10/15/2011 6:46:00 PM Before 1867 Alaska was a colony of the Russian Empire.

The relations between Russians and Native Alaskans were determined by the Russians desire for uninterrupted trade. In the 18th century Peter the Great, having travelled through Western Europe, wanted to build a Russian Empire comparable to other European powers (Black 2004, p. 8). Among other things, he dreamed of extending Russian sovereignty along the eastern edges of Eurasia and along the North American coat from the Bering straight to Spanish California (Black 2004, p. 8). Russian sovereignty of Alaska usually dates to 1741. In 1741 Captains Bering and Chirikov landed on Alaskas coasts (Black 2004, p. 39). Peter the Great wished to raise the Russian flag on the American continent, and his plans were carried out by his successors: Catherine I (1725-1727), grandson Peter II (1727-1730), and his niece Anna (1730-1740). During the reign of Catherine the Great the Russian merchant class was rising, gaining prestige and power. In 1762 it became possible for Russian merchants to trade with China (Black 2004, p. 101). This opened up lucrative possibilities for private Russian fur traders, since Otter pelts and other furs were in high demand on the Chinese market. After 1785 demand for fur decreased because British and American traders brought furs to Canton at cheaper prices Ibid. 1799 Paul I creates the RAC, thereby granting the heirs of Grigorii Shelikhov a monopoly in North Pacific fur trade. Russian territory was so vast that it was difficult to monitor from St. Petersburg (Haycox 2002, p. 43). Relied on fur traders and merchants to extend Russian Empire to Alaska.

Peter the Great motivated to command Kamchatka expedition by: desire for resources; desire to deprive those resources from other countries (Haycox 2002, pp. 47-48). From Berings Northern Expedition crewmen brought back Fox, Seal, and Otter furs (Haycox 2002, pp. 51-52). Promyshlenniki (fur trappers) kept pushing farther east and by the 1760s they had reached the Fox Islands and the tip of the Alaska Peninsula. Promyshlenniki not rich enough to finance expeditions. Enterprising merchants would outfit expeditions in the hopes of making profits in the fur trade (Haycox 2002, p. 52). Typical expedition had 30-50 promyshlenniki. Profits would be shared with them. RG took 10% of all profits. Much of this activity depended on the Aleut people. According to the Russian scholar, Svetlana Fedorova there were at most 823 Russian in Russian America at the same time. Many pelts were collected. The Aleuts helped them. Russians would hold women and children hostage until the Aleut men came back with pelts to give them (Haycox 2002, p. 56). Catherine II had commissioned Joseph Billings (an Englishman who had sailed with cook in the late 1770s) to explore the coast of Alaska, which he did. This worried to Spanish, who desired to colonize the North West coast of the present day United States (2002, p. 71). Grigorii Shelikhov also worried to Spanish, for he had established the first Russian port in North America on Kodiak Island (2002, p. 71). Grigorii Shelikhov, a European Russian, was born in Rylsk. At 25 years of age he settled in Irkutsk, where Ivan Golokov employed him. Golokov was a Rylsk merchant. In 1774 Shelikhov moved to Okhotsk. For the next 8 yrs he involved himself in 10 fur trading companies.

Promyshlenniki took more and more time and money to travel ever farther east; competition among merchants was wasteful and inefficient. Shelikhov advocated creating a monopoly in the fur trade. Eventually his idea would come to fruition. In the meantime, he formed a company with Golokov and Golokovs nephew Mikhail to hunt furs in the Kuril Islands and Alaska. Unlike other promyshlenniki ventures, which were temporary, Shelikhovs company was chartered by the RG for ten years (Haycox 2002, p. 71). Catherine realized that the promyshlenniki, who were not government directed but rather were seeking profit from sea otter peltry, had shown foreign powers that Russia had the ability to occupy part of the Northwest coast of America (Haycox 2002, p. 72). Acting on his new RG charter, in 1781 and 1782, Shelikhov invested in many voyages with various partners, including Lebedev-Lastochkin, who eventually would become Shelikhovs rival (2002, p. 72). LebedevLastochkin attempted to establish a permanent post in Alaska. Rivalry came when Shelikhov elected to do the same thing. Their rivalry would last from 1784 to 1797. Both shared the ambition of developing permanent posts in Cook Inlet as part of long-term capitalist ventures. Neither man was satisfied to send out isolated expeditions to collect pelts and sell them. Each sought to form a continuously profitable operation in Alaska. In 1783 Shelikhov succeeded. Leaving near Okhotsk with three ships, Shelikhovs expedition carried 192 officers and crew and his wife Natalia. Proceeding to the Keril Islands, they lost a vessel in a storm. They were forced to winter on Bering Island. In the spring of 1784 they stopped in Unalaska before settling permanently in Kodiak. There Shelikhov founded the first Russian post in Alaska, in Three Saints Bay on the southwestern coast of the island. For the next 15 years Shelikhov would oversee business in Kodiak. He called his venture the North East Company. Only after 10 years would Shelikhov

finally defeat his rival, Lebedev-Lastochkin. Lebedev-Lastochkins men scoured Cook Inlet and collected many valuable animal furs. By 1786 Shelikhov had his men search for furs throughout Kachemak Bay in Cook Inlet. He made preparations for sending men into Kenai Bay and Chugach Bay (Haycox 2002, pp. 72-73). After two years in Kodiak Shelikhov returned to Siberia (Irkutsk) and filed a report. In the report he claimedquite implausiblythat he had had to fight upwards of 4000 hostile Natives on Sahklidak Island. The actual number of Koniag warriors who resisted him and his attempts to levy a Government tax on them was not more than 400 men. Shelikhovs exploits served the interests of the Russian Empire, proving to the Spanish, English, Americans, and others that the Russians intended to possess the American coast north of Nootka. Shelikhovs post also served to extend to range of Russian trappers in North America (Haycox 2002, p. 73). Indeed, upon his return to Kodiak Shelikhov endeavored to send hunting parties just north of Spanish San Francisco. While in Irkutsk Shelikhov used his report to try to persuade the Russian Empire to form a monopoly in the fur trade, a monopoly that he would be willing to manage. In support of his plans, Shelikhov argued that a monopoly could develop profitable trade with Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines, and India. Moreover, if Russia consolidated her resources in a monopoly, trade could be continued with the English, Spanish, and indigenous Americans along the North American coast (Haycox 2002, p. 73). Of course, forming a monopoly requires tremendous resources. Shelikhov requested the Russian Government to supply him with a government ship, a hundred soldiers, and a twenty-year loan of five hundred thousand rubbles. Shelikhov also requested priests and suggested founding schools for Alaska Natives. According to Professor Stephen Haycox, these requests were not unreasonable, considering the scale and potential of his project (Haycox 2002 p. 73). As Haycox points out, the governor-general of all Siberia, Ivan

Iakobi, endorsed Shelikhovs plan, which suggests that it was feasible (Haycox 2002, p. 73). Nonetheless, Empress Catharine rejected Shelikhovs requests. She upheld the principle of fare trade in the face of a monopoly that would violate it. Less philosophically, she was unprepared to send one hundred of her soldiers to Shelikhov, for she anticipated needing them to fight a war with Turkey and Sweden (Haycox 2002, pp. 73-74). This is not to say, however, that Catherine did not appreciate having a Russian presence in Alaska. She had already committed herself to financing an expedition, lead by Joseph Billings, to chart to Northwest coast (p. 74). Also, she continued to support the presence of Russian fur traders in Alaska. While wintering in Irkutsk in 1789 through 1790, Shelikhov proposed to Aleksandr Andreevich Baranov that he sail to Alaska and manage Shelikhovs company for him. Baranov, a merchant from Kargopol, had established a glass factory and distillery in Irkutsk with his brother. Having experienced some business difficulties, Baranov agreed to Shelikhovs proposal and sailed for Alaska from Okhotsk in August 1790 (Haycox 2002, p. 81). Shelikhov again presented his plans for monopoly to Empress Catherine II and sought support in St. Petersburg and Siberia. Fortunately for Shelikhov, the new governor of all Siberia, Ivan Pil, was attracted to his plans. With Pils help, Shelikhov was able to send an English shipwright, James Shields, to help Baranov in Kodiak (Haycox 2002, p. 81). In 1793, the Russian government gave Shelikhov laborers and missionaries to be sent to America, and in 1794 Shelikhov acquired fifty-two additional craftsmen and peasants and their families. All were sent from Okhotsk to Kodiak, along with ten clergymen. Baranov had a difficult voyage to Kodiak. In 1970, his ship wrecked while exiting Unalaska and he was forced to winter there. During the winter he had three Aleut baidaras (large boats of skin) built. He traveled to Kodiak in one boat and directed the other two to seek out new hunting spots. In June,

after a treacherous journey, Baranov landed in Kodiaks Three Saints Bay (Haycox 2002, p. 81). Baranov was always effective and sometimes cruel, especially to the Native population. He moved the Russian settlement from Three Saints Bay, which he regarded as vulnerable to attack, to the location of the present day city of Kodiak. He also had Shields build a large triple mast ship in the bay of present day Seward. Moreover, he sent his chief lieutenant, Putrov, with some five hundred Aleut kayaks along the coast of Yukutat, Lituya, and Icy Bays. This was a show of force to his potential competitors, including Lebedev-Lastochkin and other would be traders. Baranov continued to receive some 130 laborers supplied to him, at Shelikhovs request, by the Russian government. For some time Baranovs fur trappers had to compete with LebedevLastochkins trappers. There were even occasional outbursts of violence between their men. But in 1795 Shelikhov received a limited right to have a monopoly on the Alaskan fur trade. After that Lebedev-Lastochkin did not last long (Haycox 2002, pp. 83-84). Shelikhov had even bigger plans than limited monopoly, but none came to fruition. He died in 1795 of unknown causes. Rumors circulated that his wife and her lover poisoned him (Haycox 2002, p. 84). After Shelikhovs death, Lebedev-Lastochkin and his friends attempted to break up the Shelikhov monopoly. However, this was not to be. Natalia Shelikhova was a capable woman, and she had powerful friends. First of all, Baranov continued to aggressively run the companys operations in the Cook Inlet. Second, Shelikhova had influential allies in the Russian Court. Shelikhovs daughter had married Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov, who was a member of the lower nobility, had a keen interest in the success of Shelikhovs company in America. In fact, it was Rezanovs connections at court that had secured Shelikhov his original limited monopoly in 1795. From the Empresss point of view, this was not a huge concession to Shelikhov and Rezanov. Catherine recognized

that Baranov already had established a virtual monopoly in Alaska by way of his aggressive conduct (Haycox 2002, p. 85). Catherine II, the Empress of Russia, died in 1796. Her son, Emperor Paul, ruled for a short while. In 1797, Rezonov became secretary of state. Lebedev-Lastochkin business associate, Mylnikov, attempted to have charges brought against Shelikhova and her company. Rezanov prevailed over Mylnikov at court. By order of the Emperor, Mylnikov and Shelikhovas companies were to be merged. Thus was the United American Company born. Lebedev-Lastochkim refused to join the company. In 1799 Rezanov convinced the Emperor to put his full support behind Shelikhovas company. It became a fully imperial joint-stock company in the style of British East Indian Company: the Russian American Company (Haycox 2002, p. 86). The company represented both the economic ambitions of the Shelikhov family and the intention of the Russian Empire to have an sustained colonial presence on the North American continent. The Russian American Company (RAC) was a private enterprise. This benefited the Russian government. On the one hand, it protected them from foreign conflict over North American possessions. On the other hand, it saved them money, since the RAC was largely financially independent of the government (Haycox 2002, p. 89). The motivation behind RAC, whose investors populated the Russian government, was profit alone. In the worst sense, the RAC, as now managed by Baranov, was a exploitative, capitalist enterprise. The Aleuts were subjugated like serfs, forced to hunt and work for their Russian lords. The Orthodox Church attempted to soften the companys treatment of the Aleuts, but they could not always do so effectively (Haycox 2002, p. 94).

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