tion to Bering Sea. island was named St. George. In the following year the island of St. Paul was discovered. Cook's expedi- Meanwhile, in the year 1778, the English navigator, Captain Cook, had appeared in Alaskan waters, in coöperation with an expedition sent by the British admiralty to Baffin Bay in the hope that a northern passage might be discovered from the Pacific to the Atlantic.' After visiting certain points on the Pacific coast of Alaska, he passed into Bering Sea and sailed along the eastern shore as far as Bering Strait, giving names to various places, among which are those of Bristol Bay and Norton Sound. At several points on the coast which he visited he found clear evidence of Russian influence and customs, and he confirmed in the strongest manner the early Russian discoveries. His visit was never followed up by settlement, and it resulted in no acquisition of territory or claim thereto by his Government.2 Subsequent Russian expeditions. In 1791 an expedition, planned by Catherine II, passed from the Aleutian Islands to the northern parts of Bering Sea, including St. Lawrence 1 Burney, pp. 219, 220. 2 On the contrary, it inured largely to the benefit of the Russians, of whom Cook, in his third volume, at page 373, predicts that "they will undoubtedly make a proper use of the advantages we have opened to them by the discovery of Cook's River (Inlet)." See, also, Coxe, p. 206. sian expeditions. Island and Cape Rodney, and returned along the Subsequent RusAsiatic coast. Other Other expeditions followed at various times, an important one being that of Korasakovsky, who, in 1818, made a thorough exploration of a great part of the eastern shore of the sea and established a fort at the mouth of the Nushagak.1 lands became Rus early as 1800. The great wealth to be derived from the fur-, Shores and isbearing animals led to permanent settlements, sian territory as the subjugation of the native tribes, and the establishment of forts or trading posts by the Russians on various of the Aleutian Islands, on the Pribilof Islands, and on the eastern mainland of Bering Sea during the latter part of the eighteenth and early years of the nineteenth centuries. Thus, by first discovery, occupation, and permanent colonization, the shores and islands of Bering Sea, the Aleutian Chain, and the peninsula of Alaska became, probably as early as 1800, an undisputed part of the territory of the Russian Empire.2 The whole of this shore, together with other territory, had already been claimed by Russia in the ukase of 1799, reference to which will be hereafter more fully made. See, generally, upon the whole of the foregoing subject Vivien de Saint-Martin, vol. I, 'Alaska," pp. 55, 56. * See "Russia's Early Title to parts of the Coast of America,' Vol. I, p. 12. 2716-4 Early competi ica. CLAIMS TO THE NORTHWEST COAST OF AMERICA. While the title of Russia to the territory north of coast of Amer- and west of, and including, the peninsula of Alaska was universally recognized, her claim to the Northwest Coast of the American continent, by which term it is intended to designate the coast between Prince William Sound and the mouth of the Columbia River, was earnestly disputed by more than one powerful nation. During the latter part of the last century and the early years of the present, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States were competing with Russia by way of exploration, trade, and colonization for the possession of the Northwest Coast of America. Russian competition. Settlement at Kadiak Island. As early as 1741 Tcherikof, a Russian Captain under Bering's command, visited the coast in about latitude 55° N.; but the earliest permanent settlement east of the Aleutian Chain was made at Kadiak Island in 1784 by Shelikof,2 an enterprising merchant, who afterwards laid the foundation for the Russian American Company. A trading post, dwelling houses, and fortifications. were erected and a school established. Later, cruises were undertaken from Kadiak to the ad Müller's Voyages, map (frontispiece). tition. Settlement joining islands and the mainland around Cook's Russian compeInlet, Prince William Sound, and Yakutat Bay.1 at Kadiak Island. The influence of the Kadiak colony in the adjoining continent is told by Coxe in these words: "The settlement formed by Shelikof in the isle of Kadiak has more contributed to spread the extent of the Russian trade and power in the North Pacific Ocean than any of the preceding expeditions. He sent out detached parties, who formed establishments on various parts of the American continent and kept the natives in due order and subjection." In one of these cruises, made under Shelikof's direction, the continent was reached near Prince William Sound, and the coast was followed and carefully explored to the east and south beyond latitude 50°. Coxe says, speaking of the traders who conducted this cruise: "By comparing their accounts with the narratives of Cook, Portlock, Meares, and Vancouver, we have been able to ascertain most of the harbours and places at which they touched, and the general agreement with the accounts given by the English navigators proves the accuracy of their description." At Yakutat, in June, 1788, they took formal possession of the country and received 1 Coxe, p. 232. 2 Coxe, p. 264. See also ibid., pp. 268, 269, 273. tition. Settlement Russian compe- from the native chief tokens of his acceptance of at Kadiak Island. Russian dominion. As further evidence of Rus Sitka. sian occupation of the mainland of the Northwest Coast the launching of a vessel in 1794 from the shores of Prince William Sound is chronicled, this being the first ship built in Alaska.2 3 Founding of But the most important step taken by Russia to permanently establish her authority over the islands and adjoining shores of the Northwest Coast of the continent was the founding in the beginning of the present century of New Archangel (afterwards Sitka), which soon became a fortress, the principal trading post, and the seat of government of the Russian American possessions. From Kadiak, first, and from Sitka, later, the Russian merchants continued to push their traffic with the natives along down the mainland toward the Columbia River, and in 1812 they had even established a colony on the coast of California, called Fort Ross, a few miles north of the Bay of San Francisco. As early as 1810 Russia had gone so far as to inform the United 1 See, generally, Coxe, pp. 240-254. 2 Tikhmenief's Historical Review of the Development of the Russian American Company and of its Operations up to the present Time, St. Petersburg, 1861, vol. I, p. 40. 3 Vivien de Saint-Martin, vol. I, p. 56. The year 1802 is generally taken as the date of the founding of Sitka. 4 Greenhow's Memoir, pp. 9, 148; Vivien de Saint-Martin, vol. I, p. 56. |