Category: Russian Colonialism

Categories
Oceania Russian Colonialism

Russian presence in Hawaii. Russian forts and settlements in Hawaii

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster.

In the early 19th century Russian fur traders established trading centers from Siberia into the North American subcontinent, Russian cargo vessels regularly transecting the northern Pacific Ocean. In January 1815 a Russian-American Company vessel, named “Bering”, that traded furs for food throughout the Hawaiian Islands, was shipwrecked at Waimea, Kauai. The ship and the cargo were confiscated by Kaumualii, king of Kauai. Subsequently the Russian-American Company sent an agent, Georg Anton Schäffer (a German surgeon of one of the Company’s vessels), to diplomatically recover the company’s lost properties.

Schäffer’s mission was to gain the confidence of Kamehameha I, who had acknowledged the right to sovereignty of Kaumalii in 1810. Once the bond existed between Schäffer and Kamehameha I, he was to reveal the true character of his mission and requested Kamehameha’s assistance in securing compensation from Kaumualii for the confiscated cargo. Despite opposition from a group of American traders, who had gained Kamehameha’s trust. By early 1816 Schäffer had been successful in obtaining fishing rights, livestock and a land grant to establish a post on Oahu.

Kamehameha I, however, did not lend the anticipated assistance. Georg Anton Schäffer tried an alternate plan: in May 1816 Schäffer went to Hawaii, and then to Kauai, dealing directly with Kaumualii. He was successful in securing a contract guaranteeing payment for his confiscated cargo.

On 1 July 1816 Schäffer also entered into a secret treaty with Kaumualii, in which he pledged arms and ships for an invasion of the islands of Oahu, Lanai, Maui and Molokai, which Kaumualii felt were his. In return Kaumualii promised one half of the island of Oahu and all the sandalwood on Oahu and Kauai to the Russians. They would also be permitted to build factories on all of Kaumualii’s newly conquered islands.

At Hanalei (Princeville) Schäffer opened a trading post and started the construction of a house. On 12 September 1816 Schäffer started the works of fortification of fort Elizabeth on a bluff overlooking the mouth of the Waimea River near Hanalei (Princeville). On October 1816 Schäffer constructed two earthwork forts, one named Fort Alexander in honor of the Tzar and the other known as Fort Barclay. Hanalei was renamed Schäfferthal.

Fort Elizabeth is the only Russian fort in Hawaii that is still visible today. It is situated on the east bank at the mouth of the Waimea River.It was built between 1816 and 1817 by the Russian-American Company in alliance with the king of Kauai, Kaumualii. Georg Anton Schäffer designed the fort and directed the works that were done by a Hawaiian workforce While construction proceeded, Schäffer received the message that his crew had been expelled from Oahu for building a fort and for raising a Russian flag on it. Alarmed by all these activities before the year was over, the natives of Hanalei had revolted, leveled the forts at Hanalei and burnt a distillery, which had just been built and killing one of the Aleutian workers employed by Schäffer.

On 8 May 1817 the Russians were expelled from Hawaii and the Hawaiians took over the fort. They finished the fort and made modifications and additions. The fort was occupied by Hawaiians until it was dismantled in 1864 by order of the Hawaiian government. The hexagonal star-like fort had walls reaching 3,66 metres in height and 91,44 metres in diameter and consisting of three layers: an earthen embankment, a layer of lava rock, and a hard-packed earth layer with a stone walkway atop. The compound included a guardroom, magazine, barracks, cannon emplacements and a trading post. Only the remains of the outer walls are left.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

– Various Authors “Russian Fort Elizabeth, 1815-1864” State of Hawaii

– Pierce, Richard “Russia’s Hawaiian Adventure, 1815-1817” 1965

Categories
Russian Bibliographies Russian Colonialism

Bibliography of Russian Colonial History: 17th-18th century

Written by Marco Ramerini

RUSSIAN EMPIRE

AMERICA:

– Various Authors “History of the Russian settlement at Fort Ross, California” Internet article.

– Various Authors “Outpost of an empire. Fort Ross: the Russian colony in California” 27 pp. Fort Ross Interpretative Association, 1993, Jenner, California, USA.

– Various Authors “A walking tour of the compound at Fortress Ross” 4 pp. brochure Fort Ross Interpretative Association, 1992, California, USA.

– Various Authors “Fort Ross: California outpost of Russian Alaska, 1812-1841” 106 pp. The Limestone Press, 1991, Alaska/Ontario.

– Various Authors “Russia in North America: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Russian America August 19-22, 1987, Sitka, Alaska” ? Alaska History Ser. Series n°35, Limestone Press, October 1990

– Chevigny, H. “Russian America. The great Alaskan venture, 1741-1867” 273 pp. Binford & Mort Publishing, Portland, Oregon, USA.

– Huculak, M. “When Russia Was in America: The Alaska Boundary Treaty Negotiations 1824-25 and the Role of Pierre De Poletica” ? Mitchell Press, 1971, Vancouver, Canada.

– Gibson, James R. “Imperial Russia In Frontier America” ? illustrations, charts Oxford University Press, 1976, NY, USA.

HAWAII:

– Barratt, Glynn “The Russian discovery of Hawaii: the ethnographic and historic record” ? Editions Limited, 1987

– Cook, Warren L. “Flodd Tide of Empire: Spain and the Pacific Northwest, 1543-1819” ? 620 pp. Yale University Press, 1973,

– DeLaine, Linda “Fort Elizabeth” Internet article.

– Lundberg, Murray “The Russian-American Company in Hawaii” Internet article, 1998.

– Mills, Peter “U.C. field school on Kaua’i” In: “ARF Newsletter”, Archeological Research Facility.

– Pierce, Richard A. “Russian’s Hawaiian adventure, 1815-1817” ? Limestone Press, 1976, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Categories
Russian Colonialism United States of America

The Russians in America: Alaska and California

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster.

The Russian explorers reached the Pacific through Siberia in 1639. The Tsar sent later two expeditions in 1728 and 1741 under the command of Vitus Bering and Alexei Chorikov. They discovered the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. A profitable fur trade was established, Russian temporary settlements in the Aleutians and on Unalaska Island began in the 1770s and the first permanent outpost was built in 1784 at Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island by Gregorii Shelikhov. From there the mainland was explored and other fur-trade centers were established. In 1786 Shelekhov set out for Russia, unsuccessfully seeking a grant to his company of monopoly of the fur trade. Shelekhov’s company was the nucleus for the Russian-American Company, which was formed several years after his death.

By the early 1800s the Russians were exporting an average of 62000 fur pelts from North America. The first Russian Orthodox missionaries came to Alaska in 1794. In 1791 Alexander Baranov was appointed to manage the Alaskan trading operations. Shelikhov hired him to direct the activities in North America. One of Baranov’s first acts was to move Shelikhov’s settlement on Kodiak island to St. Paul harbor, the present location of Kodiak City. In 1799 the new Russian-American Company nominated him as the first chief manager and the tsar appointed him as the first governor of Russian America. Baranov served the company from 1799 until 1818. In 1799 Tsar Paul I chartered the Russian-American Company. The Company was authorized to use, explore and colonize the costal areas of North America as far southward as 55° north latitude. In 1799 the Company founded a permanent base called New Archangel on Sitka island. This base was the main headquarters of the Company in America. New Archangel was destroyed in 1802. Tlingits Indians attacked the Russian fort and massacred most of the Russians and Aleutian workers there.

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Map of the Russian settlements in America. Author Marco Ramerini
Map of the Russian settlements in America. Author Marco Ramerini

The Tlingits killed 20 Russians and up to 130 Aleutians. Baranov rebuilt the settlement in 1804. Fort Ross was established in 1812 by the Russian-American Company as an outpost for sea otter hunters and a permanent trade base. Later, as part of the Russian settlements on the coast, an outpost was established on the Bodega Bay. The company controlled all Russian trade and settlements in North America. It had outposts in Alaska, on the Aleutian and Kurile Islands and also a temporary settlement in the Hawaiian Islands.

Fort Ross (named after Rossiya) was the southernmost outpost of the Russian presence in North America. The Russians remained at Fort Ross until the year 1841. Today none of the original fort structures remain, however several buildings have been reconstructed: the first Russian Orthodox chapel south of Alaska, the stockade, and three other buildings, including the Commander’s House, which contains exhibits of the Russian-American Fur Company and the Russian occupation.

Detailed map of some Russian settlements in Alaska. Author Marco Ramerini
Detailed map of some Russian settlements in Alaska. Author Marco Ramerini

The Russian presence in Alaska lasted more years. Around the 1840s a Russian Orthodox Diocese was established for Alaska. The Russian liturgy was given in Alaskan Native languages. The Russians began establishing missionary schools and churches. In 1861 the capital of the colony had 2500 inhabitants. The Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska had 12000 parishioners, 43 communities, 35 chapels and 9 churches. U.S. Secretary of State William Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million. The treaty was signed on 30 March 1867. The transfer occurred on 18 October 1867.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

– Various Authors “Outpost of an Empire. Fort Ross: the Russian colony in California” 1993, California, USA.

– Various Authors “A walking tour of the compound at Fortresses Ross” 1992, Fort Ross State Historic Park, California, USA.

– Black, Lydia T. “Russians in Alaska, 1732-1867” 2004, University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

– Chevigny Hector “Russian America. The Alaskan venture, 1741-1867” 1998, Portland, Oregon, USA.

– Essing, Ogden, DuFour “Fort Ross. California outpost of Russian Alaska, 1812-1841” 1991, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA.