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DESCRIPTION OF ROSS-SITE AND BUILDINGS-POPULATION AND SYSTEM- ESTABLISHMENT AT THE FARALLONES-OTTER-HUNTING-STATISTICS- TRADE IN CALIFORNIAN PORTS-EXPORTS-AGRICULTURE-STOCK-RAIS- ING-INDUSTRIES-SHIP-BUILDING-BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ROSS. CHRONO- LOGIC RECORD, 1821-30-RUSSIAN POLICY-FEARS IN MEXICO-SCHMIDT SUCCEEDS KUSKOF-VESSELS-THE CANÓNIGO FERNANDEZ AT ROSS, AND RESULTS-ARGUELLO'S OTTER CONTRACT-KOTZEBUE'S VISIT-SOLANO- ZAVALISHIN'S NEGOTIATIONS-MEXICAN POLICY-FEARS OF THE JUNTA- ECHEANDÍA VS. RUSSIANS-SHELIKHOF SUCCEEDS SCHMIDT-SALT CON- TRACT-FEARS IN SONORA-VISIT OF DUHAUT-CILLY-PATTIE'S VISIT- ECHEANDÍA'S QUESTION-KOSTROMITINOF MANAGER.
THE annals of the colony at Ross from 1821 to 1830 in respect of local and colonial events, or so far as Russian relations with Spain, Mexico, and California are concerned, require but a comparatively brief treat- ment. But there may appropriately be added a gen- eral description of the Russian establishment, with a statistical view of its condition and progress in respect of its different industries during the whole period of its existence, from 1812 to 1841, such a sketch as I have alluded to in a former chapter,1 and such a one as obviously belongs to no one year or decade rather than to another. I begin with this general sketch, presenting the record of events later in the chapter.
The site of Ross, on the seaboard eight or ten miles above the mouth of the Russian River, was a tolera- bly level table of something more than a square mile
1 See chapter xiii. of this volume, on Russian annals of 1810-20.
( 628 )
629
DESCRIPTION OF ROSS.
in extent, terminating on the sea-shore in a precipice of seventy feet, and so protected naturally by ravines on the other sides as to be of difficult access to an enemy. All the structures of the establishment were of redwood, except a few earthen huts of the Indians. On the plateau near the shore was a quadrangular enclosure of about 250 by 300 feet, its angles very nearly facing the cardinal points, formed of thick
Black Pt.
Mt.St.Helena
Rocky Pt
ROSS-
Khlebnikof
R.
Slaviank
Kostromitinot
Arr. Verde
Sta. Rosa
Gorgy's
Est.
Bodega B
B. Rumiantzof
Petaluma
Tamales
Arr. S. Antonio
Arr. Novato
Drake B
S. Rafaelo
Pta.Reyes
RUSSIAN SETTLEMENTS.
beams set upright in the ground, twelve or fifteen feet high and surmounted by a horizontal beam on which was a kind of chevaux-de-frise of wooden and iron points. The stockade was conveniently pierced with loop-holes especially near the gateways, on three at least of the four sides; while at the corners diagonally opposite and facing approximately the north and south there were hexagonal towers, or block-houses, simi- larly pierced, commanding the whole structure, and terminating in a high sharp roof. In these towers,
630
ROSS AND THE RUSSIANS.
as at the entrances, and within the enclosure on car- riages, cannon were mounted.2 Thus the presence of these guns, with the natural strength of the site and the strict system of sentinels and drill never relaxed, gave to Ross the appearance of a military fortress rather than a fur-hunting and trading post. The for- tress was impregnable to the aborigines and even to any force the Spanish Californians could have brought against it; but the occasion never arose of testing its strength against either foe. Within the quadrangle were the commandant's house, the officers' quarters, barracks for the Russian employés, a chapel, and vari- ous storehouses and domestic offices. Some of these buildings were of two stories; the commandant's house had glass windows and was comfortably furnished; the chapel was decorated with paintings; and all are de- scribed as having presented a very neat appearance. A well supplied water for cases of emergency, though the stream in the ravine furnished a supply for ordi- nary uses. Outside the stockade on the plateau were the huts of the Aleuts and natives, which they built for themselves mostly of redwood, and which they even made more or less effort to keep clean in imita- tion of the Russians; and scattered in the immediate vicinity were a windmill, farm buildings, granaries, cattle-yards, a tannery, and work-shops for the various industries carried on. Beyond lay the vegetable gar- dens. Down at the foot of the cliff on the beach at the mouth of the southern barranca was a small wharf and boat-landing, a shed for the protection of the skin boats, another for storing lumber and for work connected with the building of vessels, a black- smith's shop, and finally a bath-house where the Rus- sian might steam himself as was the custom in his country. At Bodega-the port of the Russian estab- lishment, for there was no safe anchorage at Ross- there were some warehouses; and at the half-way
2 Kuskof brought eight pieces of artillery in 1812, which number was soon increased to 15 or 20, and even to 40 of various calibre by 1841 as it seems.
POPULATION.
point, on or near the river, there was a station, occu- pied like that on the bay by a few servants of the company.3
So far as I can judge from the complicated and contradictory statements of different writers, Russian and foreign, there were at Ross after the foundation was fairly effected, from 25 to 50 men of Russian
3 I make no attempt to notice the many discrepancies between authorities respecting the dimensions of the stockade, height of the cliff, etc. Duhaut- Cilly, Viaggio, ii. 174-9, gives a view of the fort and surroundings as they appeared in 1828, from a standpoint east of the fort; and I have before me a lithograph of late date from about the same point of view. Ingersoll, In a Redwood Logging Cump, in Harper's Mag., Ixvi. 194-5, gives a general view from the southern ravine of the fort as it appeared in 1882. The three views agree well enough, except that the last does not indicate a precipitous descent to the sea. Ingersoll also gives views of the old chapel and the old block- house, in the east and south corners respectively of the stockade. He says the chapel was in the s. E. corner, serving as an additional tower for defence, and this is also shown by the drawings of the ruins. Potechin, Selenie Ross, 6, who gives a careful description, speaks of 116 steps leading up from the barranca. According to Tikhmenef, Istor. Obosranie, 208-12, the Indians built their huts where they pleased and not in regular streets. Golovnin, Voyage, 114, speaks of the well inside the fort. Khlebnikof, Zapiski, 137-8, 159, 169, says the buildings were all completed in 1814. Gabriel Moraga after his visit of 1814, Prov. St. Pap., MS., xix. 366-7, gave an accurate de- scription of Ross. Gervasio Arguello, Observaciones, MS., 26-8, gave a still more minute one in 1816. 1Ic found seven buildings in the square. There were 37 huts for Aleuts, 47 skin-boats seen. Site two miles long and less than one mile wide. Only one place of access. Choris, Voyage Pittoresque, pt. iii. 7, 8, unfortunately had no opportunity to make drawings in 1816. Roque- feuil, l'oyage, 39, briefly describes harbor and site in 1817. Payeras, Noticias sobre Ross, MS., 419-25, gave a minute description as the result of his visit with Fernandez in 1822. He says the commandant's house had three floors and eight rooms, describes the bath-house in which he tried a steam-bath, speaks of a cemetery; says most of the buildings were formed by placing square timbers one upon another, and furnished with steep board roofs. There is nothing requiring special notice in Kotzebue's description of 1824, New Voyage, ii. 121-6. Vallejo, Informe reservado sobre el establecimiento de Ross, MS., found in 1833 two warehouses at Bodega in care of a band of gen- tiles. At the fort he noted a water-power mill and 23 cannon, counting 59 buildings outside the enclosure and 9 within, or perhaps he means to say 59 in all. Belcher, Voyage, i. 313-16, says the square had but one entrance, by large folding gates toward the sea. He counted 20 Aleut huts, and noticed the buildings in the ravine. Laplace, in 1839, Voyages, vi. 69-86, found Ross to bear a strong resemblance, save in the absence of women, to a European farm. Sutter, Autobiography, MIS., 23-6, describing the place as he found it in 1839, mentions a glass hot-house, and he speaks of the farm between Ross and Bodega with one of the two houses set apart for the use of travellers. Mofras, Exploration, ii. 13, briefly describes Ross in 1841; and Hastings, Emigrant Guide, 101, in 1842. The inventory by which the prop- erty was offered for sale in 1841 includes the following items, on the best pos- sible authority: Square fort of logs, 1,0SS feet in circumference, 12 feet high, with 2 towers; commandant's house of logs (old), 36x48 feet, double board roof, 6 rooms with corridor and kitchen; ditto (new) of logs, 24x48 feet, 6 rooms and corridor; house for revenue officers, 22x60 feet, 10 rooms; barracks,.
632
ROSS AND THE RUSSIANS.
blood, and from 50 to 120 Aleuts. No Russian women came to California, except perhaps the wives of one or two officers in the later years; but both Russians and Aleuts married or cohabited with native women, so that at the last the three races were inextricably mixed in the population of Ross. This population, including the native Californians who became per- manent residents, may be estimated as having varied from 150 to 400.4 All were to a certain extent in the service of the company, though many cultivated small pieces of ground and traded the products on their own account. The Russians were officers, chiefs of hunt- ing parties, and mechanics; the Aleuts were hunters, fishermen, and laborers; the Californians were labor- ers and servants; all were to a certain extent farmers and traders and soldiers. The Russians, except a few officers, were originally of a low and often criminal class; but discipline was strict, temptations were few,
24x66 feet, 8 rooms; 3 warehouses; new kitchen; jail; chapel, 24x36 fect, with a belfry; and a well 15 feet deep. Outside of the fort: blacksmith-shop, tannery, bath-house, cooper's shop, bakery, carpenter's shop, 2 windmills for grinding, one mill moved by animals, three threshing floors, a well, stable, sheep-cot, hog-pen, dairy-house, 2 cow-stables, corral, 10 sheds, 8 baths, 10 kitchens, and 24 houses, nearly every one having an orchard. At Kostro- mitinof rancho, house, farm-buildings, corral, and boat for crossing the river Slavianka. At Khlébnikof Rancho, adobe house, farm-buildings, bath, mill, corral. At Tschernich, or Don Jorge's rancho, house, stores, fences, etc. At Bodega, warehouse, 30x60 feet, 3 small houses, bath, ovens, corrals. Ross, Propuesta de Venta, MS.
In the Sonoma Co. Hist., 363-78, 183, is a long description of the estab- lishment written apparently from a personal inspection of the ruins, and information given by an old settler. There are many interesting details about the buildings and methods of construction for which I have no space. The size of the quadrangle is given as 288 by 312 feet. North of this was the village of cabins; also wind-mill and stamp for grinding bark. One of the mill-stones still preserved. South of the building in the gulch was another large one blown down in the storm of 1878. The cemetery was across the gulch eastward, and tradition says there was near it a church for the common people. Traces of a dozen graves yet remain, surmounted by a wooden struc- ture but no inscriptions. A road graded through solid rock down to the shore, with iron bolts in the rock to which wharf timbers were fastened. Also a pit for sawing lumber. An enclosure of five acres about a mile east of the fort, containing an orchard still bearing. Remains of a building and of a lighter at Russian gulch. Old settlers say there was a settlement in the interior, just north of Bodega Corners; no traces left. The public road now passes through the old fort; the buildings are used for saloon, hotel, and storehouse, the chapel for a stable, and the bastions for pig-sties.
4 See authorities named in the preceding note. Tuthill and Randolph put the total at S00 in 1841.
G33
COLONY ROUTINE AND STATISTICS.
and the settlement was always quiet and orderly. All classes as a rule preferred life here to that in the far north. One of the officers was authorized by the bishop to baptize, marry, and read the funeral service, but I find no information respecting a chaplain or regular chapel services. The food of the masses was largely sea-lions and gulls from the Farallones, with fish and game; grain, vegetables, and beef being as a rule sold for the northern establishments. The general system and routine observed by the company in their trading and hunting operations as in their relation to employés, uniform in all the Russian American colo- nies, is fully treated in my History of Alaska.
From 1812 to 1840 the Russians kept up an estab- lishment at the Farallones as well as at Ross. The chief object at first was to secure fur-seals, 1,200 or 1,500 skins being taken annually for five or six years, though Winship, Gale, Smith, and other Americans had taken the cream of this natural wealth a few years earlier. After 1818 the seals diminished rapidly until only 200 or 300 per year could be caught, and the business was no longer profitable; but still a Russian with from six to ten Aleuts was kept at the station to kill sea-lions and gulls, collect eggs, and prepare the products of this industry for use at Ross and Sitka. Annually from 5,000 to 50,000 gulls and about 200 sea-lions were killed. Of the latter the skins and sinews were used in making boats; the meat was salted or dried to be eaten at Ross; the bladders were made into water-tight sacks; while the blubber was tried for oil used both as food and for lamps. The meat of gulls and other birds was dried for food, and the down was also saved for exportation. The party lived in earthen huts on the storm-beaten rocks. Five or six times a year bidarkas were sent out to the station to carry water and wood, though oil-soaked bones largely took the place of wood for cooking. The same boats would bring back meat, oil, and skins. The trip in these frail vessels was often long, difficult,
634
ROSS AND THE RUSSIANS.
and even dangerous in unfavorable weather. Two bidarkas were always kept at the islands.5
The two leading objects of the company in found- ing the Californian establishment had been, as the reader is well aware, fur-hunting and the opening of an advantageous trade with the Spanish neighbors for provisions. Both these topics, and especially that of trade, have from their very nature been prominent and will be still in the chronologie narrative; but such general and statistical statements as are accessi- ble may well be presented here. It was always believed by the Spanish Californians, and often by others, that the company was deriving an immense revenue from the furs taken by the Ross colony, but this was an exaggerated view. The post was profit- able in this respect during but a very small part of its existence, if at all, and a part of the fur yield could have been obtained quite as well without the settle- ment. The catch on the New Albion coast, in a sense the legitimate hunting-ground of the Russians, never gave a large margin of profit; and, even with the poaching and contract operations in and south of San Francisco Bay, it may be doubted if such a margin was kept up much later than 1820.6
The total number of sea-otter skins definitely re- corded as having been obtained in California by the
5 Khlebnikof, Zapiski, 157-8, gives the best account of this station at the Farallones. Tikhmenef, Istor. Obos., 208-12, barely mentions the subject. Duhaut-Cilly, Viaggio, ii. 177-9, says 100 Kadiaks were usually kept at the islands. Captain Morrell found a Russian family with 23 Kadiaks on the North Farallon in May 1825. Morrell's Nar., 209.
6 Khlébnikof, Zapiski, ii. 138-9, gives statistics of the sea-otter catch from 1812 to 1823, and Tikhmenef, Istor. Obos., i. 211, 357-9, from 1824 to 1834, as follows: 1812-14, 877 skins; 1815, 153; 1816, 97; 1817, 55; 1818, 13; 1819, 71; 1820, 22; 1821, 35; 1822-3, 43; 1824, 475; 1825, 500; 1826, 287; 1827, 12; 1828, 1; 1829, 23; 1830, 34; 1831, 112; 1832, 1; 1833, 221; 1834, 255. Total, 3,287 skins. Tikhménef says that by 1817 the otters were exter- minated from Trinidad Bay down to San Antonio cove near San Francisco. Hunting otter on shares in the south was given up before 1830; and no fur- seals were taken at the Farallones after 1834. From 1825 to 1830 the value of fur exports from Ross was 4, 138 roubles. In Baranof, Shizneopissanie, 147, the catch from 1812 to 1817 is given as 1,000 skins. The recorded product of the contract hunting before 1812, described in other chapters, was 9,181 skins; while the hunting on shares in 1824-6 yielded 1,144 skins. According to Choris, Voyage Pitt., ii. 7-8, the yearly catch was 2,000 otter. Alvarado,
635
HUNTING AND TRADE.
company is about 13,600. There is, however, no rea- son to regard this record as complete, and valuable furs of other kinds were taken in considerable quantities.
The trade for supplies to be consumed in the far north was a more urgent motive by far than the get- ting of furs, and in this respect success was also greater. Notwithstanding the obstacles thrown in their way, with which the reader is familiar, the Russians obtained with tolerable regularity for years cargo after cargo of Californian grain and other provisions most welcome to the northern posts, and purchased with goods on which a very large percentage of profit was realized. Moreover for a time they had this com- mercial field, such as it was, largely to themselves; but later, when under Mexican rule the ports were thrown open, heavy duties had to be paid, and compe- tition with traders of other nations not only reduced the price of Russian goods and raised that of Califor- nian products, but so exhausted the market that there were years when the company's vessels could get no cargo short of Chile. It must be borne in mind, how- ever, that the advantages of this trade were not alto- gether dependent on the existence of a settlement nearer than Sitka. I append some statistical and general notes.7
As the hunt for otter became less and less profit- able, and as obstacles interfered with perfect success in the way of trade, the agents of the company turned their attention more and more to home industries at Ross. Agriculture was naturally one of the most important of these industries, and results in this branch
Hist. Cal., MS., ii. 11, tells us there were months when 2,500 skins, worth $90 each, were exported; and Simpson, Narrative, 269, says that in 1814-42 the company sent to market 80,000 sea-otter skins. Chamisso, Reise, i. 132, took his statement from Choris that 2,000 skins per year were sold at an aver- age price of $60.
" Lütke, Narrative, 142-4, gives a good account of the company's trade in California, with average prices paid for produce down to 1825. He says the yearly exports averaged $9,000 from 1817 to 1829. Khlebnikof, Zapiski, 78-84, 146-7, gives a much more complete statement, with full price-lists of goods sold in California from IS18 to 1825. On the cargo of the Kutusof in 1817 254 per cent of profit was cleared ; and 150 per cent was made on other cargoes; but later 35 to 70 per cent was deemed a fair gain, since some articles
636
ROSS AND THE RUSSIANS.
are shown more or less completely in a note.8 Except
had to be sold nearly down to cost. This author gives the following table of provisions obtained in California:
Wheat.
Bar- ley. fan.
Pease and Beans. fan.
Flour.
Tallow and Lard. arr.
arr.
1817 At San Francisco, per Kutúsof.
358
256
109
180
203
1818 Monterey and Sta Cruz, per Kutúsof.
3,140
500
904
114 1,083
540
1820 Monterey and Sta Cruz, per Buldákof.
1,376
250
163
242
390
260
1821 San Francisco, per Golovnin. Monterey, per Kutúsof ..
1,160
300
306
480
729
San Francisco, per Buldukof.
1,880
15
258
1822|Monterey, per Volga .
129
280
25
4
Monterey, per Buldákof.
1,026
200
152
163
318
180
Sta Cruz, Volga.
520
120
6
1823 Monterey and Sta Cruz, per Rurik. .
742
115
86
101
188
170
1824 Monterey, per Baikal ..
1,317
400
510
S. Pedro, per Buldákof
1,885
140
1825 Monterey, per Kiakhta
1,510
39
258
S. Pedro and S. Francisco, per Baikal.
530
6
22
Total
16,310 2,307
1,928
815 4,123 1,879
Potechin, Selenie Ross, 14, adds for 1823 cargoes of the Volga and Buldakof, amounting to 1,268 fan. wheat, 170 pease and beans, 200 barley, and 250 arrobas of tallow. Tikhmenef, Istor. Obos., i. 221, 342-4, 359, gives much larger figures for 1822, viz .: 8,127 fan. wheat, 1,458 pease and beans, 1,192 barley, 1,135 arr. flour, 3,200 tallow, and 1,354 dried meat. Wheat cost the Russians 3 to 4.5 rubles per poud; barley nearly 4 rubles; and flour about 9 rubles. The shipments for 1837 amounted to about $7,300; 1838, $16,000; 1839, $10,000; 1840, $30,000; 1841, $8,000. I attach, however, very little value to these statistical fragments.
8 Table showing yield of wheat and barley from 1815 to 1829, from Khle- bnikof, Zapiski, 150-9, 169.
Sown.
Harvest.
Sown.
Harvest.
Wheat.
Barley.
Wheat.
Barley.
Wheat.
Barley.
Wheat.
Barley.
Pouds.
Pouds.
Pouds.
Pouds.
1815
5
8
1825
201
39
1,815
198
1816
14
48
240
64
1,830
366
1817
15
8
1826
428
27
2,060
86
1818
29
9
106
46
350
80
1,016
609
1819
31
24
94
64
1827
507
42
2,333
141
1820
41
1
173
11
259
143
953
574
1821
37
11
235
26
1828
644
107
4,421
508
1822
54
12
420
34
1829
857
3,450
1823
70
18
733
48
286
1,114
114
15
1,118
88
1824
103
927
217
33
1,200
350
· Total.
4,779
740
25,084
3,674
220
107
604
428
57
8
418
97
737
24
263
Dried Meat.
fan.
arr.
637
AGRICULTURE.
as a source of home supply for the colony it was not regarded as a success. The land in the immediate vicinity of the fort was limited in extent and not re- markably fertile, while the prevalent coast fogs caused
The poud is 36 lbs. avoirdupois, or about four to a fanega. After 1822 the double figures show the results of planting both by the company and by pri- vate persons. Under Shélikof's rule every fertile spot of soil near the fort was cultivated, and there were fields two miles away. The area sown in 1828 in scattered fields is estimated at about 175 acres. Plowing and planting was done in November and December after the first rains. No manuring ex- cept for gardens, etc. Both oxen and horses were used for plowing, and in some rocky spots Indians were hired to dig up the soil with spades. Vege- tables were raised in abundance in the gardens, including pumpkins and watermelons. Pickled beets and cabbages were sent to Sitka. Potatoes were planted twice in a year but the yield was only six or eight to a hill. Wild mustard-seed was gathered for exportation. Fruit trees did well. The first peach-tree brought from S. Francisco in 1814 bore in 1820. Other peach-trees were brought from Monterey, and also grape-vines from Lima in 1817, the latter bearing in 1823. In 1820 100 trees, apple, pear, cherry, and peach, were set out, bearing in 1828. The fogs were so dense that sometimes for three months the sun was not visible. All this from Khlebnikof. Tikhmenef, Istor. Obos., i. 211, 220-1, 333-6, 360-1, gives in addition the following items: The sowing in 1813 was 65 lbs., harvest 165 lbs .; 1814, 200 and 882 lbs. For the first 10 years the company derived no advantage from agriculture at Ross, save some little aid to vessels. Great efforts were made and great results expected in 1826, but a rust destroyed half the crop of wheat. In seven years, 1826-33, about 6,000 pouds of grain, or 800 pouds per year, were shipped to Sitka. In 1821 the field of operations was partially transferred from the foggy coast to sheltered vales further inland, but on account of the inaccessi- bility of the fertile spots and other reasons, very little was gained. In 1833 wild oats sprang up, and the old fields had to be pastured for several years. Mice and gophers did much damage. The same year Baron Wrangell trans- ferred cultivation to the mouth of the river, with much success for two years. In 1833 and 1836 there was a failure of crops. All hope of profit to the com- pany had been given up by the chief administrator. The shipments for the last four years, 1837-40, were wheat, 9,918 pouds; bread, 100 p .; barley, 939 p .; rye, 20 p .; pease, 243 p .: buckwheat, 246 p .; maize, 38 p .; tobacco, 4.5 p., besides seed of flax, hemp, mustard, and poppy. Potechin, Selenie Ross, 6-7, 14-15, says the yield in 1823 was 6, 104 pouds of wheat and 942 p. of barley. Agricultural products in 1826 were worth 29,904 rubles; 1828, 3,619r .; 1829, 16,233 r .; 1830, 3,097 r. Potatoes, according to this author, sometimes yielded 250 fold. Zavalishin, De'o o Koloniy Ross, 21-5, notes an effort in 1817 to bring a colony of 25 peasant farmers from Russia; and he quotes several re- ports in which the want of success at Ross is attributed to lack of skill on the part of the farmers. A good crop in 1829 and a failure in 1830 are reported. Golovnin, Voyage, 117-18, reports in agriculture no success down to IS18, except in vegetables. Potatoes in Kuskof's gardens yielded 100 fold, and at Bodega sometimes 200 fold. Vallejo, Informe Reservado, MS., found in 1833 that wheat was yielding only eight to one. A piece of ground had been eul- tivated on Tamalanica Creek, three leagues from Bodega, and 5 1. from Ross, but had been abandoned on the remonstrance of the comandante at San Francisco. The inventory of 1841, Ross, Propuesta de Venta, MS., names three ranchos: the Kostromitinof, Khlebnikof, and Gorgy's, a fruit-orchard 330x144 feet, with 260 trees, of which 207 were apple; another small one with 20 trees; a few trees to nearly every house; and a few vines. There was land for sowing 175 fanegas at the fort all fenced; 100 acres at Kostromitinof rancho on the river; sowing land for 50 fanegas, and also 2,000 vines at
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