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102-480: The massive increase of hunting and trapping in the 19th century caused the near extinction of many species in the state by 1911, including the California golden beaver and California sea otter. The earliest record of fur being traded with Europeans in California was in 1733 of Spanish missionaries trading with tribes in upper and lower California for sea otter pelts. Just three years after Juan de Ayala sailed

204-696: A 200 x 40 m area." In addition, 13 surface features were identified and mapped in the Native Alaskan Village site. Two of these were excavated, leading to the unearthing of portions of a set of pit houses. These were referred to as the East Central and South Pit features. A redwood fence line outside the South Pit feature was also discovered, as well as several contextually rich deposits which contained dense concentrations of faunal elements and artifacts, with two in particular being found in

306-746: A coastal presence, in the Pacific Northwest , and Mexico was soon to gain independence. Mexico ceded Alta California to the United States of America following the Mexican–American War (1848). The history of the Russian Fort Ross settlement began during Spanish rule and ended under Mexican rule. The earliest people known to have lived at the site were there during the Upper Archaic period (1000 B.C. - A.D. 500) and

408-460: A different grave site. Based on the grave dimensions, it is estimated that half of the burials were children, who represented 47% of the population of Fort Ross by 1838. Studies show that disease was a common reason for death, as well as various accidents and drownings. Bodies were generally buried in redwood coffins, or at the very least, a cloth shroud. In 56% of graves, crosses or religious medallions were found. Other items that have been found in

510-474: A port at Bodega Bay called Port Rumyantsev ( порт Румянцев ), a sealing station on the Farallon Islands 18 miles (29 km) out to sea from San Francisco, and by 1830 three small farming communities called "ranchos" ( Ранчо ): Chernykh ( Ранчо Егора Черных , Rancho Egora Chernykh ) near present-day Graton , Khlebnikov ( Ранчо Василия Хлебникова , Rancho Vasiliya Khlebnikova ) a mile north of

612-425: A remote frontier outpost. At the conclusion of the project, all unearthed individuals were returned to their grave sites, and a religious reburial ceremony was conducted. When archaeologists began excavating the cemetery, there were many stakeholders they had to consider. Fort Ross is owned by the state of California and is operated by the department of parks and recreation, so they had to give permission in order for

714-734: A thousand sea otter skins which he sold in China for ten thousand dollars" and shared that "The Indians...at Monterey...catch them on land with snares...". La Perouse also said that "Antecedent to this year (1786) an otter's skin bore no higher value than two hare's skins; the Spanish never suspected that they would be much sought after." Apparently the Spanish had not earlier appreciated the value of furs, being from warmer climes, despite sea otter described in 1776 off Fort Point (then Cantil Blanco ) in San Francisco Bay by Father Pedro Font on

816-526: Is a California Historical Landmark , a National Historic Landmark , and on the National Register of Historic Places . It is part of California's Fort Ross State Historic Park . The present name of Fort Ross appears first on a French chart published in 1842 by Eugène Duflot de Mofras , who visited California in 1840. The name of the fort is said to derive from the Russian word rus or ros ,

918-503: Is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America in what is now Sonoma County, California . It was the hub of the southernmost Russian settlements in North America from 1812 to 1841. Notably, it was the first multi-ethnic community in northern California, with a combination of Native Californians , Native Alaskans , Russians , Finns , and Swedes . It has been the subject of archaeological investigation and

1020-569: Is currently undergoing restoration to reflect the recent research that shows a more cosmopolitan and refined aspect of colonial life at the Fort. The Fort Ross Chapel collapsed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake but much of the original structural woodwork remained and it was re-erected in 1916, but retained the appearance of the American ranch-period modifications when it was used as a stable. Several other restorations ensued, but none incorporated

1122-525: Is evidenced by the Spanish issuance of regulations to govern the collection of otter skins in California. The west coast fur trade enabled New England merchants to recover from the economic collapse which followed the American Revolutionary War , and was exacerbated by closure of British home and colonial ports to American trade. France sent La Pérouse to California in 1786 to investigate the fur trade opportunity and he "obtained about

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1224-484: Is showing population growth after ten years of low numbers. In 1991, only 16 individuals remained out of the original 139 from only a year prior, however, the current population is around 100 otters which follows the trend of other successful sea otter translocations. Both the California golden beaver and southern sea otter are considered keystone species , with a stabilizing and broad impact on their local ecosystems. Northern fur seals ( Callorhinus ursinus ) were one of

1326-410: Is to establish a [Russian] settlement there or in some other place not occupied by Europeans, and to introduce agriculture there by planting hemp, flax and all manner of garden produce; they also wish to introduce livestock breeding in the outlying areas, both horses and cattle, hoping that the favorable climate, which is almost identical to the rest of California, and the friendly reception on the part of

1428-595: The Atlantic Ocean , then around or across the Americas to reach the Pacific Ocean . The Russian expansion , however, moved east across Siberia and the northern Pacific. In the early nineteenth century, Spanish and Russian expansion met along the coast of Spanish Alta California , with Russia pushing south and Spain pushing north. By that time, British and American fur trade companies had also established

1530-734: The Baja California peninsula . The American ships Albatross under Nathan Winship O'Cain under his brother Jonathan Winship were sent from Boston in 1809 to establish a settlement on the Columbia River. In 1810, they met up with two other American ships at the Farallon Islands , the Mercury and the Isabella , and at least 30,000 seal skins were taken. By 1822, the Farallons' fur seal hunt had diminished to 1,200 annually and

1632-513: The De Anza Expedition . Font wrote, "I beheld a prodigy of nature, which is not easy to describe.... We saw the spouting of young whales, a line of dolphins or tunas, besides seals and otters ..." However, they mounted a major commercial otter hunting enterprise in California when Vicente Vasadre y Vega arrived just one month before La Perouse, and implemented a plan whereby all otter skins had to be sold to him and they quickly recruited

1734-542: The Golden Gate on 5 August 1775, with some difficulty and great caution because of the tides. He tried a number of anchorages, finding that off Angel Island was most satisfactory, but failed to make contact, as he had hoped, with Anza's party. Ayala put up a wooden cross where he landed the first night. The San Carlos remained in the Bay until 18 September, returning to San Blas via Monterey. Ayala's subsequent report to

1836-589: The Guadalupe River , and then traversed the south Bay to colonize Coyote Creek in East San Jose and up to Matadero Creek in Palo Alto . The spring 2019 sea otter survey counted 2,962 sea otters in the central California coast, down from an estimated pre-fur trade population of 16,000. California's sea otters are the descendants of a single colony of about 50 southern sea otters discovered near

1938-591: The Hudson's Bay Company provided food for the Alaskan settlements, the Russians abandoned Fort Ross in 1841. By the end of the 19th century, California sea otters had been hunted to near extinction. The US government began to manage sea otter as a valuable natural resource in 1911. However, due to the previous two centuries of unregulated exploitation of the species, it was uncertain whether they would be able to revive

2040-590: The Kad'yak and returned to Novoarkhangelsk (Sitka) with beaver skins and over 2,000 sea otter pelts. They settled Fort Ross and vicinity in order to pursue the animals in the region and to provide food for their Alaskan settlements. In his 1896 history of the Russian settlement of California, Thompson wrote of Kuskov's first voyage to Bodega Bay in 1809: "After carefully exploring the surrounding country, some temporary buildings were erected, some otter and beaver skins were procured, and friendly relations were established with

2142-674: The Köppen climate classification system, Fort Ross has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb). In January, average temperatures range from 57.0 °F (13.9 °C) to 41.5 °F (5.3 °C). In July, average temperatures range from 66.3 °F (19.1 °C) to 47.8 °F (8.8 °C). September is actually the warmest month with average temperatures ranging from 68.1 °F (20.1 °C) to 48.7 °F (9.3 °C). There are an average of only 0.2 days with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher and 5.8 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. The record high temperature

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2244-779: The Napa Sonoma Marsh in north San Pablo Bay , the Napa River , and Sonoma Creek . These beaver likely emigrated from the Delta which once sustained the densest beaver populations in North America. In addition, beaver were re-introduced in the 1930s by the California Department of Fish and Game to Pescadero Creek and sometime before 1993 in Lexington Reservoir in the south San Francisco Bay area, where they have colonized Los Gatos Creek , then

2346-486: The Viceroy , Frey Don Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursua . Bucareli sent him to San Blas where he took command of the schooner Sonora , part of a squadron under the general command of Don Bruno de Heceta , in the frigate Santiago . The squadron sailed from San Blas early in 1775. However, when they were lying outside San Blas about to set out, the commander of the packet ship San Carlos , Don Miguel Manrique,

2448-442: The 1790s American ships dominated the coastal fur trade south of Russian America. In fact, Bostonian ships dominated the fur trade between California and China through the 1820s, when the sea otter supply was exhausted, and well before the first American mountain man, Jedediah Smith pioneered overland to California in pursuit of beaver pelts in 1826. The Russian-American Company 's Ivan Kuskov sailed into Bodega Bay in 1809 on

2550-689: The 19th and early 20th century included Russians , Ukrainians , Poles , Belarusians , Finns , Baltic Germans , Estonians , Lithuanians , Latvians , Georgians , Circassians , Tatars , and numerous other nationalities and ethnic groups of the Russian Empire ), as well as North Pacific Natives, Aleuts , Kashaya ( Pomo ), and Alaskan Creoles . The native populations of the Sonoma and Napa County regions were affected by smallpox , measles and other infectious diseases that were common across Asia, Europe, and Africa. One instance can be traced to

2652-478: The Alaskan colonies initially arrived in California aboard American ships. In 1803, American ship captains already involved in the sea otter maritime fur trade in California proposed several joint venture hunting expeditions to Alexander Andreyevich Baranov , on half shares using Russian supervisors and native Alaskan hunters to hunt fur seals and otters along the Alta and Baja Californian coast. Subsequent reports by

2754-848: The Christian Indians at the Missions to bring in pelts. Vasadre sailed to San Blas on November 28, 1786 with 1,060 otter skins, to be shipped to the Philippines on the Manila galleons . Robert Gray , captain of the ship Columbia rediscovered the mouth of the Columbia River in 1792 on his second voyage to the Pacific Coast. Although the Spanish explorer Bruno de Heceta came to the river's mouth in 1775, no other explorer or fur trader had been able to find it since. By

2856-682: The Coast of California, and to Examine the Port of San Francisco". Don Fernando Rivera y Moncada had already marked the point for a mission in what is now San Francisco , and a land expedition to establish Spanish rule over the area, under Juan Bautista de Anza had been sent northwards. Ayala, then a Lieutenant was one of those assigned to the naval expedition. He arrived in Vera Cruz in August, 1774 and proceeded to Mexico City to receive orders from

2958-771: The Colony in 1833, when it was feared that a malaria epidemic which had devastated the Central Valley was carried by its members. In 1837 a very deadly epidemic of smallpox that came from this settlement via New Archangel wiped out most native people in the Sonoma and Napa County regions. Between 1824 and 1836 the Mexicans found during every exploratory effort north of present-day San Rafael and west of Sonoma increasing evidence of Russian presence. They discovered at least three Russian farms that had been established inland from Fort Ross. Governor José Figueroa wanted to counter

3060-860: The Fort Ross Cemetery, located on a ridge adjacent to the settlement, was cleared and 135 gravesites were identified by archaeological excavations. The project was undertaken in collaboration with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), the Kodiak Area Native Association, the Kashaya Pomo , the Bodega Miwok , and the California Native American Heritage Commission. The graves were mostly contained in

3162-672: The Fort Ross Elementary School at its center. Starting from 2012, Fort Ross Conservancy has been hosting the Fort Ross Dialogue annual international conference on US–Russian Relations and Fort Ross Festival, co-sponsored by Transneft , Chevron and Sovcomflot. The first Russia-based meeting within the framework of the Dialogue was held in Pskov (Russian Federation) on 29 and 30 May 2017. The first day of

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3264-526: The Fort. CA 1 once bisected Fort Ross. It entered from the northeast where the Kuskov House once stood, and exited through the main gate to the southwest. The road was eventually diverted, and the parts of the fort that had been demolished for the road were rebuilt. The old roadway can still be seen going from the main gate to the northwest; the rest (within the fort and extending northeast) has been removed. CA 1 moved to its current alignment sometime in

3366-456: The Forum was marked by the panel discussion "Towards each other: Russian trailblazers and American pioneers: similarities and dissimilarities of Russian and US experience in arranging museum operations, financing structure, role of the state and private business in promoting cultural sites". On the second day, the forum participants representing business circles and the expert community of Russia and

3468-729: The Gulf of Rumyantsev or Rumyantsev Bay ( залив Румянцева , Zaliv Rumyantseva ) in honor of the Russian Minister of Commerce Count Nikolai Petrovich Rumyantzev . He also named the Russian River the Slavic River ( Славянка , Slavyanka ). On his return, Kuskov found American otter hunting ships and otter now scarce in Bodega Bay. After exploring the area they ended up selecting a place 15 miles (24 km) north that

3570-567: The Indians". Before establishing a southern colony at Fort Ross , the Russian-American Company contracted with American ships beginning in 1810, providing them with Aleuts and baidarkas (kayaks) to hunt otter on the coast of Spanish California. From 1810 to 1812, Americans contracted to the Russians snuck Aleuts into San Francisco Bay multiple times, despite the Spanish capturing or shooting them while hunting sea otters in

3672-600: The Lower Emergent period (A.D. 1000 - 1500), but the main occupation began at A.D. 1500 and continued through 1812. Archaeological and ethnographic evidence suggest that the Native Californians lived in large and mostly permanent villages. In summer months, they had "special purpose camps" they would go to in order to get certain resources. This area was one of such camps, used for its access to tidal and marine resources. Ethnographic evidence suggests that

3774-555: The Port of San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico. Ayala was born in Osuna , Andalucía , Spain . He entered the Spanish navy on 19 September 1760, and rose to achieve the rank of captain by 1782. He retired (on full pay on account of his achievements in California) on March 14, 1785. In the early 1770s, the Spanish royal authorities ordered an exploration of the north coast of California, "to Ascertain if there were any Russian Settlements on

3876-774: The Russian hunting parties of uncolonized stretches of coast encouraged Baranov, the Chief Administrator of the Russian-American Company (RAC), to consider a settlement in California north of the limit of Spanish occupation in San Francisco. In 1806 the Russian Ambassador to Japan, and RAC director Nikolay Rezanov , undertook an exploratory trade mission to California to establish a formal means of procuring food supplies in exchange for Russian goods in San Francisco. While guests of

3978-414: The Russian mills significant is that they were the first windmills in California. The Russian stolbovki needed a very large center post which was sunk into the ground and supported the transverse pole. The transverse pole was rotated by the wings of the mill that faced the wind current. Archaeologists are searching for the remains of this center post, which would have left a significant indentation in

4080-518: The Russians sought permission from the Spanish and the Mexican governments to hunt further and further south of San Francisco. In 1824, Russian-American Fur Company agent and writer Kiril Timofeevich Khlebnikov contracted with Captain John Cooper to take several of their hunting baidarkas on his trading schooner Rover along with Aleut hunters to hunt sea otter as far south as the 30th parallel on

4182-554: The Russians suspended the hunt for two years. Although American ships had already exploited the islands, the Russians maintained a sealing station in the Farallon Islands from 1812 to 1840, taking 1,200 to 1,500 fur seals annually. From 1824 on, the subsequent catch continued a steady decline until only about 500 could be taken annually; within the next few years, the seal was extirpated from the islands. The California fur trade ended as fur-bearers of all kinds were depleted in

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4284-569: The Russians thought that everyone buried in the cemetery, including the Kashaya and Alaskan natives, were a part of the Orthodox religion, meaning they had converted. However, many of the Kashaya did not agree with this; they had oral accounts saying that the Kashaya had moved bodies from the Russian cemetery to be buried in a more traditional manner. (Kashaya traditional burial requires that the bodies be cremated.) While some elders were curious about

4386-988: The Russians' gradual encroachment in Northern California. In 1834, he granted Rancho Petaluma to Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo . In 1835 he appointed Vallejo as Comandante of the Fourth Military District and Director of Colonization of the Northern Frontier, the highest military command in Northern California , and encouraged him to build the Presidio of Sonoma . To extend the settlements in the direction of Fort Ross, Vallejo granted his brother-in-law, Captain John B. R. Cooper , who had married his sister Encarnacion, Rancho El Molino (about 17,892-acre (72.41 km )). The grant

4488-619: The Russians, is located inland on Fort Ross Road in Sonoma County. Fort Ross is now a part of Fort Ross State Historic Park , open to the public. In addition to fishing, hiking, surfing, exploring tide pools, picnicking, whale watching, and bird watching, the Park has become a popular destination for scuba divers , some of whom visit Fort Ross Reef . The wreckage of the SS Pomona lies just offshore Fort Ross State Park. In 1990–1992

4590-401: The Sakhalin Regional Museum, and the Kodiak Area Native Association. In 1998 and 1989, an encompassing survey of the original 2.8 square kilometer property of Fort Ross Historic State Park was done to determine the size, layout, and archaeological components of native settlements, before and after the establishment of Fort Ross. After dividing the park into a dozen survey blocks in the area of

4692-421: The Spanish, Rezanov's captain, Lt. Khvostov, explored and charted the coast north of San Francisco Bay and found it completely unoccupied by other European powers. Upon his return to Novoarkhangelsk (New Archangel), Rezanov recommended to Baranov, and the Emperor Alexander, that a settlement be established in California. This settlement [Ross] has been organized through the initiative of the Company. Its purpose

4794-406: The U.S. reviewed the interaction potential between the two nations in energy industry at the panel discussion "The energy sector as an important element Russian and USA geopolitics". On June 1, 1932, Fort Ross was designated "California Historical Landmark #5". The 3,000 acre site was purchased in 1906 by the State of California, to preserve the archaeological remains of the area. Later, more land

4896-434: The Viceroy gave a full account of the geography of the bay, and stressed its advantages as a harbour (chiefly the absence of "those troublesome fogs which we had daily in Monterey, because the fogs here hardly reach the entrance of the port, and once inside the harbor, the weather is very clear.") and the friendliness of the local Native American people. On 12 August 1775, Ayala gave the name Isla de Alcatraces , "island of

4998-458: The area where Fort Ross would be located was a large part of Kashaya Pomo territory. Their name for the site was "Metini". Their exact arrival date is unknown, but according to linguistic and archaeological data, they moved to Metini sometime between 1,000 and 500 B.C. Archaeological data shows that the Kashaya Pomo increased their subsistence activities upon arrival at this site and gained greater diversity in their tool kits. Russian personnel from

5100-435: The area. Fort Ross was the site of California's first windmills and shipbuilding. Russian scientists associated with the colony were among the first to record California's cultural and natural history. The Russian managers introduced many European innovations such as glass windows, stoves, and all-wood housing into Alta California. Together with the surrounding settlement, Fort Ross was home to Russian subjects (which during

5202-406: The arrival of the Russian Orthodox community and their religious beliefs. The cemetery served as a burial ground for both Russians and native people, showing no differentiation of rank or status. Out of the 135 graves excavated, 131 had human remains, and four were empty. The empty graves may have been due to poor preservation of human remains or possibly, the earlier removal of the human remains to

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5304-419: The base of the cliff and from refuse being discarded over the cliff from the Native Alaskan Village. Fort Ross colony had five administrators: Along with its status as a National Historic Landmark , the fort itself and the surrounding area are part of Fort Ross State Historic Park . Fort Ross also designates the small rural community that exists between the towns of Cazadero , Jenner , and Gualala , with

5406-411: The cemetery. The Russian Orthodox Church was also involved because the fort was a Russian outpost; however, there were two separate groups within the church that both laid claim to the cemetery, so archaeologists consulted with them both as to avoid friction. With all of these different groups involved, there were a few conflicting views on what to do with the remains and how to treat them. For instance,

5508-415: The coast of California is estimated to be around 34,000 individuals. Juan de Ayala Juan Manuel de Ayala y Aranza (28 December 1745 – 30 December 1797) was a Spanish Navy officer who played a significant role in the European exploration of California , as he and the crew of his ship San Carlos were the first Europeans known to have entered the San Francisco Bay , having sailed there from

5610-447: The discovery of a wide range of faunal remains from domesticated, terrestrial, and sea mammals to fish, birds, and shells of several organisms. Among other finds, a multitude of historical ceramics, lithics, glass beads, glass beverage container fragments, bone artifacts were discovered, as well as debitage from bone tool production. Investigation led to the belief that the site was formed for the most part by activities which had occurred at

5712-403: The estuaries of San Jose , San Mateo , and San Bruno and around Angel Island . Kuskov, this time in the schooner Chirikov , returned to Bodega Bay in 1812; finding otter now scarce, he sent a party of Aleuts to San Francisco Bay where they met another Russian party and an American party and caught 1,160 sea otters in three months. By 1817, sea otters in the area were practically eliminated and

5814-473: The excavation to occur. Also, the Fort Ross Interpretive Association (FRIA), who work with the park to communicate the history to the public were a part of it. Since Native American remains were involved, archaeologists had to get permissions from the nearest descendants they could find; in this case, it was the Kashaya Pomo. Another group that had a part in the excavation was the Kodiak Area Native Association (KANA), because remains of Alaskan natives were buried in

5916-431: The excavation, to see if the archaeological evidence supported their accounts of Kashaya being removed, the majority did not want their burials excavated. Archaeologists agreed, and said they would do their best to not excavate any Kashaya graves—and if they did, they would rebury them. Later analysis would show that none of the exhumed graves were Kashaya. In contrast, the Russians supported the excavations, but wanted all of

6018-406: The exception of substance hunting by Indigenous Americans. The seals began to recolonize the Farallon Islands in 1996. In contrast, the Pacific Harbor seal ( Phoca vitulina richardsi) is considered a species of least concern for endangerment of extinction. Their pelts were not nearly as popular as the otter or beaver. According to the Marine Mammal Center, the population of Pacific Harbor Seals off

6120-473: The field seasons of 1992 and 1993. Referred to as the East Central, South, and Abalone Dump “Bone Beds,” after extensive 3D mapping of these deposits, crews cataloged thousands of shells, bones, fire-cracked rocks, chipped-stone, ground-stone, glass, metal, and ceramic. These deposits led to the detection of several houses that had been abandoned, and thus were interpreted as being household dumps. The Fort Ross Beach site saw subsurface testing which led to

6222-462: The first half of the nineteenth century. After sailing up and down the California coast, Richard Henry Dana recorded on May 8, 1836 at his last stop in San Diego how the trade in cattle hides had overtaken the fur trade: "Our forty thousand [cattle] hides and thirty thousand horns, besides several barrels of otter and beaver skins, were all stowed below, and the hatches calked down." As the marine fur-bearers became too depleted to hunt and contracts with

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6324-430: The first ship to pass through the Golden Gate in 1775, North America's Pacific Coast fur trade began, but not by the Spanish who had sailed the California coast since João Rodrigues Cabrilho 's voyage in 1542 and Sebastián Vizcaíno 's mapping of coastal California in 1602. It began in 1778 with Captain James Cook 's third voyage, when otter skins were obtained at Nootka Sound on the Northwest Coast and, although Cook

6426-415: The first species to become protected through legislation with an international Fur Seal Treaty in 1911 which banned hunting fur seals in the ocean. The Marine Mammal Protection Act identifies the Northern Fur Seal population as depleted with the California population of fur seals estimated to be around 14,000. In 1966, the United States Congress passed the Fur Seal Act which banned the hunting of fur seals with

6528-459: The frontier which he was trying to maintain against Indians, Russians, Americans and British." Sutter persuaded Governor Alvarado to grant him 48,400 acres (19,600 ha) of land for the sake of curtailing American encroachment on the Mexican territory of California. Sutter was given the right to "represent in the Establishment of New Helvetia all the laws of the country, to function as political authority and dispenser of justice, in order to prevent

6630-489: The graves have included buttons, glass beads, earrings, dishes, and cloth. Unfortunately, the bones were not preserved very well due to the soil having a high level of acidity. Furthermore, redwood tends to be acidic, so this contributed to the lower levels of bone preservation. In consultation with Reverend Vladimir Derugin of the ROC, researchers were able to confirm that the burial practices followed traditional Russian Orthodox canon and norms, despite having been conducted in

6732-401: The ground. In October 2012 a modern interpretation of one of Fort Ross' windmills was erected and placed near the parking lot and visitors center of the State Historic Park. The windmill was built completely by hand, using the same methods that were presumed to have been used in the days of the Russian American settlement. Its pieces were constructed in Russia and shipped to California, where it

6834-454: The historical period including the Russian occupation of Fort Ross. Designated CA-SON-1897/H and CA-SON-1898/H respectively, the Native Alaskan Village site and the Fort Ross Beach Site are two sites of particular interest. The former is situated on top of a raised marine terrace and located 30 meters south of the Russian stockade, and the latter resides below the former, traversing a cliff face 30 meters long. The Native Alaskan Village site

6936-479: The indigenous people, will assist in its success. Fort Ross was established by Commerce Counselor Ivan Kuskov of the Russian-American Company. In 1808 Baranov sent two ships, the Kad'yak and the Sv. Nikolai , on an expedition south to establish settlements for the RAC with instructions to bury "secret signs" (possession plaques). Kuskov, on the Kad'yak , was instructed to bury the plaques, with an appropriate possession ceremony, at Trinidad, Bodega Bay, and on

7038-414: The information in Voznesensky's 1841 water-colour which portray the chapel with copper-clad cupola and tower, and red-metal roof. "The Fort Ross Chapel was found eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1969, architecturally significant as a rare U.S. example of a log church constructed on a Russian quadrilateral plan. An accidental fire destroyed the chapel on October 5, 1970. This loss of

7140-400: The main cemetery, located across the fort and in view of the chapel; however, two grave sites were found outside of this area. Russian Orthodox tradition states that the deceased must be buried in view of a chapel, so it was unexpected to find people buried out of view of it. It is not known why these people were buried outside the main cemetery, but it is possibly because they were buried before

7242-477: The mid–late 1970s. Most of the existing buildings on the site are reconstructions. Cooperative research efforts with Russian archives will help to correct interpretive errors present in structures that date from the Cold-War period. The only original structure remaining is the Rotchev House . Known as the "Commandant's House" from the 1940s through the 1970s, it was the residence of the last manager, Aleksandr Rotchev . Renovated in 1836 from an existing structure, it

7344-457: The mouth of Bixby Creek along California's Big Sur coast in 1938; their principal range is now from just south of San Francisco to Santa Barbara County . The US Geological Survey reports that the 5 year trend for sea otter population counts for the northern range was positive at 9.4 percent growth per year while the southern edge of the range had minimal growth at 0.55 percent per year. A colony of translocated sea otters near San Nicholas Island

7446-504: The native Kashaya Pomo people called Mad shui nui or Metini . Metini , the seasonal home of the Kashaya Pomo, had a modest anchorage and abundant natural resources and would become the Russian settlement of Fortress Ross. Fort Ross was established as an agricultural base from which the northern settlements could be supplied with food, while also continuing trade with Alta California. Yet during its initial ten years of operations

7548-469: The northern end of the blockade, which was most likely used to grind wheat and barley flour. Based on the descriptions given by people who visited Fort Ross, it has been concluded that the main windmill, located outside the blockade, was the traditional style Russian stolbovki . The root word "stolb" means thick vertical pole. At the time, the only mills in California, which was under Spanish/Mexican rule, were either water or animal powered. What made

7650-586: The original workmanship and materials of the chapel led to withdrawal of the Chapel's Landmark designation in 1971. A complete reconstruction of the chapel was undertaken in 1973 and the Fort Ross settlement, as a whole, retains its National Historic Landmark designation." The current chapel was built during the intensive restoration activity that followed, but retains the American ranch period appearance. A large orchard , including several original trees planted by

7752-539: The pelicans", and what is now Yerba Buena Island , "on account of the abundance of those birds that were on it." The name was transferred in 1826 to Alcatraz Island . The word "Alcatraz" comes from Spanish, which in turn was a probably a loan word from Arabic, القطرس al-qaṭrās meaning "sea eagle." The pelicans native to San Francisco Bay are brown pelicans . Fort Ross, California Fort Ross ( Russian : Форт-Росс , romanized :  Fort-Ross , крепость Росс , krepost' Ross , Kashaya : Metini )

7854-797: The population. In 2019, California State Legislature passed a bill banning the manufacturing, import, and sale of new fur products in the state. The law went into effect beginning January 1, 2023. California golden beaver are recolonizing the Bay Area by traversing north San Francisco Bay (from east to west) : Kirker Creek in the Dow Wetlands of Pittsburg , Fairfield Creek in Cordelia , Alhambra Creek in Martinez , Southampton Creek in Benicia State Recreation Area ,

7956-568: The post "provided the company with nothing but heavy expenses for its maintenance." Fort Ross itself was the hub of a number of smaller Russian settlements comprising what was called "Fortress Ross" on official documents and charts produced by the Company itself. Colony Ross referred to the entire area where Russians had settled. These settlements constituted the southernmost Russian colony in North America and were spread over an area stretching from Point Arena to Tomales Bay . The colony included

8058-557: The present day town of Bodega in the Salmon Creek valley, and Kostromitinov ( Ранчо Петра Костромитинова , Rancho Petra Kostromitinova ) on the Russian River. In addition to farming and manufacturing, the Company carried on its fur-trading business at Fort Ross, but by 1817, after 20 years of intense hunting by Spanish, American and British ships—followed by Russian efforts—sea otters had been practically eliminated from

8160-407: The reconstructed stockade complex, a pedestrian survey of each respective block was undertaken to detect any archaeological remnants. Thirty sites were recorded, mapped, and underwent surface collection. Including the use of historical maps and any presence of temporally-sensitive project point and historical artifact types, several methods were used in determining the chronology of sites; however, this

8262-508: The remains reburied in the graves from which they came. Much archaeological research has been done at Fort Ross, more recently in search of the windmills . The historical record states there were at least three windmills, possibly four, although the fourth may have been a watermill or a man- or animal-powered mill. The windmills have gained much attention because various accounts of their exact locations are sometimes inconsistent and vague. There was, in fact, one windmill located not far from

8364-519: The robberies committed by adventurers from the United States, to stop the invasion of savage Indians, and the hunting and trading by companies from the Columbia (river)." He named the settlement New Helvetia . In an 1841 inventory for John Sutter describes the settlement surrounding the fort: "twenty-four planked dwellings with glazed windows, a floor and a ceiling; each had a garden. There were eight sheds, eight bathhouses and ten kitchens." By 1839,

8466-539: The same root as the word "Russia" ( Pоссия , Rossiya ) (Fort Ross ( Russian : Форт-Росс, Kashaya mé·ṭiʔni ), originally Fortress Ross ( pre-reformed Russian : Крѣпость Россъ, tr. Krepostʹ Ross ), ). According to William Bright , "Ross" is a poetic name for a Russian in the Russian language. Beginning with Columbus in 1492, the Spanish presence in the Western Hemisphere traveled west across

8568-504: The settlement at Fort Ross was no longer needed to supply the Alaskan colonies with food. The Russian-American Company consequently offered the settlement to various potential purchasers, and in 1841 it was sold to John Sutter , a Mexican citizen of Swiss origin, soon to be renowned for the discovery of gold at his lumber mill in the Sacramento valley. Although the settlement was sold for $ 30,000 to Sutter, some Russian historians assert

8670-462: The settlement of Fort Ross. However, the first vaccination in California history was carried out by the crew of the Kutuzov , a Russian-American Company vessel arriving from Callao, Peru which brought vaccine to Monterey in August, 1821. The Kutuzov's surgeon vaccinated 54 persons. Another instance of disease prevention was when a visiting Hudson's Bay Company hunting party was refused entry to

8772-553: The settlement's agricultural importance had decreased considerably, the local population of fur-bearing marine mammals had been long depleted by international over-hunting, and the recently secularized California missions no longer supplemented the agricultural needs of the Alaskan colonies. Following the formal trade agreement in 1838 between the Russian-American Company in New Archangel and Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver and Fort Langley for their agricultural needs,

8874-452: The shore north of San Francisco, indicating Russian claims to the land. After sailing into Bodega Bay in 1809 on the Kad'yak and returning to Novoarkhangelsk with beaver skins and 1,160 otter pelts, Baranov ordered Kuskov to return and establish an agricultural settlement in the area. After a failed attempt in 1811, Kuskov sailed the brig Chirikov back to Bodega Bay in March 1812, naming it

8976-704: The stockade and about 3 acres (12,000 m ) of land were purchased from the Call family by the California Historical Landmarks Commission . Three years later it was turned over to the State of California for preservation and restoration as a state historic monument. Since then, the state has acquired more of the surrounding land for preservation purposes. California Department of Parks and Recreation as well as many volunteers put extensive efforts into restoration and reconstruction work in

9078-514: The sum was never paid; therefore legal title of the settlement was never transferred to Sutter and the area still belongs to the Russian people. A recent Sutter biography however, asserts that Sutter's agent, Peter Burnett, paid the Russian-American Company agent William M. Steuart $ 19,788 in "notes and gold" on April 13, 1849, thereby settling the outstanding debt for Fort Ross and Bodega. Possession of Fort Ross passed from Sutter through successive private hands and finally to George W. Call. In 1903,

9180-500: The upper left-hand side. The supporting cribbing is covered in the 1841 rendition, and the proportions are noticeably different. The placement near the parking lot at Fort Ross also conflicts with archeologists' views of the actual site of the windmill as portrayed by Voznesensky. The Fort Ross Archeological Project began in the summer of 1988, directed by Professor Kent Lightfoot of the University of California, Berkeley. The purpose

9282-474: The use of artifact classes as published by the California Office of Historic Preservation. Faunal remains were identified to the most viable discrete taxon and element, with counts made of the minimum number of individuals. Of the 30 sites cataloged, 27 were used primarily by native Alaskans in addition to, or alternatively, native Californians. Of these 27, eight were determined to have belonged to

9384-462: The wear and tear that occurs simply from people visiting the site. The National Weather Service has maintained a cooperative weather station at Fort Ross for many years. Based on those observations, Fort Ross has cool, damp weather most of the year. Fog and low overcast is common throughout the year. There are occasional warm days in the summer, which also tend to be relatively dry except for drizzle from heavy fogs or passing showers. According to

9486-465: Was 97 °F (36 °C) on September 3, 1950. The record low temperature was 20 °F (−7 °C) on December 8, 1972. Average annual precipitation is 37.64 inches (956 mm), falling on an average of 81 days each year. The wettest year was 1983 with 71.27 inches (1.810 m) and the driest year was 1976 with 17.98 inches (457 mm). The wettest month on record was February 1998 with 21.68 inches (551 mm). The most rainfall in 24 hours

9588-567: Was confirmed by Governor Nicolás Gutiérrez in 1836. Upon his arrival in Alta California in 1839, John Sutter was attracted to the land near the Sacramento River . To obtain the land and permission to settle in the territory, he went to the capital at Monterey and requested a grant from Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado . Alvarado saw Sutter's plan of establishing a colony in the Central Valley as useful in "buttressing

9690-437: Was done primarily by the hydration band measurements of obsidian artifacts. The Obsidian Hydration Laboratory of Sonoma State University completed research of the hydration rates of several local sources of obsidian. 329 obsidian artifacts were collected from Fort Ross sites and analyzed by the laboratory. Sites were dated from the range of 6000-3000 B.C. to A.D. 1812 and onward. Further lithic materials were analyzed, employing

9792-413: Was fully assembled and now stands as the only working Russian windmill of this style. It has been pointed out, however, that this is a replica of a 19th or early 20th century Vologda Province windmill, and only bears a slight resemblance to the windmill recorded at Fort Ross in 1841 by Ilya Voznesensky . In Voznesensky's painting the roof is hipped rather than peaked, and there is no roofed exterior porch on

9894-696: Was killed in Hawaii on the way to China, his men were shocked at the high prices paid by the Chinese. A profit of 1,800% was made. In 1783, when John Ledyard reported in Connecticut that enormous profits could be made selling otter skins to China, New England began sending American ships to hunt sea otter, and later, beaver, on the Pacific coast as early as 1787. That the California fur trade had begun by 1785, just ten years after Ayala landed in San Francisco Bay ,

9996-517: Was purchased and the park now includes some of the surrounding lands which although not originally part of the compound, still hold valuable archaeological evidence. Fort Ross is located on the coast, meaning it is vulnerable to erosion and other natural processes, such as acidic soil, wildfires, and even the destruction of animals like gophers. The other possible disturbance comes from cultural processes; that is, humans and their actions. Harmful activities include illegal collecting and, more generally,

10098-539: Was taken ill - some sources say that he went mad. Ayala was ordered to take command of this larger vessel, sailed back to San Blas to land the unfortunate Manrique, and rejoined the squadron after a few days' sailing. Ayala was designated to pass through the strait and explore what lay within, while the Santiago and Sonora continued northwards. The San Carlos took on supplies at Monterey , leaving there on 26 July and then proceeding northwards. Ayala passed through

10200-429: Was the subject of an investigation into its spatial organization, seeing “topographic mapping of surface features, systematic surface collection and generation of artifact distribution maps, and geophysical investigations involving both magnetometer and soil resistance survey." The aforementioned surface collection resulted in the discovery of “glass beads, ceramics, projectile points, flakes, and worked bone artifacts over

10302-488: Was titled the "new commandant's house" in the 1841 inventory to differentiate it from the "old commandant's house" (Kuskov House). The Rotchev House, or in original documents, "Administrator's House", is at the center of efforts to "re-interpret" Russia's part in California's colonial history. The Fort Ross Interpretive Association has received several federally funded grants to restore both exterior and interior elements. While its exterior has been partially restored, its interior

10404-506: Was to “examine the nature, extent, and direction of cultural change among native workers in a pluralistic, hierarchically structured, mercantile colony.” In addition to the Archaeological Research Facility and Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, the project saw collaboration with the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Sonoma State University, Santa Rosa Junior College,

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