Russian Colonization of Alaska: Preconditions, Discovery, and Initial Development, 1741-1799

351 Pages·2018·11.57 MB·English

by  A V Grineev

Russian Colonization of Alaska

Russian
Colonization
of Alaska
Preconditions, Discovery, and
Initial Development, 1741– 1799
andrei val’terovich grinëv
Translated by richard l. bland
University of Nebraska Press
Lincoln & London
“Predposylki rossiiskoi kolonizatsii Alyaski, ee otkrytie
I pervonachal’noe osvoenie” (from Alyaska pod krylom
dvuglavogo orla) © 2016 by Andrei Val’terovich Grinëv
English translation © 2018 by the Board of Regents of the
University of Nebraska
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Grinëv, A. V. (Andrei Val’terovich), author. |
Bland, Richard L., translator.
Title: Russian colonization of Alaska: preconditions,
discovery, and initial development, 1741– 1799 / Andrei
Val’terovich Grinëv; translated by Richard L. Bland.
Description: Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2018. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2017056791
isbn 9781496207623 (cloth: alk. paper)
isbn 9781496210838 (epub)
isbn 9781496210845 (mobi)
isbn 9781496210852 (pdf)
Subjects: lcsh: Rossiĭsko- amerikanskaia kompaniia. |
Russia— Colonies— Alaska. | Alaska— Colonization. |
Alaska— History— To 1867. | Alaska— Politics and
government— To 1867. | Russians— Alaska. | Alaska—
Discovery and exploration— Russian.
Classification: lcc f907 .g74913 2018 | ddc
979.8/0049171— dc23
lc record available at
https:// lccn .loc .gov /2017056791
Set in Minion Pro by E. Cuddy.
To my dear American friend Dr. Richard Lowell Bland

Contents
List of Illustrations . . ix
Acknowledgments . . xi
Introduction . . 1
1. Prehistory of the Russian Colonization
of the New World . . 9
2. The First Information about Alaska and Its
Discovery by Russian Mariners . . 65
3. Opening Up of the Aleutian Islands by Russian
Promyshlenniki, 1743– 83 . . 93
4. Activities of G. I. Shelikhov and the Founding of the
First Permanent Russian Settlements in America . . 147
5. Russian Promyshlenniki in Alaska at the End
of the Eighteenth Century . . 179
Conclusion . . 221
Appendix . . 229
Notes . . 235
Glossary . . 273
Bibliography . . 275
Index . . 319

Illustrations
Following page 146
1. Alaskan Coast Mountains in Alexander Archipelago
2. The conquest of Siberia
3. Peter the Great
4. Journeys of Bering- Chirikov expeditions in 1728 and 1741– 42
5. Ahtna Indian
6. The Russian ship Rurik sets anchor near Saint Paul Island
7. Russian possession plate
8. Tlingit war helmet