Alaska (state). Population of Alaska, geographical location, history Population of Alaska on

Alaska- the largest US state by territory, on the northwestern edge of North America. Includes the peninsula of the same name, the Aleutian Islands, a narrow strip of the Pacific coast along with the islands of the Alexander Archipelago along western Canada and the continental part.

The state is located in the extreme northwest of the continent, separated from the Chukotka Peninsula (Russia) by the Bering Strait, and borders Canada in the east. It consists of the mainland and a large number of islands: the Alexander Archipelago, the Aleutian Islands, the Pribilof Islands, Kodiak Island, St. Lawrence Island. It is washed by the Arctic and Pacific oceans. On the Pacific coast - the Alaska Range; the inner part is a plateau with a height of 1200 m in the east to 600 m in the west, turning into a lowland.In the north is the Brooks Range, behind which is the Arctic Lowland.

Flag	Coat of arms	Map

Mount McKinley (Denali) (6194 m) is the highest in North America. Eat active volcanoes. There are glaciers in the mountains (Malespin).

In 1912, a volcanic eruption created the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The northern part of the state is covered by tundra. To the south are forests. The state includes Little Diomede Island in the Bering Strait, located 4 km from Great Diomede Island (Ratmanov Island), which belongs to Russia.

On the Pacific coast the climate is temperate, maritime, relatively mild; in other areas - arctic and subarctic continental, with harsh winters.

In the vicinity of the highest mountain in the United States, McKinley, is the famous National Park Denali.

The largest city in Alaska is Anchorage.

The capital of the state of Alaska is the city of Juneau.

Unlike most other US states, where the main lower-level administrative unit of local government is the county, the name of the administrative units in Alaska is borough ("self-government area"). An even more important difference is that the 15 baroes and the municipality of Anchorage only cover part of Alaska. The rest of the territory does not have enough population (at least interested) to form local self-government and forms the so-called unorganized baro, which for the purposes of the population census and for ease of administration was divided into so-called census areas (census area). There are 11 such zones in Alaska.

Groups of Siberian tribes crossed the isthmus (now the Bering Strait) 16 - 10 thousand years ago. Eskimos began to settle on the Arctic coast, and Aleuts settled the Aleutian archipelago.

Discovery of Alaska

In Western tradition, it is generally accepted that the first white man to set foot in Alaska was G. W. Steller. Bernhard Grzimek's book From Cobra to Grizzly Bear states that Steller was the first to spot the mountainous outline of the Alaskan Islands on the horizon, and he was eager to continue his biological research. However, the captain of the ship, V. Bering, had other intentions and soon ordered to weigh anchor and return back. Steller was extremely outraged by this decision and in the end insisted that the ship's commander give him at least ten hours to explore Kayak Island, where the ship still had to land to replenish fresh water supplies. Steller titled the article about his research foray “Description of plants collected in 6 hours in America.”

However, in fact, the first Europeans to visit Alaska were on August 21, 1732, members of the team of the boat “St. Gabriel” under the command of surveyor M. S. Gvozdev and navigator I. Fedorov during the expedition of A. F. Shestakov and D. I. Pavlutsky 1729 -1735 In addition, there is fragmentary information about Russian people visiting America in the 17th century.

Russian America and the sale of Alaska

From July 9, 1799 to October 18, 1867, Alaska and its adjacent islands were under the control of the Russian-American Company. However, after serfdom was abolished in Russia, in order to pay compensation to the landowners, Alexander II was forced in 1862 to borrow 15 million pounds sterling from the Rothschilds at 5% per annum. However, the Rothschilds had to return something, and then Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich - the Sovereign’s younger brother - offered to sell “something unnecessary.” The most unnecessary thing in Russia turned out to be Alaska.

In addition, the fighting in the Far East during the Crimean War showed the absolute insecurity of the eastern lands of the Empire and especially Alaska. In order not to lose it in vain, it was decided to sell the territory, which could not be protected and developed in the foreseeable future.

On December 16, 1866, a special meeting was held in St. Petersburg, which was attended by Alexander II, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, the ministers of finance and the naval ministry, as well as the Russian envoy in Washington, Baron Eduard Andreevich Stekl. All participants approved the idea of sale. At the proposal of the Ministry of Finance, a threshold amount was determined - at least 5 million dollars in gold. On December 22, 1866, Alexander II approved the border of the territory. In March 1867, Steckle arrived in Washington and formally approached Secretary of State William Seward. The signing of the treaty took place on March 30, 1867 in Washington. An area of 1 million 519 thousand square meters. km was sold for $7.2 million in gold, that is, $0.0474 per hectare.

Alaska as a US state

When did Alaska become a US state? Since 1867, Alaska has been under the jurisdiction of the US War Department and was called the District of Alaska, from 1884 to 1912. district, then territory (1912 - 1959), since 1959 - US state.

Five years later gold was discovered. The region developed slowly until the start of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1896. During the years of the gold rush in Alaska, about one thousand tons of gold were mined.

Alaska was declared a state in 1959. Since 1968, various mineral resources have been exploited there, especially in the Prudhoe Bay area, southeast of Point Barrow. In 1977, an oil pipeline was laid from Prudhoe Bay to the port of Valdez. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil spill caused severe environmental pollution.

In the north, crude oil production (in the area of Prudhoe Bay and the Kinai Peninsula; the Alyeska oil pipeline 1250 km long to the port of Valdez), natural gas, coal, copper, iron, gold, zinc, fishing, reindeer farming; logging and hunting, air transport, military air bases.

Oil production has played a huge role since the 1970s. after the discovery of fields and the construction of the Trans-Alaska pipeline. The Alaskan oil field has been compared in importance to oil fields in Western Siberia and the Arabian Peninsula.

Population

Although the state is one of the least populous in the country, many new residents moved here in the 1970s, attracted by jobs in the oil industry and transportation, and in the 1980s the population grew by more than 36 percent.

Population growth in recent decades:

1990 - 550,000 inhabitants;

2004 - 648,818 inhabitants;

2005 - 663,661 inhabitants;

2006 - 677,456 inhabitants;

2007 - 690,955 inhabitants.

In 2005, Alaska's population increased by 5,906 people, or 0.9%, over the previous year. Compared to 2000, the population increased by 36,730 people (5.9%). This figure includes a natural population increase of 36,590 people (53,132 births minus 16,542 deaths) since the last census, as well as an increase due to migration of 1,181 people. Immigration from outside the United States increased Alaska's population by 5,800 people, while domestic migration decreased it by 4,619 people. Alaska has the lowest population density of any US state.

About 75 percent of the population is white and US-born. The state has about 88,000 indigenous people - Indians (Athabascans, Haidas, Tlingits, Simshians), Eskimos and Aleuts. A small number of Russian descendants also live in the state. Major religious groups include Catholics, Orthodox, Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists. The share of Orthodox Christians, estimated at 8-10%, is the highest in the country.

Over the past 20 years, state residents have traditionally voted Republican. Former Republican governor Sarah Palin was John McCain's 2008 vice presidential candidate. Currently Governor Sean Parnell.

On March 18/30, 1867, Alaska and the Aleutian Islands were sold by Alexander II to the United States.

On October 18, 1867, in the capital of Russian America, in common parlance - Alaska, the city of Novoarkhangelsk, an official ceremony was held to transfer Russian possessions on the American continent to the ownership of the United States of America. Thus ended the history of Russian discoveries and economic development of the northwestern part of America.Since then, Alaska has been a US state.

Geography

Country name translated from Aleutian "a-la-as-ka" means "Big Land".

Alaska territory includes into yourself Aleutian Islands (110 islands and many rocks), Alexandra Archipelago (about 1,100 islands and rocks, the total area of which is 36.8 thousand km²), St. Lawrence Island (80 km from Chukotka), Pribilof Islands , Kodiak Island (the second largest US island after the island of Hawaii), and huge continental part . The islands of Alaska stretch for almost 1,740 kilometers. The Aleutian Islands are home to many volcanoes, both extinct and active. Alaska is washed by the Arctic and Pacific oceans.

The continental part of Alaska is a peninsula of the same name, approximately 700 km long. Overall, Alaska is mountainous country- Alaska has more volcanoes than all other US states. The highest peak in North America is Mount McKinley (6193m altitude) is also located in Alaska.

McKinley is the highest mountain in the USA

Another feature of Alaska is the huge number of lakes (their number exceeds 3 million!). About 487,747 km² ( more territory Sweden). Glaciers cover about 41,440 km² (which corresponds to the territory of the whole of Holland!).

Alaska is considered a country with a harsh climate. Indeed, in most areas of Alaska the climate is arctic and subarctic continental, with harsh winters, with frosts down to minus 50 degrees. But the climate of the island part and the Pacific coast of Alaska is incomparably better than, for example, in Chukotka. On the Pacific coast of Alaska, the climate is maritime, relatively mild and humid. The warm stream of the Alaska Current turns here from the south and washes Alaska from the south. The mountains block northern cold winds. As a result, winters in coastal and island Alaska are quite mild. Sub-zero temperatures in winter are very rare. The sea in southern Alaska does not freeze in winter.

Alaska has always been rich in fish: salmon, flounder, cod, herring, edible species of shellfish and marine mammals were found in abundance in coastal waters. On the fertile soil of these lands, thousands of species of plants suitable for food grew, and in the forests there were many animals, especially fur-bearing ones. This is precisely why Russian industrialists sought to move to Alaska with its favorable natural conditions and richer fauna than in the Sea of Okhotsk.

Discovery of Alaska by Russian explorers

The history of Alaska before its sale to the United States in 1867 is one of the pages of the history of Russia.

The first people came to Alaska from Siberia about 15-20 thousand years ago. At that time, Eurasia and North America were connected by an isthmus located on the site of the Bering Strait. By the time the Russians arrived in the 18th century, the native inhabitants of Alaska were divided into Aleuts, Eskimos and Indians belonging to the Athabaskan group.

It is assumed that The first Europeans to see the shores of Alaska were members of Semyon Dezhnev's expedition in 1648 , who were the first to sail through the Bering Strait from the Icy Sea to the Warm Sea.According to legend, Dezhnev’s boats, which had gone astray, landed on the shores of Alaska.

In 1697, the conqueror of Kamchatka Vladimir Atlasov reported to Moscow that opposite the “Necessary Nose” (Cape Dezhnev) in the sea there was a large island, from where in winter the ice “foreigners come, speak their own language and bring sables...” Experienced industrialist Atlasov immediately determined that these sables differ from Yakut ones, and for the worse: “Sables are thin, and those sables have striped tails the size of a quarter of an arshin.” It was, of course, not about a sable, but about a raccoon - an animal unknown in Russia at that time.

However, at the end of the 17th century, Peter’s reforms began in Russia, as a result of which the state had no time to open new lands. This explains a certain pause in the further advance of the Russians to the east.

Russian industrialists began to be attracted to new lands only at the beginning of the 18th century, as fur reserves in eastern Siberia were depleted.Peter I immediately, as soon as circumstances allowed, began organizing scientific expeditions in the northern part Pacific Ocean. In 1725, shortly before his death, Peter the Great sent Captain Vitus Bering, a Danish navigator in Russian service, to explore the sea shores of Siberia. Peter sent Bering on an expedition to explore and describe the northeastern coast of Siberia . In 1728, the Bering expedition rediscovered the strait, which was first seen by Semyon Dezhnev. However, due to fog, Bering was unable to see the outlines of the North American continent on the horizon.

It is believed that The first Europeans to land on the shores of Alaska were members of the crew of the ship St. Gabriel. under the command of surveyor Mikhail Gvozdev and navigator Ivan Fedorov. They were participants Chukotka expedition 1729-1735 under the leadership of A.F. Shestakov and D.I. Pavlutsky.

Travelers landed on the coast of Alaska on August 21, 1732 . Fedorov was the first to mark both banks of the Bering Strait on the map. But, having returned to his homeland, Fedorov soon dies, and Gvozdev ends up in Bironov’s dungeons, and the great discovery of the Russian pioneers remains unknown for a long time.

The next stage of the “discovery of Alaska” was Second Kamchatka expedition famous explorer Vitus Bering in 1740 - 1741 The island, the sea and the strait between Chukotka and Alaska - Vitus Bering - were subsequently named after him.

The expedition of Vitus Bering, who by this time had been promoted to captain-commander, set off for the shores of America from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on June 8, 1741 on two ships: “St. Peter” (under the command of Bering) and “St. Paul” (under the command of Alexei Chirikov). Each ship had its own team of scientists and researchers on board. They crossed the Pacific Ocean and July 15, 1741 discovered the northwestern coast of America. The ship's doctor, Georg Wilhelm Steller, went ashore and collected samples of shells and herbs, discovered new species of birds and animals, from which the researchers concluded that their ship had reached a new continent.

Chirikov's ship "St. Paul" returned on October 8 to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. On the way back, the Umnak Islands were discovered, Unalaska and others. Bering's ship was carried by the current and wind to the east of the Kamchatka Peninsula - to the Commander Islands. The ship was wrecked near one of the islands and washed ashore. The travelers were forced to spend the winter on the island, which now bears the name Bering Island . On this island, the captain-commander died without surviving the harsh winter. In the spring, the surviving crew members built a boat from the wreckage of the broken "St. Peter" and returned to Kamchatka only in September. Thus ended the second Russian expedition, which discovered the northwestern coast of the North American continent.

Russian America

The authorities in St. Petersburg reacted with indifference to the discovery of Bering's expedition.The Russian Empress Elizabeth had no interest in the lands of North America. She issued a decree according to which she obliged local population pay duties on trade, but did not take any further steps towards developing relations with Alaska.For the next 50 years, Russia showed very little interest in this land.

The initiative in developing new lands beyond the Bering Strait was taken by fishermen, who (unlike St. Petersburg) immediately appreciated the reports of members of the Bering expedition about the vast rookeries of sea animals.

In 1743, Russian traders and fur trappers established very close contact with the Aleuts. During 1743-1755, 22 fishing expeditions took place, fishing on the Commander and Near Aleutian Islands. In 1756-1780 48 expeditions fished throughout the Aleutian Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak Island and the southern coast of modern Alaska. Fishing expeditions were organized and financed by various private companies of Siberian merchants.

Merchant ships off the coast of Alaska

Until the 1770s, among the merchants and fur harvesters in Alaska, Grigory Ivanovich Shelekhov, Pavel Sergeevich Lebedev-Lastochkin, as well as the brothers Grigory and Pyotr Panov were considered the richest and most famous.

Sloops with a displacement of 30-60 tons were sent from Okhotsk and Kamchatka to the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. The remoteness of fishing areas meant that expeditions lasted up to 6-10 years. Shipwrecks, famine, scurvy, clashes with the aborigines, and sometimes with the crews of ships of a competing company - all this was the everyday work of the “Russian Columbuses”.

One of the first to establish a permanent Russian settlement on Unalaska (island in the Aleutian Islands archipelago), discovered in 1741 during Bering's Second Expedition.

Unalaska on the map

Subsequently, Analashka became the main Russian port in the region through which the fur trade was carried out. The main base of the future Russian-American Company was located here. It was built in 1825 Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension of the Lord .

Church of the Ascension on Unalaska

Founder of the parish, Innocent (Veniaminov) - Saint Innocent of Moscow , - created the first Aleut writing with the help of local residents and translated the Bible into the Aleut language.

Unalaska today

In 1778 he arrived in Unalaska English navigator James Cook . According to him, the total number of Russian industrialists located in the Aleutians and in the waters of Alaska was about 500 people.

After 1780, Russian industrialists penetrated far along the Pacific coast of North America. Sooner or later, the Russians would begin to penetrate deep into the mainland of the open lands of America.

The real discoverer and creator of Russian America was Grigory Ivanovich Shelekhov. A merchant, a native of the city of Rylsk in the Kursk province, Shelekhov moved to Siberia, where he became rich in the fur trade. Beginning in 1773, 26-year-old Shelekhov began to independently send ships to sea fishing.

In August 1784, during his main expedition on 3 ships (“Three Saints”, “St. Simeon the God-Receiver and Anna the Prophetess” and “Archangel Michael”), he reached Kodiak Islands , where he began to build a fortress and settlement. From there it was easier to sail to the shores of Alaska. It was thanks to Shelekhov’s energy and foresight that the foundation of Russian possessions was laid in these new lands. In 1784-86. Shelekhov also began to build two more fortified settlements in America. The settlement plans he drew up included smooth streets, schools, libraries, and parks. Returning to European Russia, Shelekhov put forward a proposal to begin the mass resettlement of Russians to new lands.

At the same time, Shelekhov was not in public service. He remained a merchant, industrialist, and entrepreneur operating with the permission of the government. Shelekhov himself, however, was distinguished by a remarkable statesmanship, perfectly understanding Russia's capabilities in this region. No less important was the fact that Shelekhov had a great understanding of people and assembled a team of like-minded people who created Russian America.

In 1791, Shelekhov took as his assistant a 43-year-old man who had just arrived in Alaska. Alexandra Baranova - a merchant from the ancient city of Kargopol, who at one time moved to Siberia for business purposes. Baranov was appointed chief manager at Kodiak Island . He had an amazing selflessness for an entrepreneur - managing Russian America for more than two decades, controlling multimillion-dollar sums, providing high profits to the shareholders of the Russian-American Company, which we will talk about below, he did not leave himself any fortune!

Baranov moved the company's representative office to the new city of Pavlovskaya Gavan, which he founded in the north of Kodiak Island. Now Pavlovsk - main city Kodiak Islands.

Meanwhile, Shelekhov's company drove out other competitors from the region. Myself Shelekhov died in 1795 , in the midst of his endeavors. True, his proposals for the further development of American territories with the help of a commercial company, thanks to his like-minded people and associates, were further developed.

Russian-American Company

In 1799, the Russian-American Company (RAC) was created. which became the main owner of all Russian possessions in America (as well as in the Kuril Islands). It received from Paul I monopoly rights to fur fishing, trade and the discovery of new lands in the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean, designed to represent and protect with its own means the interests of Russia in the Pacific Ocean. Since 1801, the company's shareholders were Alexander I and the grand dukes and major statesmen.

One of the founders of the RAC was Shelekhov's son-in-law Nikolay Rezanov, whose name is known to many today as the name of the hero of the musical “Juno and Avos”. The first head of the company was Alexander Baranov , which was officially called Chief Ruler .

The creation of the RAC was based on Shelekhov’s proposals to create a commercial company of a special kind, capable of carrying out, along with commercial activities, also engaging in the colonization of lands, the construction of forts and cities.

Until the 1820s, the company’s profits allowed them to develop the territories themselves, so, according to Baranov, in 1811 the profit from the sale of sea otter skins amounted to 4.5 million rubles, huge money at that time. The profitability of the Russian-American Company was 700-1100% per year. This was facilitated by the great demand for sea otter skins; their cost from the end of the 18th century to the 20s of the 19th century increased from 100 rubles per skin to 300 (sable cost about 20 times less).

In the early 1800s, Baranov established trade with Hawaii. Baranov was a real Russian statesman, and under other circumstances (for example, another emperor on the throne) The Hawaiian Islands could become a Russian naval base and resort . From Hawaii, Russian ships brought salt, sandalwood, tropical fruits, coffee, and sugar. They planned to populate the islands with Old Believers-Pomors from the Arkhangelsk province. Since the local princelings were constantly at war with each other, Baranov offered one of them patronage. In May 1816, one of the leaders - Tomari (Kaumualia) - officially transferred to Russian citizenship. By 1821, several Russian outposts had been built in Hawaii. The Russians could also take control of the Marshall Islands. By 1825, Russian power was increasingly strengthened, Tomari became king, the children of the leaders studied in the capital of the Russian Empire, and the first Russian-Hawaiian dictionary was created. But in the end, St. Petersburg abandoned the idea of making the Hawaiian and Marshall Islands Russian . Although their strategic position is obvious, their development was also economically profitable.

Thanks to Baranov, a number of Russian settlements were founded in Alaska, in particular Novoarkhangelsk (Today - Sitka ).

Novoarkhangelsk

Novoarkhangelsk in the 50-60s. XIX century resembled an average provincial town in outlying Russia. It had a ruler's palace, a theater, a club, Cathedral, a bishop's house, a seminary, a Lutheran prayer house, an observatory, a music school, a museum and a library, a nautical school, two hospitals and a pharmacy, several schools, a spiritual consistory, a drawing room, an admiralty, port facilities, an arsenal, several industrial enterprises, shops, stores and warehouses. Houses in Novoarkhangelsk were built on stone foundations and the roofs were made of iron.

Under the leadership of Baranov, the Russian-American Company expanded the scope of its interests: in California, just 80 kilometers north of San Francisco, the southernmost Russian settlement in North America was built - Fort Ross. Russian settlers in California were engaged in sea otter fishing, agriculture and cattle breeding. Trade connections were established with New York, Boston, California and Hawaii. The California colony was to become the main food supplier to Alaska, which at that time belonged to Russia.

Fort Ross in 1828. Russian fortress in California

But hopes were not justified. In general, Fort Ross turned out to be unprofitable for the Russian-American Company. Russia was forced to abandon it. Fort Ross was sold in 1841 for 42,857 rubles to Mexican citizen John Sutter, a German industrialist who went down in California history thanks to his sawmill in Coloma, on the territory of which a gold mine was found in 1848, which began the famous California Gold Rush. In payment, Sutter supplied wheat to Alaska, but, according to P. Golovin, he never paid an additional amount of almost 37.5 thousand rubles.

Russians in Alaska founded settlements, built churches, created schools, a library, a museum, shipyards and hospitals for local residents, and launched Russian ships.

A number of manufacturing industries were established in Alaska. The development of shipbuilding is especially noteworthy. Shipwrights have been building ships in Alaska since 1793. For 1799-1821 15 ships were built in Novoarkhangelsk. In 1853, the first steam ship on the Pacific Ocean was launched in Novoarkhangelsk, and not a single part was imported: absolutely everything, including the steam engine, was manufactured locally. Russian Novoarkhangelsk was the first point of steam shipbuilding on the entire western coast of America.

Novoarkhangelsk

The city of Sitka (formerly Novoarkhangelsk) today

At the same time, formally, the Russian-American Company was not a completely state institution.

In 1824, Russia signed an agreement with the governments of the USA and England. The boundaries of Russian possessions in North America were determined at the state level.

World map 1830

One cannot help but admire the fact that only about 400-800 Russian people managed to master such huge territories and waters, making its way to California and Hawaii. In 1839, the Russian population of Alaska was 823 people, which was the maximum in the entire history of Russian America. Usually there were slightly fewer Russians.

It was the lack of people that played a fatal role in the history of Russian America. The desire to attract new settlers was a constant and almost impossible desire of all Russian administrators in Alaska.

The basis of the economic life of Russian America remained the production of marine mammals. Average for 1840-60s. up to 18 thousand fur seals were caught per year. River beavers, otters, foxes, arctic foxes, bears, sables, and walrus tusks were also hunted.

The Russian Orthodox Church was active in Russian America. Back in 1794 he began missionary work Valaam monk Herman . By the mid-19th century, most Alaska Natives were baptized. The Aleuts and, to a lesser extent, the Alaska Indians are still Orthodox believers.

In 1841, an episcopal see was created in Alaska. By the time of the sale of Alaska, the Russian Orthodox Church had 13 thousand flocks here. In terms of the number of Orthodox Christians, Alaska still ranks first in the United States. Church ministers made a huge contribution to the spread of literacy among the Alaskan natives. Literacy among the Aleuts was at high level- on St. Paul's Island the entire adult population could read in their native language.

Selling Alaska

Oddly enough, but the fate of Alaska, according to a number of historians, was decided by Crimea, or more precisely, the Crimean War (1853-1856). Ideas began to mature in the Russian government about strengthening relations with the United States as opposed to Great Britain.

Despite the fact that the Russians in Alaska founded settlements, built churches, created schools and hospitals for local residents, there was no truly deep and thorough development of American lands. After the resignation of Alexander Baranov in 1818 from the post of ruler of the Russian-American Company due to illness, there were no more leaders of this magnitude in Russian America.

The interests of the Russian-American Company were mainly limited to fur production, and by the middle of the 19th century, the number of sea otters in Alaska had sharply decreased due to uncontrolled hunting.

The geopolitical situation did not contribute to the development of Alaska as a Russian colony. In 1856, Russia was defeated in the Crimean War, and relatively close to Alaska was the English colony of British Columbia (the westernmost province of modern Canada).

Contrary to popular belief, The Russians were well aware of the presence of gold in Alaska . In 1848, Russian explorer and mining engineer, Lieutenant Pyotr Doroshin, found small placers of gold on the islands of Kodiak and Sitkha, the shores of the Kenai Bay near the future city of Anchorage ( largest city Alaska for today). However, the volume of precious metal discovered was small. The Russian administration, which had before its eyes the example of the “gold rush” in California, fearing the invasion of thousands of American gold miners, chose to classify this information. Subsequently, gold was found in other parts of Alaska. But this was no longer Russian Alaska.

Besides Oil was discovered in Alaska . It was this fact, as absurd as it may sound, that became one of the incentives to quickly get rid of Alaska. The fact is that American prospectors began to actively arrive in Alaska, and Russian government it was reasonably feared that American troops would come after them. Russia was not ready for war, and giving up Alaska penniless was completely imprudent.Russia seriously feared that it would not be able to ensure the security of its colony in America in the event of an armed conflict. The United States of America was chosen as a potential buyer of Alaska to compensate for the growing British influence in the region.

Thus, Alaska could become the reason for a new war for Russia.

The initiative to sell Alaska to the United States of America belonged to the emperor's brother, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich Romanov, who served as head of the Russian Naval Staff. Back in 1857, he suggested to his elder brother, the emperor, to sell the “extra territory”, because the discovery of gold deposits there would certainly attract the attention of England, the long-time sworn enemy of the Russian Empire, and Russia was not able to defend it, and there was no military fleet in the northern seas. . If England captures Alaska, then Russia will receive absolutely nothing for it, but this way it will be possible to gain at least some money, save face and strengthen friendly relations with the United States. It should be noted that in the 19th century, the Russian Empire and the United States developed extremely friendly relations - Russia refused to help the West in regaining control over the North American territories, which infuriated the monarchs of Great Britain and inspired the American colonists to continue the liberation struggle.

However, consultations with the US government about a possible sale, in fact, negotiations began only after the end of the American Civil War.

In December 1866, Emperor Alexander II made the final decision. The boundaries of the territory to be sold and the minimum price were determined - five million dollars.

In March, the Russian Ambassador to the United States Baron Eduard Stekl approached US Secretary of State William Seward with a proposal to sell Alaska.

Signing of the Treaty for the Sale of Alaska, March 30, 1867 Robert S. Chew, William G. Seward, William Hunter, Vladimir Bodisko, Edward Steckl, Charles Sumner, Frederick Seward

The negotiations were successful and have already On March 30, 1867, a treaty was signed in Washington, according to which Russia sold Alaska for $7,200,000 in gold(at 2009 exchange rates - approximately $108 million in gold). The following were transferred to the United States: the entire Alaska Peninsula (along the meridian 141° west of Greenwich), a coastal strip 10 miles wide south of Alaska along the western coast of British Columbia; Alexandra Archipelago; Aleutian Islands with Attu Island; the islands of Blizhnye, Rat, Lisya, Andreyanovskiye, Shumagina, Trinity, Umnak, Unimak, Kodiak, Chirikova, Afognak and other smaller islands; Islands in the Bering Sea: St. Lawrence, St. Matthew, Nunivak and the Pribilof Islands - St. George and St. Paul. The total area of sold territories was more than 1.5 million square meters. km. Russia sold Alaska for less than 5 cents per hectare.

On October 18, 1867, an official ceremony for the transfer of Alaska to the United States was held in Novoarkhangelsk (Sitka). Russian and American soldiers marched solemnly, the Russian flag was lowered and the US flag was raised.

Painting by N. Leitze “Signing of the Agreement for the Sale of Alaska” (1867)

Immediately after the transfer of Alaska to the United States, American troops entered Sitka and plundered the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, private homes and shops, and General Jefferson Davis ordered all Russians to leave their homes to the Americans.

On August 1, 1868, Baron Steckl was presented with a check from the US Treasury, with which the United States paid Russia for its new lands.

A check issued to the Russian ambassador by the Americans upon the purchase of Alaska

notice, that Russia never received money for Alaska , since part of this money was appropriated by the Russian Ambassador in Washington, Baron Stekl, and part of it was spent on bribes to American senators. Baron Steckle then instructed Riggs Bank to transfer $7.035 million to London, to the Barings Bank. Both of these banks have now ceased to exist. The trace of this money was lost in time, giving rise to a variety of theories. According to one of them, the check was cashed in London, and gold bars were purchased with it, which were planned to be transferred to Russia. However, the cargo was never delivered. The ship "Orkney", which was carrying a precious cargo, sank on July 16, 1868 on the approach to St. Petersburg. Whether it had gold on it at that time, or whether it never left Foggy Albion at all, is unknown. The insurance company that insured the ship and cargo declared bankruptcy, and the damage was only partially compensated. (Currently, the sinking site of the Orkney is located in the territorial waters of Finland. In 1975, a joint Soviet-Finnish expedition examined the area of its sinking and found the wreckage of the ship. The study of these revealed that there was a powerful explosion and a strong fire on the ship. However, gold could not be found - most likely, it remained in England.). As a result, Russia never gained anything from giving up some of its possessions.

It should be noted that There is no official text of the agreement on the sale of Alaska in Russian. The deal was not approved by the Russian Senate and the State Council.

In 1868, the Russian-American Company was liquidated. During its liquidation, some of the Russians were taken from Alaska to their homeland. The last group of Russians, numbering 309 people, left Novoarkhangelsk on November 30, 1868. The other part - about 200 people - was left in Novoarkhangelsk due to a lack of ships. They were simply FORGOTTEN by the St. Petersburg authorities. Most of the Creoles (descendants of mixed marriages of Russians with Aleuts, Eskimos and Indians) also remained in Alaska.

Rise of Alaska

After 1867, the part of the North American continent ceded by Russia to the United States received status "Territory of Alaska".

For the United States, Alaska became the site of the “gold rush” in the 90s. XIX century, glorified by Jack London, and then the “oil rush” in the 70s. XX century.

In 1880, the largest ore deposit in Alaska, Juneau, was discovered. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the largest placer gold deposit was discovered - Fairbanks. By the mid-80s. XX in Alaska, a total of almost a thousand tons of gold were mined.

To dateAlaska ranks 2nd in the United States (after Nevada) in terms of gold production . The state produces about 8% of silver production in the United States. The Red Dog mine in northern Alaska is the world's largest zinc reserve and produces about 10% of the world's production of this metal, as well as significant quantities of silver and lead.

Oil was found in Alaska 100 years after the conclusion of the agreement - in the early 70s. XX century. TodayAlaska ranks second in the United States in the production of “black gold”; 20% of American oil is produced here. Huge reserves of oil and gas have been explored in the north of the state. The Prudhoe Bay field is the largest in the United States (8% of US oil production).

January 3, 1959 territoryAlaska was converted into49th US state.

Alaska is the largest US state by territory - 1,518 thousand km² (17% of the US territory). In general, today Alaska is one of the most promising regions of the world from a transport and energy point of view. For the United States, this is both a nodal point on the way to Asia and a springboard for more active development of resources and the presentation of territorial claims in the Arctic.

The history of Russian America serves as an example not only of the courage of explorers, the energy of Russian entrepreneurs, but also of the corruption and betrayal of the upper spheres of Russia.

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

Includes the territory of North America west of the 141st meridian of western longitude, including the peninsula of the same name with adjacent islands, the Aleutian Islands and the territory of North America proper north of the peninsula, as well as a narrow strip of the Pacific coast along with the islands of the Alexander Archipelago along the western border of Canada.

The territory area is 1,717,854 km², of which 236,507 km² is on the water surface. Population - 736,732 people. (2014). The state capital is the city of Juneau.

Etymology

Symbolism

Geography

Opening

The first Europeans to visit Alaska on August 21, 1732 were members of the St. Gabriel" under the command of surveyor M. S. Gvozdev and navigator I. Fedorov during the expedition of A. F. Shestakov and D. I. Pavlutsky of 1729-1735. In addition, there is fragmentary information about Russian people visiting America in the 17th century.

Sale

From July 9, 1799 to October 18, 1867, Alaska and its surrounding islands were under the administration of the Russian-American Company. The fighting in the Far East during the Crimean War showed the absolute insecurity of the eastern lands of the Russian Empire and especially Alaska. In order not to lose the territory in vain, which could not be protected and developed in the foreseeable future, a decision was made to sell it.

The signing of the agreement for the sale of Alaska took place on March 30, 1867 in Washington. A territory with an area of 1 million 519 thousand km² was sold for 7.2 million dollars in gold, that is, $4.74 per km² (the much more fertile and sunnier French Louisiana, purchased from France in 1803, cost the US budget slightly more - approximately 7 dollars per km²). Alaska was finally transferred to the United States on October 18 of the same year, when Russian commissioners led by Admiral Alexei Peschurov arrived at Fort Sitka. The Russian flag was ceremonially lowered over the fort and the American flag was raised. On the American side, this ceremony was attended by 250 soldiers in full dress uniform under the command of General Lavella Russo, who provided Secretary of State William Seward with a detailed report of this event. Since 1917, October 18 has been celebrated as Alaska Day.

Golden fever

New story

Since 1867, Alaska was under the jurisdiction of the US War Department and was called the “District of Alaska”, in the years 1884-1912 “district”, then “territory” (1912-1959), from January 3, 1959 - a US state.

Recent history

Alaska was declared a state in 1959. Since 1968, various mineral resources have been exploited there, particularly in the Prudhoe Bay area, southeast of Cape Barrow.

In 1977, the Prudhoe Bay oil pipeline was built to the port of Valdez.

In March 2017, the Spanish Oil Company announced its discovery: 1.2 billion barrels of oil in Alaska. The firm says it is the largest land discovery in the United States in 30 years. Oil production work in this region is planned for 2021. According to expert estimates, production volumes will amount to up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day.

As a result of a referendum among state residents, a special oil fund was created in 1976, into which 25% of the funds received by the Alaska government from oil companies are allocated and from which all permanent residents (except prisoners) receive an annual subsidy (maximum in 2008 - $3269 , in 2010 - $1281).

Population

Population of Alaska in recent decades:

1990 - 560,718 inhabitants;
2004 - 648,818 inhabitants;
2005 - 663,661 inhabitants;
2006 - 677,456 inhabitants;
2007 - 690,955 inhabitants.

About 75 percent of the population is white and US-born. There are about 88 thousand indigenous people in the state - Indians (Athabascans, Haidas, Tlingits, Tsimshians), Eskimos and Aleuts. A small number of Russian descendants also live in the state. Major religious groups include Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists. The share of Orthodox Christians, which according to various estimates is 8-10%, is the highest in the country.

Over the past 20 years, residents of the state have traditionally voted Republican. The state's former Republican governor, Sarah Palin, was John McCain's 2008 vice presidential candidate. The current governor of Alaska is Mike Dunleavy.

Languages

According to a 2011 study, 83.4% of people over the age of five speak only English at home. English is spoken “very well” by 69.2%, “good” by 20.9%, “not very well” by 8.6%, “not at all” by 1.3%.

Alaska Language Center University of Alaska Fairbanks states that there are at least 20 Alaskan native languages and their dialects. Most languages belong to the Eskimo-Aleut and Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit macrofamilies, but there are also isolated ones (Haida and Tsimshian language).

In some places, dialects of the Russian language have been preserved: the Ninilchik dialect of the Russian language in Ninilchik (Kenai Borough), as well as a dialect on Kodiak Island, and, presumably, in the village of Russian Mission (Russian Mission).

In October 2014, the Governor of Alaska signed HB 216, declaring 20 indigenous languages as official state languages. Languages that were included in the list of official ones.

June 17, 2016

Alaska is called the Land of the Midnight Sun, the Last Frontier, the Great Land. Who discovered Alaska and how much did this land cost for the USA? Who now lives on its territory?

Alaska on the world map

Alaska is located in the northwestern United States and is the largest state in the country. The Bering Strait separates it from Russian territory - the Chukotka Peninsula. In the east, the state borders Canada.

This state is an exclave. It is separated from the rest of the United States by Canadian lands. To get from Alaska to the nearest American state, you need to overcome 800 kilometers of Canadian territory.

The total area of the state is 1,717,854 square meters. km, and coastline stretches for 10,639 km. The territory of Alaska is represented by the mainland and numerous islands. These include the Aleutian Islands, the Alexander Archipelago, Kodiak, Pribalov and St. Lawrence Islands.

Alaska's Cape Barrow is the northernmost point of the United States, and Attu Island, which is part of the Aleutian Islands, is the westernmost.

Natural conditions

Alaska is washed by the Pacific and Arctic oceans, creating different climatic conditions. The interior of the state is characterized by a subarctic climate with cold winters and relatively warm summers. In the northern part the climate is arctic: severe cold winters and cold summers. Temperature in summer time rarely rises above zero. On the Pacific coast (southeast of the state) the climate is mild and maritime, with high rainfall.

The north of Alaska is covered with tundra, while the south is covered with dense forests. There are many volcanoes and glaciers in this region. The largest is the Bering Glacier, its area is 5800 square meters. m. Alaska's volcanic mountain ranges are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Shishaldin Volcano is located on Unimak Island and is considered one of the largest Alaskan volcanoes.

The largest rivers in the state are the Yukon and Kuskokwim. In total, Alaska has more than 10 thousand rivers and over 3 million lakes. In the northeastern part of the state is the Arctic national reserve, and in the northwest is the territory of the US oil reserve.

Discovery of Alaska

There is an opinion that Alaska was first discovered by Semyon Dezhnev in the 17th century. But there is no official confirmation of this fact. Therefore, the discovery of the Great Land is attributed to the crew of the ship "Saint Gabriel". The expedition group, whose members were M. S. Gvozdev, I. Fedorov, D. I. Pavlutsky and A. F. Shestakov, landed in Alaska in 1732.

Nine years later, the second expedition set off here on the ships “St. Peter” and “St. Paul”. The ships were led by Alexei Chirikov and the famous explorer Vitus Bering.

Thick fog was a significant hindrance to exploration. At first, the lands of Alaska were seen from the board of the St. Paul; it was Prince of Wales Island. Researchers noticed that many beavers and sea otters live here, the fur of which was considered the most valuable at that time. This became the main impetus for the development of new lands.

Sale

In 1799, a Russian-American company was opened, headed by Alexander Baranov. Active hunting for beaver fur begins (which subsequently led to a significant reduction in the number of animals).

New villages and ports are founded, schools and hospitals are opened, the Orthodox Church carries out educational work, the object of which is the population of Alaska. True, land development is limited to fur mining and missionary activities.

In addition, relations with Britain were heating up, and the proximity of Russian Alaska to British Columbia made it vulnerable in the event of a military conflict between the countries. So in 1857, thoughts about selling it to America arose.

In March 1867, an agreement was signed in Washington to sell the territory for $7,200,000. In October, the official transfer of the purchased lands took place in the city of Sitka (then called Novo-Arkhangelsk).

American Alaska

For a long time, the newly acquired lands were under the control of US military forces and were not particularly developed. In 1896, a real gold boom occurred when gold deposits were found on the Klondike River, in Canada. The easiest way to get to Canadian territory was through Alaska, which provoked the rapid growth of settlements.

In 1898, gold was discovered near Nome and present-day Fairbanks, Alaska. The Gold Rush contributed to the economic development of the region. Alaska's population has grown significantly. Were under construction railways, minerals were actively mined.

The Great Depression in the 20th century also affected Alaska. Residents of the northern states are resettled here to boost the region's economy. During World War II, supplies were sent through Alaska. military equipment to the Soviet Union.

In 1959, Alaska became the 49th US state. Later, significant oil reserves are discovered here, which again boosts its development.

Population of Alaska

The state's population is about 700,000 people. This figure puts the state in 47th place in terms of population in the country. Alaska's population density is the lowest at 0.4 people per square kilometer.

The state's largest population growth occurred after oil deposits were discovered. At that time, Alaska's population increased by 36%. The largest city in the state is Anchorage, home to more than 300,000 people.

About 60% of the population is white, indigenous people make up about 15%, Asians make up about 5.5%, and the rest comes from other races. The largest ethnic group living in Alaska is the Germans. The Irish and English each account for 10%, followed by the Norwegians, French and Scots.

The missionary work of the Russian Orthodox Church did not pass without a trace - now in Alaska about 70% of the inhabitants are Christians. Protestantism is considered the second largest religion, although Alaska is the least religious state in America overall.

Alaska Natives

The Russians, of course, are considered the pioneers, but people began to populate the region long before the arrival of explorers. According to scientists, the first inhabitants of Alaska came here from Siberia about 30 thousand years ago, during the freezing of the Bering Strait.

The first peoples who found themselves in the “Land of the Midnight Sun” were the Tlingit, Tsimshian, Haila and Athapaskan peoples. They are the ancestors of modern American Indians. The tribes had their own language and beliefs, and were mainly engaged in fishing.

Much later (almost 8 thousand years ago) peoples belonging to the Eskimos or Inuit sailed to the lands of Alaska. These were the Aleut, Alutiiq and Inupiat tribes.

With the discovery of Alaska, Russian explorers brought their faith and traditions to the world of the indigenous population. Many local residents worked for the Russians. Alaska now has the largest percentage of indigenous people in the United States, but this figure is gradually decreasing. Therefore, recently special programs have been carried out to preserve the culture of indigenous people.

Conclusion

Alaska (America) is a rich region with a unique but harsh nature. There are many volcanoes, glaciers, rivers and lakes here. It is the largest American state, separated from the US territory by Canada. Alaska's population is represented by numerous ethnic groups and nationalities. Descendants of Indians and Eskimos still live here, continuing their traditions and culture.

“Ekaterina, you were wrong!” - the chorus of a rollicking song that sounded from every iron in the 90s, and calls for the United States to “give back” the little land of Alaska - that’s probably all that the average Russian knows today about the presence of our country on the North American continent.

At the same time, this story directly concerns no one else but the people of Irkutsk - after all, it was from the capital of the Angara region that all management of this gigantic territory took place for more than 80 years.

More than one and a half million square kilometers were occupied by the lands of Russian Alaska in the middle of the 19th century. It all started with three modest ships moored to one of the islands. Then there was a long path of exploration and conquest: a bloody war with the local population, successful trade and extraction of valuable furs, diplomatic intrigues and romantic ballads.

And an integral part of all this was the activity of the Russian-American Company for many years, under the leadership first of the Irkutsk merchant Grigory Shelikhov, and then of his son-in-law, Count Nikolai Rezanov.

Today we invite you to make short excursion into the history of Russian Alaska. Even if Russia did not retain this territory as part of its composition, the geopolitical demands of the moment were such that the maintenance of remote lands was more expensive than the economic benefits that could be obtained from being present on it. However, the feat of the Russians, who discovered and mastered the harsh region, still amazes with its greatness today.

History of Alaska

The first inhabitants of Alaska came to the territory of the modern US state about 15 or 20,000 years ago - they moved from Eurasia to North America through the isthmus that then connected the two continents in the place where the Bering Strait is located today.

By the time Europeans arrived in Alaska, it was inhabited by several peoples, including the Tsimshian, Haida and Tlingit, Aleut and Athabascan, as well as the Eskimo, Inupiat and Yupik. But all modern indigenous people of Alaska and Siberia have common ancestors - their genetic relationship has already been proven.

Discovery of Alaska by Russian explorers

History has not preserved the name of the first European to set foot in Alaska. But at the same time, it is very likely that he was a member of the Russian expedition. Perhaps it was the expedition of Semyon Dezhnev in 1648. It is possible that in 1732, members of the crew of the small ship “St. Gabriel”, which explored Chukotka, landed on the shores of the North American continent.

However, the official discovery of Alaska is considered to be July 15, 1741 - on this day the land was seen from one of the ships of the Second Kamchatka Expedition of the famous explorer Vitus Bering. It was Prince of Wales Island, which is located in southeast Alaska.

Subsequently, the island, sea and strait between Chukotka and Alaska were named after Vitus Bering. Assessing the scientific and political results of V. Bering’s second expedition, the Soviet historian A.V. Efimov recognized them as enormous, because during the Second Kamchatka Expedition, the American coast was reliably mapped for the first time in history as “part of North America.” However, the Russian Empress Elizabeth did not show any noticeable interest in the lands of North America. She issued a decree obliging the local population to pay duties on trade, but did not take any further steps towards developing relations with Alaska.

However, the sea otters living in coastal waters - sea otters - came to the attention of Russian industrialists. Their fur was considered one of the most valuable in the world, so fishing for sea otters was extremely profitable. So by 1743, Russian traders and fur hunters had established close contact with the Aleuts.

Development of Russian Alaska: North-Eastern Company

IN
In subsequent years, Russian travelers repeatedly landed on the Alaskan islands, hunted for sea otters and traded with local residents, and even clashed with them.

In 1762, Empress Catherine the Great ascended to the Russian throne. Her government turned its attention back to Alaska. In 1769, the duty on trade with the Aleuts was abolished. The development of Alaska has progressed by leaps and bounds. In 1772 on large island The first Russian trading settlement was founded in Unalaska. Another 12 years later, in 1784, an expedition under the command of Grigory Shelikhov landed on the Aleutian Islands, which founded the Russian settlement of Kodiak in the Bay of Three Saints.

Irkutsk merchant Grigory Shelikhov, a Russian explorer, navigator and industrialist, glorified his name in history by the fact that since 1775 he was engaged in the arrangement of commercial trade shipping between the Kuril and Aleutian island chains as the founder of the North-Eastern Company.

His companions arrived in Alaska on three galliots, “Three Saints”, “St. Simeon" and "St. Michael". The Shelikhovites are beginning to intensively develop the island. They subjugate the local Eskimos (horses), try to develop agriculture by planting turnips and potatoes, and also conduct spiritual activities, converting the indigenous people to their faith. Orthodox missionaries made a tangible contribution to the development of Russian America.

The colony on Kodiak functioned relatively successfully until the early 90s of the 18th century. In 1792, the city, which was named Pavlovskaya Harbor, was moved to a new location - this was a consequence powerful tsunami, from which the Russian settlement suffered.

Russian-American company

With the merger of the companies of the merchants G.I. Shelikhova, I.I. and M.S. Golikov and N.P. Mylnikov in 1798-99 a single “Russian-American Company” was created. From Paul I, who ruled Russia at that time, she received monopoly rights to fur fishing, trade and the discovery of new lands in the northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean. The company was called upon to represent and protect with its means the interests of Russia in the Pacific Ocean, and was under the “highest patronage.” Since 1801, Alexander I and the Grand Dukes and major statesmen became shareholders of the company. The main board of the company was located in St. Petersburg, but in fact all affairs were managed from Irkutsk, where Shelikhov lived.

Alexander Baranov became the first governor of Alaska under the control of the RAC. During the years of his reign, the borders of Russian possessions in Alaska expanded significantly, and new Russian settlements emerged. Redoubts appeared in the Kenai and Chugatsky bays. Construction of Novorossiysk began in Yakutat Bay. In 1796, moving south along the American coast, the Russians reached the island of Sitka.

The basis of the economy of Russian America was still the fishing of sea animals: sea otters, sea lions, which was carried out with the support of the Aleuts.

Russian-Indian War

However, indigenous people did not always welcome Russian settlers with open arms. Having reached the island of Sitka, the Russians encountered fierce resistance from the Tlingit Indians and in 1802 the Russian-Indian War broke out. Control over the island and fishing for sea otters in coastal waters began cornerstone conflict.

The first skirmish on the mainland took place on May 23, 1802. In June, a detachment of 600 Indians led by the leader Katlian attacked the Mikhailovsky fortress on the island of Sitka. By June, in a series of attacks that followed, the 165-member Sitka Party was completely defeated. The English brig Unicorn, which sailed to this area a little later, helped the miraculously surviving Russians to escape. The loss of Sitka was a severe blow for the Russian colonies and personally for Governor Baranov. The total losses of the Russian-American Company were 24 Russians and 200 Aleuts.

In 1804, Baranov moved from Yakutat to conquer Sitka. After a long siege and shelling of the fortress occupied by the Tlingits, on October 8, 1804, the Russian flag was raised over the native settlement. Construction of a fort and a new settlement began. Soon the city of Novo-Arkhangelsk grew here.

However, on August 20, 1805, Eyaki warriors of the Tlahaik-Tequedi clan and their Tlingit allies burned Yakutat and killed the Russians and Aleuts who remained there. In addition, at the same time, during a long sea passage, they were caught in a storm and about 250 more people died. The fall of Yakutat and the death of Demyanenkov's party were another heavy blow for the Russian colonies. An important economic and strategic base on the American coast was lost.

Further confrontation continued until 1805, when a truce was concluded with the Indians and the RAC tried to fish in the Tlingit waters in large quantities under the cover of Russian warships. However, the Tlingits even then opened fire with guns, already on the animal, which made hunting almost impossible.

As a result of Indian attacks, 2 Russian fortresses and a village in Southeast Alaska were destroyed, about 45 Russians and more than 230 natives died. All this stopped the Russian advance southward along the northwestern coast of America for several years. The Indian threat further constrained the RAC forces in the area of the Alexander Archipelago and did not allow them to begin the systematic colonization of Southeast Alaska. However, after the cessation of fishing in the Indian lands, relations improved somewhat, and the RAC resumed trade with the Tlingits and even allowed them to restore their ancestral village near Novoarkhangelsk.

Let us note that the complete settlement of relations with the Tlingit took place two hundred years later - in October 2004, an official peace ceremony was held between the Kixadi clan and Russia.

The Russian-Indian War secured Alaska for Russia, but limited further Russian advances deeper into America.

Under the control of Irkutsk

Grigory Shelikhov had already died by this time: he died in 1795. His place in the management of the RAC and Alaska was taken by his son-in-law and legal heir of the Russian-American Company, Count Nikolai Petrovich Ryazanov. In 1799, he received from the ruler of Russia, Emperor Paul I, the right to a monopoly of the American fur trade.

Nikolai Rezanov was born in 1764 in St. Petersburg, but after some time his father was appointed chairman of the civil chamber of the provincial court in Irkutsk. Rezanov himself serves in the Life Guards Izmailovsky Regiment, and is even personally responsible for the protection of Catherine II, but in 1791 he also receives an appointment to Irkutsk. Here he was supposed to inspect the activities of Shelikhov’s company.

In Irkutsk, Rezanov gets acquainted with “Columbus of Russia”: this is how contemporaries called Shelikhov, the founder of the first Russian settlements in America. In an effort to strengthen his position, Shelikhov wooed his eldest daughter, Anna, for Rezanov. Thanks to this marriage, Nikolai Rezanov received the right to participate in the affairs of the family company and became a co-owner of huge capital, and the bride from a merchant family received the family coat of arms and all the privileges of the titled Russian nobility. From this moment on, Rezanov’s fate is closely connected with Russian America. And his young wife (Anna was 15 years old at the time of marriage) died a few years later.

The activities of the RAC were a unique phenomenon in the history of Russia at that time. It was the first such large monopoly organization with fundamentally new forms of commerce that took into account the specifics of the Pacific fur trade. Today this would be called a public-private partnership: merchants, resellers and fishermen worked closely with government authorities. This necessity was dictated by the moment: firstly, the distances between the fishing and marketing areas were enormous. Secondly, the practice of using share capital was established: financial flows from people who were not directly related to it were involved in the fur trade. The government partly regulated and supported these relations. The fortunes of merchants and the fates of people who went to the ocean for “soft gold” often depended on his position.

And it was in the interests of the state to quickly develop economic relations with China and establish a further route to the East. The new Minister of Commerce N.P. Rumyantsev presented two notes to Alexander I, where he described the advantages of this direction: “The British and Americans, delivering their junk from Notka Sound and the Charlotte Islands directly to Canton, will always have an advantage in this trade, and this will continue until then It will be until the Russians themselves pave the way to Canton.” Rumyantsev foresaw the benefits of opening trade with Japan “not only for American villages, but also for the entire northern region of Siberia” and proposed using a round-the-world expedition to send “an embassy to the Japanese court” led by a person “with abilities and knowledge of political and commercial affairs.” . Historians believe that even then he meant Nikolai Rezanov by such a person, since it was assumed that upon completion of the Japanese mission he would go to survey Russian possessions in America.

Around the World Rezanov

Rezanov knew about the planned expedition already in the spring of 1803. “Now I’m preparing for a hike,” she wrote in a private letter. - Two merchant ships purchased in London are given to my command. They are equipped with a decent crew, guard officers are assigned to the mission with me, and in general an expedition has been organized for the journey. My path is from Kronstadt to Portsmouth, from there to Tenerife, then to Brazil and, bypassing Cap Horn, to Valpareso, from there to the Sandwich Islands, finally to Japan and in 1805 - to spend the winter in Kamchatka. From there I will go to Unalaska, Kodiak, Prince William Sound and go down to Nootka, from which I will return to Kodiak and, loaded with goods, go to Canton, to the Philippine Islands... I will return around the Cape of Good Hope.”

Meanwhile, the RAC accepted Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern into the service and entrusted two ships called “Nadezhda” and “Neva” to his “superiorship”. In a special supplement, the board notified of the appointment of N.P. Rezanov was the head of the embassy to Japan and authorized “him to act like a complete master not only during the voyage, but also in America.”

“The Russian-American Company,” reported the Hamburg Gazette (No. 137, 1802), “is zealously concerned about expanding its trade, which in time will be very useful for Russia, and is now engaged in a great enterprise, important not only for commerce, but also for the honor of the Russian people, namely, she equips two ships that will be loaded in St. Petersburg with food supplies, anchors, ropes, sails, etc., and must sail to the northwestern shores of America in order to supply the Russian colonies in the Aleutian Islands with these needs, to be loaded furs there, exchange them in China for its goods, establish a colony on Urup, one of the Kuril Islands, for convenient trade with Japan, go from there to the Cape of Good Hope, and return to Europe. There will only be Russians on these ships. The Emperor approved the plan and ordered the selection of the best naval officers and sailors for the success of this expedition, which will be the first trip of the Russians around the world.”

The historian Karamzin wrote about the expedition and the attitude of various circles of Russian society towards it: “Anglomaniacs and Gallomaniacs, who want to be called cosmopolitans, think that Russians should trade locally. Peter thought differently - he was Russian at heart and a patriot. We stand on the earth and on Russian soil, we look at the world not through the glasses of taxonomists, but with our natural eyes, we need the development of the fleet and industry, enterprise and daring.” In Vestnik Evropy, Karamzin published letters from officers who had gone on a voyage, and all of Russia waited with trepidation for this news.

On August 7, 1803, exactly 100 years after Peter founded St. Petersburg and Kronstadt, the Nadezhda and Neva weighed anchor. The circumnavigation of the world has begun. Through Copenhagen, Falmouth, Tenerife to the shores of Brazil, and then around Cape Horn, the expedition reached the Marquesas and, by June 1804, the Hawaiian Islands. Here the ships split up: “Nadezhda” went to Petropavlovsk-on-Kamchatka, and “Neva” went to Kodiak Island. When Nadezhda arrived in Kamchatka, preparations began for the embassy to Japan.

Reza is new in Japan

Leaving Petropavlovsk on August 27, 1804, Nadezhda headed southwest. A month later, the shores of northern Japan appeared in the distance. A great celebration took place on the ship; the expedition members were awarded silver medals. However, the joy turned out to be premature: due to the abundance of errors in the charts, the ship took the wrong course. In addition, a severe storm began, in which Nadezhda was badly damaged, but, fortunately, she managed to stay afloat, despite serious damage. And on September 28, the ship entered the port of Nagasaki.

However, here again difficulties arose: the Japanese official who met the expedition stated that the entrance to Nagasaki harbor was open only to Dutch ships, and for others it was impossible without a special order from the Japanese emperor. Fortunately, Rezanov had such permission. And despite the fact that Alexander I secured the consent of his Japanese “colleague” 12 years ago, access to the harbor was open to the Russian ship, albeit with some bewilderment. True, Nadezhda was obliged to give out gunpowder, cannons and all firearms, sabers and swords, only one of which could be provided to the ambassador. Rezanov knew about such Japanese laws for foreign ships and agreed to give up all the weapons except the officers’ swords and the guns of his personal guard.

However, several more months of sophisticated diplomatic treaties passed before the ship was allowed to get close to the Japanese coast, and the envoy Rezanov himself was allowed to move to land. The crew continued to live on board all this time, until the end of December. An exception was provided only for astronomers conducting their observations - they were allowed to land on the ground. At the same time, the Japanese kept a vigilant watch over the sailors and the embassy. They were forbidden even to send letters to their homeland with the Dutch ship leaving for Batavia. Only the envoy was allowed to write a short report to Alexander I about the safe voyage.

The envoy and his retinue had to live in honorable captivity for four months, until their departure from Japan. Only occasionally could Rezanov see our sailors and the director of the Dutch trading post. Rezanov, however, did not waste time: he diligently continued his studies of the Japanese language, simultaneously compiling two manuscripts (“A Brief Russian-Japanese Guide” and a dictionary containing more than five thousand words), which Rezanov later wanted to transfer to the Navigation School in Irkutsk. They were subsequently published by the Academy of Sciences.

Only on April 4, Rezanov’s first audience took place with one of the high-ranking local dignitaries, who brought the Japanese Emperor’s response to the message of Alexander I. The answer read: “The Lord of Japan is extremely surprised by the arrival of the Russian embassy; the emperor cannot accept the embassy, and does not want correspondence and trade with the Russians and asks that the ambassador leave Japan.”

Rezanov, in turn, noted that, although it is not for him to judge which emperor is more powerful, he considers the response of the Japanese ruler impudent and emphasized that Russia’s proposal for trade relations between the countries was, rather, a mercy “out of a single love of humanity.” The dignitaries, embarrassed by such pressure, suggested postponing the audience to another day, when the envoy would not be so excited.

The second audience was calmer. The dignitaries denied any possibility of cooperation with other countries, including trade, as prohibited by fundamental law, and, moreover, explained it by their inability to undertake a reciprocal embassy. Then a third audience took place, during which the parties undertook to provide each other with written answers. But this time too, the position of the Japanese government remained unchanged: citing formal reasons and tradition, Japan firmly decided to maintain its former isolation. Rezanov drew up a memorandum to the Japanese government in connection with the refusal to establish trade relations and returned to Nadezhda.

Some historians see the reasons for the failure of the diplomatic mission in the ardor of the count himself, others suspect that it was due to the intrigues of the Dutch side, who wanted to maintain their priority in relations with Japan, but after almost seven months in Nagasaki, on April 18, 1805, the Nadezhda weighed anchor and went out to the open sea.

The Russian ship was forbidden to approach the Japanese shores in the future. However, Kruzenshtern still devoted another three months to researching those places that La Perouse had not previously studied enough. He was going to clarify geographical position everyone Japanese islands, most of the coast of Korea, the western coast of the island of Jessoi and the coast of Sakhalin, describe the coast of Aniva and Terpeniya bays and conduct a study of the Kuril Islands. A significant part of this huge plan was completed.

Having completed the description of Aniva Bay, Kruzenshtern continued his work on marine photography eastern shore Sakhalin to Cape Terpeniya, but would soon have to turn them off, as the ship encountered large accumulations of ice. “Nadezhda” with great difficulty entered the Sea of Okhotsk and a few days later, overcoming bad weather, returned to Peter and Paul Harbor.

Envoy Rezanov transferred to the ship of the Russian-American company “Maria”, on which he went to the company’s main base on Kodiak Island, near Alaska, where he was supposed to streamline the organization of local management of colonies and fisheries.

Rezanov in Alaska

As the “owner” of the Russian-American company, Nikolai Rezanov delved into all the intricacies of management. He was struck by the fighting spirit of the Baranovites, the tirelessness, and efficiency of Baranov himself. But there were more than enough difficulties: there was not enough food - famine was approaching, the land was infertile, there were not enough bricks for construction, there was no mica for windows, copper, without which it was impossible to equip a ship, was considered a terrible rarity.

Rezanov himself wrote in a letter from Sitkha: “We all live very closely; but our acquirer of these places lives the worst of all, in some kind of plank yurt, filled with dampness to the point that every day the mold is wiped off and with the local heavy rains from all sides it’s like a sieve of flowing water. Wonderful man! He only cares about the quiet space of others, but he is so careless about himself that one day I found his bed floating and asked if the wind had torn off the side board of his temple somewhere? “No,” he answered calmly, apparently it had flowed towards me from the square, “and he continued his orders.”

The population of Russian America, as Alaska was called, grew very slowly. In 1805, the number of Russian colonists was about 470 people, in addition, depending on the company there were a significant number of Indians (according to Rezanov’s census there were 5,200 people on Kodiak Island). The people who served in the company’s institutions were mostly a violent people, for which Nikolai Petrovich aptly called the Russian settlements a “drunk republic.”

He did a lot to improve the lives of the population: he resumed the work of the school for boys, and sent some to study in Irkutsk, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. A school for girls with a capacity of one hundred pupils was also established. He founded a hospital that could be used by both Russian employees and natives, and a court was established. Rezanov insisted that all Russians living in the colonies should study the language of the natives and he himself compiled dictionaries of the Russian-Kodiak and Russian-Unalash languages.

Having familiarized himself with the state of affairs in Russian America, Rezanov quite correctly decided that the way out and salvation from hunger was in organizing trade with California, in founding a Russian settlement there that would supply Russian America with bread and dairy products. By that time, the population of Russian America, according to Rezanov’s census, carried out in the Unalashka and Kodiak departments, was 5,234 people.

"Juno and Avos"

It was decided to sail to California immediately. For this purpose, one of the two ships that arrived in Sitkha was purchased from the Englishman Wulf for 68 thousand piastres. The ship "Juno" was purchased along with the cargo of provisions on board, and the products were transferred to the settlers. And the ship itself sailed to California under the Russian flag on February 26, 1806.

Upon arrival in California, Rezanov conquered the commandant of the fortress, Jose Dario Arguello, with his courtly manners and charmed his daughter, fifteen-year-old Concepcion. It is not known whether the mysterious and beautiful 42-year-old stranger admitted to her that he had already been married once and was widowed, but the girl was smitten.

Of course, Conchita, like many young girls of all times and peoples, dreamed of meeting a handsome prince. It is not surprising that Commander Rezanov, Chamberlain of His Imperial Majesty, a stately, powerful, handsome man, easily won her heart. In addition, he was the only one from the Russian delegation who spoke Spanish and talked a lot with the girl, clouding her mind with stories about brilliant St. Petersburg, Europe, the court of Catherine the Great...

Was there a tender feeling on the part of Nikolai Rezanov himself? Despite the fact that the story of his love for Conchita became one of the most beautiful romantic legends, his contemporaries doubted it. Rezanov himself, in a letter to his patron and friend Count Nikolai Rumyantsev, admitted that the reason that prompted him to propose his hand and heart to a young Spaniard was more for the benefit of the Fatherland than a passionate feeling. The ship’s doctor was of the same opinion, writing in his reports: “One would think that he fell in love with this beauty. However, in view of the prudence inherent in this cold man, it would be more cautious to admit that he simply had some kind of diplomatic designs on her.”

One way or another, the marriage proposal was made and accepted. Here's how Rezanov himself writes about it:

“My proposal struck down her (Conchita’s) parents, who were raised in fanaticism. The difference of religions and the upcoming separation from their daughter were a thunderclap for them. They resorted to missionaries, who did not know what to decide. They took poor Concepsia to church, confessed her, convinced her to refuse, but her determination finally calmed everyone down.

The Holy Fathers left it to the permission of the Roman Throne, and if I could not consummate my marriage, then I made a conditional act and forced us to be engaged... From that time, having presented myself to the commandant as a close relative, I already managed the port of the Catholic Majesty so, as my benefits demanded it, and the governor was extremely surprised and amazed to see that, at the wrong time, he assured me of the sincere dispositions of this house and that he himself, so to speak, found himself visiting me ... "

In addition, Rezanov got a cargo of “2156 poods” very cheaply. wheat, 351 poods. barley, 560 poods. legumes Lard and oils for 470 pounds. and all sorts of other things worth 100 poods, so much so that the ship could not leave at first.”

Conchita promised to wait for her fiancé, who was supposed to deliver a cargo of supplies to Alaska, and then was going to St. Petersburg. He intended to secure the Emperor's petition to the Pope in order to obtain official permission from the Catholic Church for their marriage. This could take about two years.

A month later, Juno and Avos, full of provisions and other cargo, arrived in Novo-Arkhangelsk. Despite the diplomatic calculations, Count Rezanov had no intention of deceiving the young Spaniard. He immediately goes to St. Petersburg in order to ask permission to conclude a family union, despite the muddy roads and weather unsuitable for such a trip.

Crossing rivers on horseback on thin ice, he fell into the water several times, caught a cold and lay unconscious for 12 days. He was taken to Krasnoyarsk, where on March 1, 1807 he died.

Concepson never married. She did charity work and taught Indians. In the early 1840s, Donna Concepcion joined the third Order of the White Clergy, and upon the founding of the Monastery of St. Dominic in the city of Benicia in 1851, she became its first nun under the name Maria Dominga. She died at the age of 67 on December 23, 1857.

Alaska after Le Rezanova

Since 1808, Novo-Arkhangelsk has become the center of Russian America. All this time, the management of the American territories has been carried out from Irkutsk, where the main headquarters of the Russian-American company is still located. Officially, Russian America was first included in the Siberian General Government, and after its division in 1822 into Western and Eastern, into the East Siberian General Government.

In 1812, Baranov, director of the Russian-American Company, established the company's southern representative office on the shores of California's Bodija Bay. This representative office was named Russian Village, now known as Fort Ross.

Baranov retired as director of the Russian-American Company in 1818. He dreamed of returning home - to Russia, but died on the way.

Naval officers came to lead the company and contributed to the development of the company, however, unlike Baranov, the naval leadership had very little interest in the trading business itself, and were extremely nervous about the settlement of Alaska by the British and Americans. The management of the company, in the name of the Russian Emperor, prohibited the invasion of all foreign ships within 160 km of the waters near the Russian colonies in Alaska. Of course, such an order was immediately protested by Great Britain and the United States government.

The dispute with the United States was settled by a convention in 1824, which determined the exact northern and southern boundaries of Russian territory in Alaska. In 1825, Russia came to an agreement with Britain, also defining the exact eastern and western borders. The Russian Empire gave both sides (Britain and the United States) the right to trade in Alaska for 10 years, after which Alaska completely became the property of Russia.

Sales in Alaska

However, while at the beginning of the 19th century Alaska generated income through the fur trade, by the middle of the century it began to seem that the costs of maintaining and protecting this remote and geopolitically vulnerable territory outweighed the potential profits. The area of the territory subsequently sold was 1,518,800 km² and was practically uninhabited - according to the RAC itself, at the time of the sale the population of all Russian Alaska and the Aleutian Islands numbered about 2,500 Russians and approximately 60,000 Indians and Eskimos.

Historians have mixed views on the sale of Alaska. Some are of the opinion that this measure was forced due to Russia’s conduct of the Crimean campaign (1853-1856) and the difficult situation at the fronts. Others insist that the deal was purely commercial. One way or another, the first question about the sale of Alaska to the United States to the Russian government was raised by the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia, Count N. N. Muravyov-Amursky in 1853. In his opinion, this was inevitable, and at the same time would strengthen Russia's position on the Asian Pacific coast in the face of the growing penetration of the British Empire. At that time, her Canadian possessions extended directly east of Alaska.

Relations between Russia and Britain were sometimes openly hostile. During the Crimean War, when the British fleet tried to land troops in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the possibility of a direct clash in America became real.

In turn, the American government also wanted to prevent the occupation of Alaska by the British Empire. In the spring of 1854, he received a proposal for a fictitious (temporary, for a period of three years) sale by the Russian-American Company of all its possessions and property for 7,600 thousand dollars. RAC entered into such an agreement with the American-Russian Trading Company in San Francisco, controlled by the US government, but it did not come into force, since RAC managed to reach an agreement with the British Hudson's Bay Company.

Subsequent negotiations on this issue took about another ten years. Finally, in March 1867, a draft agreement was agreed upon in general terms for the purchase of Russian possessions in America for $7.2 million. It is curious that this is exactly how much the building in which the contract for the sale of such a huge territory was signed cost.

The signing of the treaty took place on March 30, 1867 in Washington. And on October 18, Alaska was officially transferred to the United States. Since 1917, this day has been celebrated in the United States as Alaska Day.

The entire Alaska Peninsula (along a line running along the 141° meridian west of Greenwich), a coastal strip 10 miles wide south of Alaska along the western coast of British Columbia, passed to the United States; Alexandra archipelago; Aleutian Islands with Attu Island; the islands of Blizhnye, Rat, Lisya, Andreyanovskiye, Shumagina, Trinity, Umnak, Unimak, Kodiak, Chirikova, Afognak and other smaller islands; Islands in the Bering Sea: St. Lawrence, St. Matthew, Nunivak and the Pribilof Islands - St. George and St. Paul. Along with the territory, all real estate, all colonial archives, official and historical documents related to the transferred territories were transferred to the United States.

Alaska today

Despite the fact that Russia sold these lands as unpromising, the United States did not lose out from the deal. Just 30 years later, the famous gold rush began in Alaska - the word Klondike became a household word. According to some reports, over the past century and a half, more than 1,000 tons of gold have been exported from Alaska. At the beginning of the twentieth century, oil was also discovered there (today the region’s reserves are estimated at 4.5 billion barrels). Both coal and non-ferrous metal ores are mined in Alaska. Thanks to the huge number of rivers and lakes, large private enterprises flourish there fishing and the seafood industry. Tourism is also developed.

Today, Alaska is the largest and one of the richest states in the United States.

Sources

Commander Rezanov. Website dedicated to Russian explorers of new lands
Abstract “History of Russian Alaska: from discovery to sale”, St. Petersburg State University, 2007, author not specified

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Conclusion

At the same time, this story directly concerns no one else but the people of Irkutsk - after all, it was from the capital of the Angara region that all management of this gigantic territory took place for more than 80 years.

And an integral part of all this was the activity of the Russian-American Company for many years, under the leadership first of the Irkutsk merchant Grigory Shelikhov, and then of his son-in-law, Count Nikolai Rezanov.

History of Alaska

Discovery of Alaska by Russian explorers

Development of Russian Alaska: North-Eastern Company

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Under the control of Irkutsk

Around the World Rezanov

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Rezanov in Alaska

"Juno and Avos"

Alaska after Le Rezanova

Sales in Alaska

Alaska today