“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. And it all started with three modest ships moored to one of the islands. Then there was a long path of exploration and conquest: 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. |
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.
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 the second expedition of V. Bering, 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.
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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 the result of a powerful tsunami that affected the Russian settlement.
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 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.
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 of the island and sea otter fishing in coastal waters became the cornerstone of the conflict.
The first skirmish on the mainland took place on May 23, 1802. In June, a detachment of 600 Indians led by the leader Catlian 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.
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 state power. 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.
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, start in Urup, one of Kuril Islands, a colony 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. Circumnavigation began. 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.
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 hand over gunpowder, cannons and all firearms, sabers and swords, of which only one 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 Japanese, 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 all 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 surveys of the eastern coast of Sakhalin to Cape Terpeniya, but would soon have to stop them, 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.
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 quiet room others, but he was 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 girls' school for 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.
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, is stately, powerful, handsome man easily won her heart. In addition, he was the only one of the Russian delegation who owned 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 catholic church on 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 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.
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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 borders 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.
However, if in early XIX century, Alaska generated income through the fur trade, by the middle of it 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 about 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 Governor General was the first to raise the issue of selling Alaska to the United States to the Russian government 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.
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, fishing and the seafood industry flourish there as large private enterprises. Tourism is also developed.
Today, Alaska is the largest and one of the richest states in the United States.
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On January 3, 1959, Alaska became the 49th state of the United States, although these lands were sold by Russia to America back in 1867. However, there is a version that Alaska was never sold. Russia leased it for 90 years, and after the lease expired, in 1957, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev actually donated these lands to the United States. Many historians argue that the agreement on the transfer of Alaska to the United States was not signed by either the Russian Empire or the USSR, and the peninsula was borrowed free of charge from Russia. Be that as it may, Alaska is still shrouded in an aura of mystery.
The Russians taught the Alaskan natives to turnips and potatoes. 
Under the rule of the “quiet” Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov in Russia, Semyon Dezhnev swam across the 86-kilometer strait that separated Russia and America. Later this Strait was named Bering Strait in honor of Vitus Bering, who explored the shores of Alaska in 1741. Although before him, in 1732, Mikhail Gvozdev was the first European to determine the coordinates and map the 300-kilometer coastline of this peninsula. In 1784, the development of Alaska was carried out by Grigory Shelikhov, who accustomed the local population to turnips and potatoes, spread Orthodoxy among the Horse natives, and even founded the agricultural colony “Glory to Russia.” Since that time, residents of Alaska have become Russian subjects.
The British and Americans armed the natives against the Russians. In 1798, as a result of the merger of the companies of Grigory Shelikhov, Nikolai Mylnikov and Ivan Golikov, the Russian-American Company was formed, the shareholders of which were statesmen and grand dukes. The first director of this company is Nikolai Rezanov, whose name is known to many today as the name of the hero of the musical “Juno and Avos”. The company, which some historians today call “the destroyer of Russian America and an obstacle to the development of the Far East,” had monopoly rights to furs, trade, the discovery of new lands, granted Emperor Paul I. The company also had the right to protect and represent the interests of Russia
The company founded the St. Michael's Fortress (today Sitka), where the Russians built a church, primary school, shipyard, workshops and arsenal. Every ship that came into the harbor where the fortress stood was greeted with fireworks. In 1802, the fortress was burned by the natives, and three years later the same fate befell another Russian fortress. American and British entrepreneurs sought to liquidate Russian settlements and for this purpose they armed the natives.
Alaska could become a cause of war for Russia 
For Russia, Alaska was a real gold mine. For example, sea otter fur was more expensive than gold, but the greed and short-sightedness of the miners led to the fact that already in the 1840s there were practically no valuable animals left on the peninsula. In addition, oil and gold were 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 the Russian government was justifiably afraid that they would come after them. American troops. Russia was not ready for war, and giving up Alaska penniless was completely imprudent.
At the ceremony for the transfer of Alaska, the flag fell on Russian bayonets 
October 18, 1867 at 15.30. The solemn ceremony of changing the flag on the flagpole in front of the house of the ruler of Alaska began. Two non-commissioned officers began to lower the flag of the Russian-American Company, but it got tangled in the ropes at the very top, and the painter broke off completely. Several sailors, on orders, rushed to climb up to untangle the tattered flag hanging on the mast. The sailor who got to the flag first did not have time to shout to him to get off with the flag and not throw it, and he threw the flag down. The flag fell directly on Russian bayonets. Mystics and conspiracy theorists should rejoice.
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.
Alaska has become an extremely profitable deal for the United States. The Russian Empire sold uninhabited and inaccessible territory to the United States for $0.05 per hectare. This turned out to be 1.5 times cheaper than Napoleonic France sold the developed territory of historical Louisiana 50 years earlier. America offered $10 million for the port of New Orleans alone, and besides, the lands of Louisiana had to be repurchased from the Indians living there.
Another fact: at the time when Russia sold Alaska to America, the state treasury paid more for one single three-story building in the center of New York than the American government paid for the entire peninsula.
The main secret of the sale of Alaska - where is the money? Eduard Stekl, who since 1850 was the chargé d'affaires Russian embassy in Washington, and in 1854 he was appointed to the post of envoy, received a check in the amount of 7 million 35 thousand dollars. He kept 21 thousand for himself, and distributed 144 thousand to the senators who voted to ratify the treaty as bribes. 7 million was transferred to London by bank transfer, and the gold bars purchased for this amount were transported from the British capital to St. Petersburg by sea.
When converting the currency first into pounds and then into gold, they lost another 1.5 million. But this loss was not the last. On July 16, 1868, the barque Orkney, carrying a precious cargo, sank on the approach to St. Petersburg. Whether there was Russian gold on it at that moment, or whether it did not leave the borders of Foggy Albion, remains unknown today. The company that registered the cargo declared itself bankrupt, so the damage was only partially compensated.
In 2013, a Russian filed a lawsuit to invalidate the agreement on the sale of Alaska. In March 2013, the Moscow Arbitration Court received a claim from representatives of the Interregional social movement in support of Orthodox educational and social initiatives "Bees" in the name of the Holy Great Martyr Nikita. According to Nikolai Bondarenko, chairman of the movement, this step was caused by the failure to fulfill a number of points in the agreement signed in 1867. In particular, Article 6 provided for the payment of 7 million 200 thousand dollars gold coin, and the US Treasury issued a check for this amount, further fate which is foggy. Another reason, according to Bondarenko, was the fact that the US government violated Article 3 of the treaty, which stipulates that the American authorities must provide residents of Alaska, especially citizens Russian Empire, living according to their customs and traditions and the faith that they professed at that time. The Obama administration, with its plans to legalize same-sex marriage, infringes on the rights and interests of citizens who live in Alaska. The Moscow Arbitration Court refused to consider the claim against the US federal government.
For almost 147 years, Alaska has belonged to the Americans. And we still argue, are indignant and lament about this. The Great Alaska Debate is a battle of calculators. We count how much we sold for and how much we could have sold for, we calculate losses and potential profits. Briefly speaking, we divide the skin of an unkilled bear. More precisely, we killed the bear, but we didn’t get the skin.
Alaska has turned, as it is now fashionable to say, into a meme. It's a tangle of conflicting feelings. Hurt national pride and resentment: the cunning Americans have deceived us! Regret over lost wealth. After all, in the public consciousness there is an idea that Alaska is a suitcase with treasures: gold, oil, fish, furs, forests, gas, fresh water. They remember Alaska if they want to once again scold the government. They say that Russia has always been ruled by bunglers, and all our troubles are caused by bad rulers. And so on and so forth. I do not seek to pronounce a final verdict on this historical-mathematical dispute. I want to take a closer look at this story because the story deserves it.
Historical part: Khodorkovsky would be jealous
There is a legend that Alaska was fucked up because of grammar. Catherine the Second was allegedly so illiterate that instead of “give for a century” (lease for 100 years), she wrote “give for ever” (forever). This cautionary tale It would be worth telling modern sales managers: this is what happens when you don’t know the rules for writing prepositions and adverbs! You can lose territories of one and a half million square kilometers. In fact, Alexander II sold Alaska. Did the tsar really irresponsibly squander the people's property or was the sale of Alaska a deliberate and most correct step at that time?
(flag of Russian America)
There were many reasons for selling Alaska. I will name the two most compelling ones.
First: economic. Alaska truly is a suitcase of treasures. But this suitcase is tightly locked. To get treasures, master and get income, you must first invest. At that time I had no money Russian state did not have. Crimean War emptied the treasury. Vast Siberia and the Far East also required development. There were catastrophically few Russians in Alaska - only 600-800 people who lived on the coastal territory. The Russian-American company that ran the colony (it was a semi-state, semi-private organization like Gazprom) traded coal, fish and even ice. Refrigerators had not yet been invented at that time. The main income came from the sale of furs. But valuable sea otters were immediately killed, seal skins were not highly valued, and foxes and beavers were bought from the Indians. All in all, the colony was unprofitable at that time.
(Baranov Alexander Andreevich, first ruler of Russian America)
Second: political. It's not enough to grab a suitcase with treasures. He still needs to be kept and protected. Indigenous people Alaska is made up of Eskimos and Indians. There was no particular trouble with the Eskimos. They were a peaceful people, they immediately submitted and were willing to be baptized. About 10% of Orthodox Christians still live in Alaska. This is more than in any American state. And now in modern Alaska there are places that will evoke nostalgia in any Russophile:
But the Indians were belligerent and constantly, to put it modern language, held a rally. Moreover, they used weapons that were sold to them by the cunning British and Americans. No less warlike American whalers were hanging around. When asked by the Russian government to calm down its thugs, the Americans shrugged their shoulders. Like, we can’t do anything, figure it out yourself. But most importantly: America, which at that time was still called the North American United States (USA), was actively expanding. As he put it Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov, “rounded” in all directions. There were times when Khodorkovsky would have been jealous. During the “rounding up”, the Americans inexpensively bought rich Louisiana from the French, and sunny California from the Mexicans. And when the Mexicans refused to sell Texas, the Americans took it by force. Sooner or later, “rounding” would have befallen Alaska. And not even because it was a suitcase with treasures. They didn’t yet know about billions of barrels of oil. (As some sources say, the Russians knew about gold, but wisely remained silent. Because they would hardly have been able to cope with the inevitable gold rush). The Americans did not at all like the prospect of having Russian territories at their side. The Russian government understood: if we don’t give up Alaska of our own free will, sooner or later they will take it away by force. Not the Americans, but the Japanese, who were already greedily looking at Sakhalin. Or the British. Russia would not be able to defend such a remote and vast territory with such small forces. Thus, the sale of Alaska in those conditions was a forced and most profitable step. And far from sudden: the Russian government pondered for almost 10 years before deciding to sell.
(signing of the agreement on the sale of Alaska. From left to right: Robert S. Chu, William G. Seward, William Hunter, Vladimir Bodisko, Eduard Stekl, Charles Sumner, Frederick Seward)
At first, the Americans, as they say, did not understand their happiness and did not want to buy a colony. Firstly, there was no money. The civil war has barely ended, which left sensitive holes in the budget. Secondly, the acquisition seemed dubious. The Americans did not know about gold. American newspapers called Alaska “an ice chest” and “Morger Russia.” But I repeat: the potential threat to Alaska remained strong. Everything was decided by an almighty means - a bribe. The Russian Ambassador to the USA Eduard Stekl paid US senators 144 thousand dollars. Corruption was the engine of history even then.
Math part: suitcase with oil and gas
If the decision to sell was well thought out, then the implementation of the plan was limping on both legs. Alaska was sold for 7 million 200 thousand dollars. In modern terms, it’s $3.19 per hectare. For next to nothing, it's true. Gold subsequently mined in Alaska costs 2 and a half thousand more. This is just regular gold. I’m not talking about “black gold” and gas. And yes: the Americans deceived us. The agreement stipulated that the USA had to pay in gold bullion. In violation of the terms of the agreement, the Americans got off with a check for a smaller amount. And paper banknotes were then valued much lower than weighty gold bars. In addition, part of the money paid for Alaska did not reach St. Petersburg: 144 thousand for bribes, 10 thousand for an urgent telegram to the Tsar (it’s a pity, there was no Internet at that time), Stekl received 21 thousand as a reward. It was an unprofitable, inglorious, but necessary deal under those conditions.
(check for sale of Alaska)
By purchasing Alaska, America acquired a very substantial suitcase. The territory of the future economic power has grown significantly: the area of Alaska is equal to a fifth of the entire continental United States. The Alaskan oil field is on par with those in Western Siberia and on the Arabian Peninsula. Americans produce 20% of their oil in Alaska. Gas reserves are estimated at 53 trillion cubic meters. The state is in second place in gold production in the United States and produces 8% of all American silver. The suitcase contains the richest reserves of zinc, coal, copper, iron, nickel and rare earth metals. In addition, it is full of fish, fur-bearing animals, forests and fresh water.
Resources and challenges
I came across an interesting article from the Washington Post. The author proposes to sell Alaska to Russia.
Why? Because owning an Alaskan suitcase with treasures is still expensive and troublesome. Treasures in particular black gold, tucked away in the northern part of the state. This is a subarctic climate zone. There is no summer there. average temperature January - minus 30-40 degrees. And also permafrost. Oil production under such conditions is expensive and labor-intensive. This time. Further. Alaska is very beautiful nature and many rare birds and animals. The existing environmental lobby in the United States does not allow business Americans to put their hands into this suitcase properly. About a billion barrels of oil and 53 trillion cubic kilometers of gas are located within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Mining is prohibited there. In 2003, in order to get America off the oil import needle, George Bush tried to get the ban lifted, but he was given a slap on the wrist. Other sources claim that Bush himself abandoned this idea and turned his attention to Iraq. What resulted in the infamous wars “for democracy”. As the author of the article writes, the sale of Alaska would save Americans from eternal squabbles over endangered birds, reindeer and petrodollars.
The development of Alaska is still difficult and expensive. To this day, the state remains the most sparsely populated in America. Alaska constantly requires cash injections from the center. According to the Washington Post, for every dollar Alaska pays in taxes, the state receives almost $2 in subsidies and subsidies. Alaska residents do not pay income or sales taxes. Property taxes are the lowest in the United States.
Generous subsidies and low taxes awakened Alaskans' self-awareness and, at the same time, separatism. The Alaska People's Front operates in the state and demands independence. Following the example of the USA, which was once a colony of Great Britain. The Americans turned Alaska into a raw materials appendage. Residents of the state are deprived of the opportunity to manage their own wealth. According to representatives of the Popular Front , politicians and businesses from Washington are profiting from the Alaskan suitcase.(The parallel with Moscow and the regions suggests itself, doesn’t it?) The enterprising and numerous Chinese, who have long been interested in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, have not ignored Alaska. They are slowly populating the Land of the Midnight Sun, and Chinese businessmen with American citizenship support the liberation struggle of the People's Front. It is possible that, like Siberia, The Chinese are quietly planning to take over rich Alaska.
I wondered: should Russia buy Alaska if suddenly one fine and impossible day America decides to sell it? Undoubtedly, several tens of billions of barrels of oil and cubic meters of gas will not be out of place in our assets. And a certain number of missiles and military bases are right under the Americans’ soft side.
But it is worth considering that Along with black gold and reindeer, we also acquire problems: expensive and labor-intensive development, coupled with the environmental lobby, separatist sentiments and Chinese secret claims. Do we have enough funds, strength and skills to develop this region rich in resources and problems? Look at Siberia and the Far East. After the collapse of the USSR, the population fled from there. To develop Eastern Siberia and the East, we asked the Chinese for help. Maybe, if Alaska had remained ours, the same fate would have awaited it.
I in no way want to say that the Americans managed Alaska better than we would have done. I just want to remind those who loudly regret the criminally sold Alaska that, frankly speaking, the Land of the Midnight Sun does not belong to Russia. And not America. Alaska belongs to Alaskans . And before you sell or return, you need to ask the Alaskans themselves. Do they want to remain Americans, become Russians, or live on their own?
What do you think about Alaska?
The first Europeans in Alaska were the Russians - on August 21, 1732, members of the St. Gabriel" under the command of surveyor Gvozdev and navigator Fedorov. And the first settlement was also founded by our fur traders and whalers on Kodiak Island in 1784. However, the authorities considered that maintaining and protecting vast territories from British encroachments would be beyond the budget of the treasury, so they decided to sell the land. The ceremony for the official transfer of Alaska to the United States took place in Novoarkhangelsk(now Sitka).
Territory with an area of 1 million 519 thousand square meters went for 7.2 million dollars in gold, that is, 4.74 dollars per km². By comparison, at the same time, a single three-story county courthouse in central New York, built by the Tweed Gang, cost the New York State Treasury more than all of Alaska.
After 30 years, gold deposits were discovered there, the famous “gold rush” began, and in the 20th century large oil and gas deposits were discovered with total reserves worth 100 - 180 billion dollars. Today it is the largest and one of the richest states, largely due to its natural resources.
Gold, diamonds
The Klondike and the Gold Rush formed the basis of many literary works and films. It is estimated that from then until now almost 1,000 tons of gold have been exported from Alaska. This is mostly placer gold, although vein gold has also been found if it comes to the surface. In the 70s of the last century, gold mining enterprises were commissioned. Geologists have discovered rich deposits of diamonds, platinum, tantalum, and palladium here. In 1996, the Fort Knox gold mining plant was put into operation. It currently produces 500 thousand ounces (14 tons) of gold per year. And there are many such large giants here.
Non-ferrous metal ores
In addition to gold ores, Alaska also has ores of non-ferrous metals. The Red Dog deposit, with reserves of 25 million zinc, is the largest in the world. The ore here contains 19% zinc, 6% lead and 100 g/t silver, i.e. its quality exceeds the ores of all known deposits by 2-3 times.
Coal
Fuel, which used to be the mainstay, has now faded into the background. But nevertheless, the need for coal remains quite high, and there are a number of industries where it is impossible to do without it. At current rates of consumption, US coal reserves should last for several hundred years. Almost 1.5 million tons of coal are mined annually in Alaska. A potential source of energy is methane contained in coal seams.
Oil
Alaska's economy relies primarily on oil production. About 80% of the state's annual income comes from the oil industry. About 25% of all oil produced in the United States of America is produced in the region of "white silence". A large pipeline runs through Alaska, stretching almost 1,300 kilometers from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Alaska. Since 1977, 10.5 thousand cubic meters of oil pass through it every hour.
Fish
Alaska is one of the few states that is not dependent on manufacturing. The largest sectors of private enterprise are fishing and the seafood industry. There are more than 3 million lakes and 3 thousand rivers in Alaska. The Yukon River is the 3rd longest in the United States. Alaska actively exports fish and seafood, such as crabs, salmon, pollock, halibut, and shrimp. The local seafood is considered environmentally friendly and is appreciated by gourmets around the world.
