The story of Russian presence in early California is often hidden from view by the fog of history. This selection of letters, journal entries, and reports about the Russian colony Fort Ross and surrounding areas from 1803 to 1841 at last brings this world to life. Historical archaeologist Glenn J. Farris weaves these firsthand accounts into a deft chronicle of intrigue, endurance, and adventure. In words pulled up through the centuries, we witness a range of experiences that took place during the time Russians and Alaskan natives hunted, farmed, and traded along the wild coast of California. We see the unlikely love that blossomed between the diplomat Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov and the governor's daughter Concepción Argello; we learn that a Russian played a key role in the Chumash Revolt against the mission system and that another became the first alcalde of Santa Cruz; we encounter Russian hunting endeavors on the Farallones, where they set up a station to hunt fur seals and sea lions; we catch glimpses of the Kashaya Porno and Bodega Miwok with whom the Russians and Alaskans traded and intermarried. With much assistance from the Fort Ross Conservancy, and drawing on material from various California, U.S., and Russian archives-some of it published here for the first time-this book leads us into a surprising California, into a time thick with political tension and possibility. Book jacket.

1 --High Anxiety about Russians in the North Pacific and Spain's Stimulus to Settle Alta California, CA. 1768-1769 -- 7 -- 2 -- Sea Otter Poaching by Yankee Shipmasters Using Russians and Alaskan Natives, Starting in 1803 -- 11 -- 3 -- Visit by Rezanov in 1806 to Obtain Supplies for Alaska: The Start of a Series of Russian Visits to California -- 17 -- 4 -- The Russian American Company Moves into California -- 45 -- 5 -- Tarakanov and Chiefs Ióllo and Vallí: la and the Negotiations for Fort Ross -- 63 -- 6 -- Construction and Early Years of Fort Ross, 1812-1815 -- 75 -- 7 -- Trade With California by the Russian American Company, Particularly Khlebnikov -- 87 -- 8 -- Story of the Brigantine Lydia/Il'Mena -- 97 -- 9 -- Russian Round-the-World Adventurers Visit California, 1822-1824 -- 103 -- 10 -- Russian and Kodiak Deserters, Captives, and Martyrs: Bolcoff, Egorov, and St. Peter the Aleut -- 125 -- 11 -- Trips up the Russian (Slavianka) River (1820 and 1833) -- 139 -- 12 -- Botanists on Russian Expeditions to California in 1816 and 1824 -- 145 -- 13 -- The Transformation of Fort Ross's Primary Function from Fur Hunting to Agriculture and Light Industry -- 153 -- 14 -- Russian Interaction with the Neighboring Indians -- 183 -- 15 -- Foreign Visitors to Bodega Bay and Fort Ross -- 211 -- 16 -- The Russians Leave Fort Ross -- 281 -- 17 -- Russian Rediscovery of Fort Ross -- 301 -- 18 -- The Enduring Romance of Fort Ross -- 309 -- 19 -- Story of the "Kodiak Bell" At Mission San Fernando Rey -- 315 -- 20 -- Fort Ross in the Cold War, 1950-1951 -- 321.