the hunters and the product of their labors for both ships; and on the 19th she sailed for the north, arriving at the Russian settle- ments in August. After repairing the ship and discharging his Indians, Winship returned down the coast and anchored on the 27th of September at the South Farallones. The 2d of October, taking on board all the hunters, except Brown with seven Kanakas, the Albatross sailed for the Islands, so loaded with furs that some water-casks had to be broken up and the hemp cables carried on deck." By reference to a note in the work above quoted from. we find that the Albatross, for the seasons of 1510 and 1511 took 74,526 fur seal skins, of which 73.402 were taken at the Farallones. Besides these there is ennmerated among the pelts 248 beaver. 21 raccoon, 6 wild-cat. 153 land-otter. 4 badger, 5 fox, 58 mink, S gray squirrel, 1 skunk. 11 muskrat and 137 mole skins. The estimated value of this cargo of furs at Canton, China, was $157,397. A Captain Smith is re- puted to have visited the Farallones in 1505 accompanied by a band of Kadiac Indians and quite a fleet of bidaskes, remaining two years and departing with 130,000 seal, beside many otter skins. Alvarado is the anthority for the statement that there were months when 2.500 skins, worth $90 each, were exported. In order not to speak hap-hazard upon this subject we interviewed General M. G. Vallejo, par- ticularly in reference to the subject of sea-otter on this coast, and we have it from his own lips that the Bay of San Francisco and all the bays and estuaries along the coast were swarming with them in the early decades of the century.

But we return to the year 1800. That year was made memorable to Sonoma County from the fact that on.the Sth of Jannary Kuskof, an officer of the Russian Fur Company on the Kadinc. Petrof master, entered Bodega Bay and remained there continuonsly until the 20th of Angust. It seems to have been a mission of observation, exploration and fishing combined. Friendly relations with the Indians of the sur-

rounding country were established and a few temporary habitations erected. While we shall always, in referring to this bay designate it Bodega Bay. the reader should be apprized that the Russians called it " Roumiantzof Bay." Through the natives Governor Arrillaga soon learned of the presence of a large Russian ves sel at Bodega and that the crew had erected hnts on shore. The number of persons given by the Governor as belonging to the Kadige, were forty Russians and 150 Indians, including twenty women. Fifty canoes were reported as having been crossed over from Huymenes Bay to Pt. Boneta. And here it is in place to explain in order that the carrying of these canoes, called by the Russians " bidaskes." may the more readily be understood by the reader. They were constrneted with a very light, flex- ible frame, over which was stretched a sheath- ing of sealskins so sown together as to render the seams impervious to water. The hunter could readily take his boat on his back and carry it a long distance. The Aleuts were ex- perts in the handling of these tiny erafts and did not hesitate to venture quite a distance out to sea in them.

AA stay of over seven months at Bodega had enabled Kuskof to form a very intelligent opinion as to whether or not there was any- thing in that latitude worth the Russian Fur Company's further attention. He seems to have reached an affirmative conclusion. As he took back with him over 2,000 otter-skins as tangible evidence to the company of the worth of the field in which he had been tarrying, it probably did not require much urging on his part to indnce his co-laborers at Alaska to seek a foothold in this more southern and genial elime. Referring to this visit of Kuskof to Bodega Bay, Mr. Bancroft says: "The native chief's were made friends by the distribution of petty gifts, and there is not inneh doubt that they made. either now or the next year, some kind of a formal cession of territory to the new-comers. The priee paid. according to the statement of the natives in later years, as Payeras tells ns.

IIISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

was " three blankets, three pairs of breeches, two axes, three hoes, and some beads." It was upon Russian title derived through this munificent purchase price paid, that Colonel Muldrew, nearly half a century later, gave a great deal of disquiet to the American settlers all along the coast from Tomales Bay to Cape Mendocino.

Baranof, the Chamberlain of Alaska, doubtless acting on instructions from St. Petersburg, took immediate steps to found a settlement on the California coast. To this end, an expedition was fitted out and placed under the control of Kuskof, who, on the Chirikof with all necessary implements and supplies, left Alaska late in 1811 or early in 1812 for his new field of operations. Of this expedition Bancroft says: " There were in the company ninety-five men of Russian blood, including twenty-five mechanics, and probably eighty Alents in a hunting fleet of forty bidaskes. The arrival seems to have been in March or April of 1812, though of this and immediately succeeding events there is no detailed record. The Alents were sent ont to hunt otter along the coast, apparently with instructions not to enter San Francisco Bay, for it was best not to offend the Spaniards just at this time. The Russians prepared timber for several months. When all was ready the Aleuts were recalled to aid the me- chanics, and everybody went to work with a will on a fort and other necessary buildings, and in the course of a few months a fortified village had arisen on the shores of New Albion. The site, selected probably during the previous visit, was some eighteen miles above Bodega Bay, called by the natives Mad-shui-nui, in latitude 38' 33', longitude 123° 15' according to Russian observations, and the fort with its ten cannons was erected on a bluff some hundred feet or more above the sea. * * * All was completed and ready for ocenpation early in September. On September 10th, or August 30th of the Russian calendar, the name- day of Emperor Alexander, the establishment was formally dedicated with great festivities and named Ross, from the root of the name

Russia, a name extending far back into an. tiqnity.

From that day dates the permanent ocenpancy of Sonoma County by civilized man. Fort Ross was something more than a mere station for the rendezvous of a fleet of fishing bidaskes. In a very few years it had become a manufacturing community, largely furnishing various kinds of supplies to the less skilled Spaniards south of the Bay of San Francisco. Of this we shall

speak more fully hereafter. Their coming to Ross was most certainly an infringement upon the territorial rights of Spain. But they claimed, or pretended to claim, that by right of discovery made by Sir Francis Drake New Albion extended sonth to San Francisco Bay. The Spaniards on the other hand claimed that Spanish dominion extended north to the Straits of Fuea. Through the natives (for the Spanish anthorities at San Francisco had as yet made little attempt at exploration north of the bay), the Spaniards were made aware of the presence and operations of the Russians at Bodega and Ross. As in duty bound, an envoy was sent to Ross to learn the objects and aims of the Muscovites. The information obtained was duly transmitted by the Commandante of San Francisco to the Governor at Monterey; and the governor in turn communicated the information to the Viceroy of Mexico, and thus it was started on its course to the ultimate end, the royal presence in Spain. Baek through this tortnous channel, after a long lapse of time, came the injunction to the Commandante of San Francisco that he must have the Russians march on. Just how he was to enforce this order, with four rusty cannons, when the fort at Ross bristled with ten eannons of larger caliber, the King of Spain did not point ont. But ink was cheaper, and not half as dangerous as powder, and the result was a wordy correspondence be- tween the Governor of California and Kuskof.

For several years the communication between the California authorities and those at Ross was as slow as the courtship between deaf mutes, so far as related to the right or wrong

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

of Russian occupaney here. It could not well be otherwise. The Governor of California could only aet on authority from the Viceroy at the city of Mexico; and the Viceroy derived his power from the King of Spain. On the other hand Kuskof at Fort Ross looked to the Chamberlain of Alaska for his instructions, and the Chamberlain took his commands from the Czar of Russia. And thus it came to pass that the conflicting interests of two of the mighty powers of Europe, for a time, centered right here within our own Sonoma County. While a great many orders of a mandatory character, requiring the Russians at once and immediately to vacate Ross were duly delivered to Kuskof, as coming from the Vieeroy of Mexico, it does not seem to have disturbed the friendly amenities that appear to have existed between the Span iards and Russians here, for they seem to have done a great deal of bartering in violation of the revenue laws as intended to be administered by the Mexican anthorities. This trade was carried on by means of Russian vessels.

The reader can keep in mind that year after year there was remonstranee made by the Spanish authorities of California against Rus- sian occupation at Ross, always accompanied by the fearful admonition that the Viceroy of Mex- ico would admit of no further delay in the matter. Moraga, the first to go to Ross to spy out what the Russians were about, was sent back to Ross late in 1813, and according to Spanish account delivered to Kuskof the ulti- matum of speedy departure from this coast; while Russian record of the same occurrence is. as Bancroft says: " That Moraga on this second visit brought with him not only twenty cattle and three horses as a gift, but also the verbal announcement, as welcome as unexpected, that Governor Arrillaga had consented to an ex- change of commodities on condition that pend- ing the Viceroy's decision, the company's ves- sels should not enter the ports, but transfer goods in boats. Accordingly Kuskof at onee despatched his clerk Slobodchikof to San Fran- eiseo with a cargo whiel, in the manner pre-

scribed, and to the value of $14,000, was exchanged for bread-stuff's. Trade was thus con- tinned for some time, but no particulars are given. That this traffic was allowed, consider- ing the urgent needs of California, is not strange; nor is the silence of the Spanish record to be wondered at, since the trade was illicit. There is no good reason to doubt the accuracy of the Russian statement.

That the Russians had come to stay, the lo- cation selected and the permaneney of the im- provements made, amply attested. While Bodega Bay, by them called Roumiantzof, was a desirable harbor so far as ingress and egress of vessels were concerned, yet it did not seem to fill Kuskof's conception of strategic strength for defensive purposes. The site selected for Fort Ross, about eighteen miles north of Bodega, could hardly be improved on for the purpose designed. The following pen-picture of Fort Ross and its surroundings is a translation from a French book written by Duhant Cilly. The anthor spent two or three days at Ross in 1828. This is a very acenrate description, and the more to be prized on account of its having been written so long ago:

" At eleven o'clock in the morning. June, 1828, we arrived at a colony which the Rus- sians had named Ross. It is a great square sur- rounded by a solidly built fence of boards twenty feet high. This fence is crowned by large. heavy war implements. On the south west and northeast angles, are two turrets of a hexagon shape, pierced with port-holes, for pro- tection. Upon the four sides which correspond with the four important points are port-holes with cannon. In the inside of the square are also field-pieces of bronze, mounted on wagons. There is a nice house for the commander or director, good lodgings for the subordinate of- fieers, while the remainder of the square is taken up by store-houses and work-shops. A chapel and bastion ocenpy the southeast angle. The fort is built at the edge of an elevated piece of land about two hundred feet above the level of the sea. To the right and left are ravines

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

which give protection against attacks from the * north and south, while the steep bluff and sea defend the west. The two ravines open upon two little bays which serve as a shelter for shipping. All the dwellings of Ross are built of wood, but they are built well and strong. In the rooms of the director's dwelling are found all the conveniences which are appreciated by Europeans and which as yet are unknown in other parts of California. On the outside of the square are buildings regularly ranged for sixty Russians, and low huts for eighty Kadiacs. Adjoining these are huts of as many poor (native ?) Indians. To the east of the settlement the ground gradually rises to a great height, which protects the settlement from eastern winds. These hills are covered with thick forests. The slopes are divided into fields, feneed in squares, for grain, French corn, oats, potatoes, etc. These fences are used as pro- teetors of the crops against enemies and wild animals."

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An illustrated history of Sonoma County, California. Containing a history of the county of Sonoma from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, Part 3

Author: Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 786

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 786