USA > California > Sonoma County > The Russian settlement in California known as Fort Ross; founded 1812, abandoned 1841. Why the Russians came and why they left > Part 2
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Wrangell wished to go to Mexico in person to secure from the author- ities of the republic at once a ces- sion or sale of the desired territory. The company having approved his plan and agreed to pay for the establishments of San Rafael and Sonoma, in case Mexico would con- sent to cede the territory, the Baron resigned his position as Governor
11
SPAULDING HTARTS FOR SAN FRANCISCO
of the American Colonies and ob- tained permission to return to Rus- sia by way of Mexico, with author- ity to represent the Colonial Gov- ernment in negotiations with the Republic of Mexico. With his in- structions came a successor to Wrangell in the person of Ivan Ruprianof and the ex-governor sail- ed at once. After his arrival at Mexico he with some difficulty ob- tained an interview with Vice-Pres- ident Barragan and other high officials, but he could accomplish nothing, as the Mexicans would not entertain the proposition to cede any territory on any terms.
CHAPTER V.
With the failure of Wrangell's mission the company decided to abandon Ross, and they at once began to seek a purchaser. At a conference between Ruprianof and Douglas of the Hudson Bay Com- pany, a proposition was made to sell Ross for $30,000. "Of course," writes Douglas in his journal, "they cannot sell the soil but merely the improvements, which we can only hold through a native." An an- swer was to be given in the autumn after a consultation with MeLaugh- lin. But the English company de- cided that the purchase was not desirable as it would very likely displease the Californians and would probably cause serious com- plications with the United States.
This negotiation having failed, the company next tried Alverado.
The governor asked for farther in- formation as to the nature of the property offered and made haste to inform the Mexican government of the impending change and a long correspondence ensued, but no trade resulted. 1The American ship, Lau- sanne, Captain Josiah Spaulding, coming down from Columbia in July, 1840, believing Bodega to be a free port, belonging to Russia, thought he might land his passen- gers there and perhaps accomplish something in the way of trade with- out paying anchorage dues or other duties. The Russians had never before permitted such operationa and on this occasion it seems that Rotchef told Spaulding that he must not trade nor go by land to San Francisco as he had intended But Rotchef then went to Monterey, leaving the Lausanne at Bodega, and the captain, crew and passen- gers were free to do as they pleased as there was no Russian guard nearer than Ross. So Spaulding also started for San Francisco with McIntosh as a guide. Four of the passengers went to Sonoma to ask Vallejo for pass-ports which should enable them to remain in the coun- try. Vallejo was naturally startled at the appearance of the armed for- eigners, with the news that Bodega was practically abandoned by the Russians and that a foreign vessel was lying there free from all re- strictions in respect of contraband trade or of landing passengers. He immediately despatched Alferes
12
THE LAUSANNE SAILS AWAY
Lazaro Pina and a guard of sol- diers to Bodega with instructions to re-embark all persons who had landed and to enjoin upon those in charge of the vessel to land no goods on penalty of being treated as smugglers. As Monterey was the only port open to foreign trade, l'ina was to remain at his post, prevent all traffic and intercourse, keep a strict watch and report. Subsequently he was directed to collect tonnage dues on the Laus- anne at the rate of $1.50 per ton. Spaulding, accompanied by several persons from San Francisco who were traveling without passports, called at Sonoma on his way to Bo- dega. His companions were not al- lowed to proceed and the captain was called upon to pay his tonnage dues. He declined to do so on the ground that Bodega was a free port belong- ing to Russia; but after discussion he agreed to pay the demand if it should be declared lawful by the proper authorities. He was then al- lowed to depart with an order to Pina to return to Sonoma as soon as the vessel had sailed. As Spaulding had cited the manager at Ross in confirmation of his claim that Bo- dega was a Russian port, Vallejo in- structed Pina to state clearly to Rot- chef that Bodega belonged to Mexico and not to Russia though the use of it by Russian vessels had been toler- ated. That the commander at Ross had no control of it, except by per- mission of the Californian govern- ment, that he had no right to find it
strange that Californian troops were stationed there,especially when he was in the habit of traveling in the country without a permit and in disrespect of the frontier authori- ties; and of representing to visitors that Bodega was a free port, and of taking the liberty to permit foreign- ers to enter the country in defiance of law. Meanwhile Rotchef came back from Monterey and was filled with wrath when he found the sol- diers on guard and saw a copy made by a subordinate, in his ab- sence, of Vallejo's instructions to Pina. He was violent and insult- ing in his anger. He raised the Russian flag, defying the Californ- ians to pull it down, and offered his protection to the foreign pass- engers who went with him to Ross. Pina made no resistance, but re- ported to Vallejo. The latter sent a communication on the matter to Rotchef and another to be forward- ed to the Governor at Sitka. But Rotchef refused to receive the doc- uments. Vallejo subsequently is- sued an order forbidding Rotchef or any of his men to travel in the country without a license. The Lausanne sailed away about July 26th, leaving five or six foreigners who were aided by the Russians to reach Sacramento, Pina by Val- lejo's order did not attempt to inter- fere beyond warning Rotchef that he would be held responsible for the entrance of the men. Much more angry correspondence followed, but it is not important at this late day.
13
JOHN A. BUTTER PURCHASES THE SETTLEMENT
In January, 1841, Vallejo report- ed to the minister of war concern- ing his controversy with Rotchef. He took much credit to himself and mentioned as a result of that con- troversy, the proposed abandon- ment of Ross. The Russians had consulted him as to their right to sell to a private person the build- ings as well as the live-stock, and he had told them that the nation had the first right and must be consulted. The reason why this cautious answer was given was that sotne foreigners from the Columbia or elsewhere might outbid a citizen of California and thus raise a ques- tion of sovereignty which might prove troublesome to the Mexican interests in the future.
Vallejo also urged the govern- ment to furnish a garrison and au- thorize the planting of a colony at Ross upon its abandonment by the Russians. In February, Kostrom- itinoff, representing the company, offered to sell the property to Val- lejo hinself for $30,000, payable half in cash or in bills of the Hud- son Bay Company and half in produce delivered at Yerba Buena. The general was willing to enter- tain the proposition but could not make a definite answer until July or August, as he must have author- ity from his government. When the answer came from Mexico it was not a satisfactory one, as the Mexican. government seemed to think that the Russians had been frightened away and would leave a
flourishing settlement to be taken possession of by the Californians as soon as they were gone. So Vallejo received some useless in- structions about the details of the occupation and the form of govern- ment to be established at Ross.
In July, Kostromitinoff, having returned from Sitka, an elaborate inventory was made of the property offered. Vallejo and Alverado were again approached but they absolutely declined to purchase, as they had concluded that the prop- erty should ' and would revert to the Californians and that no other purchaser could be found. Alvera- do stated in a letter that his only fear was that the Russians would burn the buildings rather than let them fall into the hands of the Californians. But there was an- other purchaser, John A. Sutter. The bargain was made in Septem- ber. The formal contract was signed by Kostromitinoff and Sut- ter in the office of the Subprefect at San Francisco, with Voiget and Leese as witnesses, on December 13, 1840.
CHAPTER VI.
By the terms of the contract Sutter was to pay for the property specified in the inventory, $30,000, payable in installments. The es- tablishment at New Helvetia (Sac. ramento) and the property at Bo- dega, and the two ranches of Khleb- nikof and Tschernich, "which prop- erty was to be left intact in pos- session of the company's agents,"
14
AN INVENTORY OF THE SETTLEMENT
were pledged as guarantees for the payment. The Russians say that the contract was approved by the California government and it is certain that no official disapproval was made.
Sutter obtained from manager Rotchef a certificate of transfer of the land, dated one day earlier than the contract, in which docu- ment the commander certified that the company had held peaceable possession for 29 years and that they had sold it to M. Le Capitaine Sutter for $30,000 and had delivered it into his possession indisputably· This document. in after years was paraded as Sutter's Deed and was made the basis of a somewhat plausible claim to the possession of the land. Manager Rotchef with all the remaining servants of the company sailed on the Constantine which left San Francisco in Decern- ber, 1841, and probably left Ross in January, 1842. A few Russians remained on the ranchos to look after the company's interest. Sut- ter sent Roberts to look out for him at first, but John Bidwell took his place early in 1842. He was succeeded by Wm. Benitz in 1843.
In the meantime most of the movable property and live-stock were removed to New Helvetia. A few hundred cattle were left, as they were too wild to be driven. The Californians made no effort to occupy the place, for as they had virtually consented to the sale the State had nothing at Ross to pro-
tect. In 1845 the Mexican govern- ment granted to Manuel Torres four leagues of land called the Mu- niz grant, including the establish- ment of Ross. Torres sold the grant to Wm. Benitz, and Benitz, afterwards, to avoid a law-suit, also bought for 6,000 dollars the Sutter or Russian title.
The inventory by which the property was sold to Sutter includes the following: A square fort of logs 1088 feet in circumference, twelve feet high with two watch-towers, a house of squared logs, 36 by 58 feet, double board roof, six rooms with corridor and kitchen. Another block house 24 by 48 feet with six rooms and corridor. House for revenue officers, 22 by 60 feet, ten rooms; barracks 24 by 66 feet, eight rooms; three warehouses, kitchen, jail, chapel with a belfry and dome. Outside of the fort, blacksmith-shop, tannery, boat-house, cooper's shop, bakery, carpenter's shop, two wind- mills for grinding, one mill moved by animal power, three threshing floors, a well, stable, sheep-cote, dairy-house, two cow stables, hog- pen, corral, ten sheds, eight baths, ten kitchens, 24 houses, nearly every one having an orchard. At Kostromitinoff rancho, house, farm buildings, corral and boat for cross- ing the river Slavianka (Russian) ; at Khebnikof rancho, adobe house, farm buildings, bath, well, corral. At Jorges rancho (Russian Gulch), house, stores, fences, etc. At Bodega, warehouse 30 by 60 feet; three
15
A PHILOSOPHIIC TREATISE ON OUR REDWOOD FORESTS
small houses, bath, ovens and cor- rals.
The purchase also included the schooner Constantine, which was rechristened the Sacramento. This vessel made frequent trips between Ross, Bodega and Sacramento, tak- ing from Ross to Sacramento all the movable property bought by Sutter which could be utilized. Even sev- eral of the newest houses were taken down and moved. The one cannon left at Koss was taken to Sacra- mento and was finally donated by Sutter to the California pioneers. About 4,000 head of cattle, horses and sheep were driven overland, and one old Indian who assisted in the driving is still to be seen occasion- ally at Ross. Ross, as it was called by the Russians, was always called by the Spaniards El Fuerte de Los Rusos or Fuerte Ruso, and by the Americans who afterwards settled in California Fort Ross, and as this old settlement is a place of much interest and is annually vis- ited by hundreds of people from all parts of the country, it may be interesting to give a brief account of it as it is at present, 1896.
The property is now owned by G. W. Call, who does what he can to preserve the old buildings and does carefully keep all old relics which are not perishable. The chapel stands perfectly erect with the original roof, doors and win- dows intact. During all these 83 years the little belfry and dome
have stood bravely facing the heavy winter storms. The stock- ade is mostly gone, as the timbers were not selected but were evident- ly made of young timber with sap on. The watch towers are badly decayed on the southerly or storm side but are sound on the north side. The governor's house is in a good state of preservation because it has had a new roof and has been weatherboarded outside. It is now used as a hotel. The barracks building is in a fair state of preser- vation. These old buildings, with half-a-dozen new buildings, a wharf and a chute at the landing and two dairies constitute the pres- ent settlement of Fort Ross. One millstone made from native stone remains intact. Of the original apple-trees some 50 are still alive and bear apples every year. A portion of the original fence still stands and does duty just as it did wnen described by Duhant Cilley in 1828. A painting copied from the sketch made by Cilley has also been preserved and in the hotel may still be seen in service an old piano made by Bord in Paris about 1820. In a little valley where the Russians cut away all the trees has grown a forest of redwood and pine trees, some of them over five feet in diameter. The pines have evidently grown from seed, but all the redwoods are sprouts sprung from the stumps of the trees cut down. This second-growth forest proves conclusively that all the
16
SIR GEORGE SIMPSON'S ACCOUNT OF ROSS
Californians have to do to perpetu- ate the redwood forests is to give them a chance. The Russian bish- op, Vladimir. a few years ago, vis- ited Fort Ross and made a propo- sition to purchase the old chapel, with a few acres of ground, includ- ing the Russian cemetery, with a view of preserving them. But as Vladimir was recalled the negotia- tion was not consummated.
CHAPTER VII.
We have given in the preceding chapters a consecutive and concise history of the Russian settlement at Ross. Some contemporary ac- counts of this interesting event which have appeared from time to time written by those who describ- ed their visits to the settlement will now be given.
Among the most interesting ac- counts of Ross is that of Sir George Simpson, governor-in-chief of the Hudson Bay Company, who came to California in 1841, and after- wards published a most interesting narrative of his voyage.
Governor Simpson evidently came to California with the view of seeing if there was any way of ac- quiring possession of the country for the English government. He visited General Vallejo at Sonoma and received no encouragement from that true and loyal friend of the United States. However, he gives a very sprightly account of his visit and we reproduce that portion which refers to Ross. On
approaching the coast of California the governor says:
"In the course of the morning, we passed Bodega and Ross, respec- tively the harbor and the fort of the Russian American Company. That association, which asssumed its present form towards the close of the last century, under the pat- ronage of the Emperor Paul, could not find any native supply of bread-stuffs nearer than the central steppes of Asia, to be transported thence over about a hundred and twenty degrees of longitude and thirty of latitude, by barges from the head of the Sena to Yakutsk, on horses fron Yakutsk to Ochotsk, and in ships from Ochotsk to Sitka. So expensive and tedious a route operating almost as a prohibition, the Company's establishments were, of course, very inadequately supplied with that which, to a Rus- sian, is peculiarly the staff of life, so that a design was naturally formed of planting an agricultural settlement on the adjacent coast of America.
"With this view, in March, 1806, -the very month, by the by, in which Lewis and Clarke left their winter's encampment of Clatsop Point to retrace their steps across the continent-Von Resanoff, who was then the Company's principal representative, attempted to enter the Columbia, but was baffled in the attempt by the same circum- stances which had so long retarded the discovery of the river. Eight
17
THE EARLY BEA-OTTER INDUSTRY
years afterwards, however, the ex- tensive and beautiful valley of Santa Rosa, which opens into Bo- dega Bay, was actually occupied -Spain being too busy elsewhere with more serious evils to repel the intrusion.
As compared with the Columbia, California, besides its great fertility and its easier access, possessed the
sea-otters, besides a large supply of fur-seals, having thereby so far diminished the breeds as to throw nearly all the expense of their es- tablishments on the agricultural branch of the business-an expense far exceeding the mere cost of pro- duction, with a reasonable freight. The Californian settlement required ships 'exclusively for itself; and,
Fort Ross lu 1340, looking northeast from bluff.
additional recommendation of lit- erally teeming with sea-otters, thus securing to the Company an inci- dental advantage, more important, perhaps, in a pecuniary sense, than the primary object of pursuit. Since 1814, the Russians have sent to market from California the enor- mous number of eighty thousand
though the Russians had so far conciliated the local authorities as to be permitted to hunt both on the coast and in the interior, they were yet obliged, by the undisguised jealousy and dislike of their pres- ence, constantly to maintain a mil- itary attitude, with strong fortifi- cations and considerable garrisons.
Kodiak Indian Skin Boat used at Ross.
OH
18
AN EXTRACT FROM GOVERNOR SIMPSON'S WORK
"That the Russians ever actually intended to claim the sovereignty of this part of the coast, I do not believe. The term Ross was cer- tainly suspicious, as being the con- stant appellation of the ever-vary- ing phases of Russia from the days of Ruric, the very name under which, nearly ten centuries ago, the red-bearded dwellers on the Borys- thenes, who have since spread themselves with resistless pertinac- ity over more than two hundred degrees of longitude, carried terror and desolation in their crazy boats to the gates of Constantinople, a city destined alike to be their ear- liest quarry and their latest prey. So expansive a monosyllable could hardly be a welcome neighbor to powers so feeble and jealous as Spain and Mexico.
"In justice, however, to Russia, I have no hesitation in saying that, under the recognized principles of colonization, she is fully entitled to all that she holds in America. As early as 1741, Beering and Tschiri- koff had visited the continent res- pectively in 59° and 56°, about a degree above Sitka, and about a degree below it-the former, more- over, seeing many islands, and per- haps the peninsula of Alaska, on his return; and, by the year 1763, private adventurers had explored the whole width of the ocean, dis- covering the intermediate chain of islands, from the scene of Beering's shipwreck, in the vicinity of Kam- schatka, to Alaska, then erroneous-
ly supposed to be an island, and thence still further eastward to Kodyak-no other nation having previously penetrated, or even pre- tended to have penetrated, farther north than the parallel of fifty- three degrees.
"But the Russian discoveries were distinguished by this favor- able peculiarity, that they were, in a great measure, achieved inde- pendently of the more southerly discoveries of Spain, being the re- sult of rumors of a neighboring continent, which, in the beginning of the century, the Russian conq- uerors had found to be rife in Kam- schatka. Moreover, in the case of the Russians, discovery and posses- sion had advanced hand in hand. The settlement of Kodyak was formed four years before Meares erected his solitary shed in Nootka Sound; and Sitka was established fully ten or twelve years earlier than Astoria."
Governor Simpson says on page 283, vol. 1, of his interesting work:
"On emerging from the strait, which is about three miles long, we saw on our left, in a deep bay, known as Whalers' Harbor, two vessels,- the Government schooner California and the Russian brig Constantine, now bound to Sitka, with the last of the tenants of Bo- dega and Ross on board. As we observed the Russians getting under way, I despatched Mr. Hop- kins in one of our boats, in order to express my regret at being thus
19
THE ROMANCE OF DONNA CONCEPTION ARQUELLA
deprived of the anticipated pleas- ure of paying my respects in per- son.
"Mr. Hopkins found about a hundred souls, men, women and children, all patriotically delighted to exchange the lovely climate of California for the ungenial skies of Sitka, and that too at the expense of making a long voyage in an old, crazy, clumsy tub, at the stormiest season of the year; but to this gen- eral rule there had been one excep- tion, inasmuch as they had lost two days in waiting -- but, alas! in vain-for a young woman, who had abjured alike her country and her husband for the sake of one of the dons of San Francisco.
"Mr. Hopkins farther learned that, though it was Thursday with us, yet it was Friday with our nor- thern friends; a circumstance which, besides showing that the Russians had not the superstition of our tars as to days of sailing, forcibly reminded us that between them the two parties had passed round the globe in opposite direc- tions to prosecute one and the same trade in furs, which the indolent inhabitants of the province were too lazy to appropriate at their very doors."
Later on he went to Santa Bar- bara and in connection with his visit there relates the following interesting incident in regard to Ross. He says:
"Among the persons we met in Santa Barbara, was a lady of some
historical celebrity. Von Resanoff, having failed, as elsewhere stated, in his attempt to enter the Colum- bia in 1806, continued his voyage as far as San Francisco, where, be- sides purchasing immediate sup- plies for Sitka, he endeavored, in negotiation with the commandant of the district and the governor of the province, to lay the foundation of a regular intercourse between Russian America and the Californ- ian settlements. In order to ce- ment the national union, he pro- posed uniting himself with Donna Conception Arguella, one of the commandant's daughters, his pat- riotism clearly being its own reward if half of Langsdorff's des- cription was correct: 'She was lively and animated, had spark- ling, love-inspiring eyes, beautiful teeth, pleasing and expressive fea- tures, a fine form, and a thousand other charms; yet her manners were perfectly simple and artless.'
"The chancellor, who was him- self of the Greek Church, regarded the difference of religion with the eyes of a lover and a politician; but, as his imperial master might take a less liberal view of the mat- ter, he posted away to St. Peters- burgh with the intention, if he should there be successful, of subse- quently visiting Madrid, for the requisite authority to carry his schemes into full effect. But the Fates, with a voice more powerful than that of emperors and kings, forbade the bans; and Von Resa-
20
THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S CONCLUSIONS
noff died, on his road to Europe, at Kraysnoyarsk in Siberia of a fall from his horse.
"Thus at once bereaved of her lover, and disappointed in her hope of becoming a pledge of friend- ship between Russia and Spain, Donna Conception assumed the habit, but not, I believe, the formal vows, of a nun, dedicating her life to the instruction of the young and the consolation of the sick. This little romance could not fail to interest us; and, notwithstanding the ungracefulness of her convent- ual costume and the ravages of an interval of time, which had tripled her years, we could still discover in her face and figure, in her man- ners and conversation, the remains of those charms which had won for the youthful beauty Von Resanoff's enthusiastic love and Langsdorff's equally enthusiastic admiration. Though Donna Conception appar- ently loved to dwell on the story of her blighted affections, yet, strange to say, she knew not, till we men- tioned it to her, the immediate cause of the chancellor's sudden death. This circumstance might, in some measure, be explained by the fact, that Langsdorff's work was not published before 1814: but even then, in any other country than California, a lady, who was still young, would surely have seen a book, which, besides detailing the grand incident of her life. presented 80 gratifying a portrait of her charms."
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