Geographical Settlement Planning-Alaska— Stone 139 



as is shown by the general continuity of the open arrow on 

 figure 2. Yet, attention was focused on Russian America. Also, 

 the Kodiak area was known, in the early 1780s, to be one in 

 which the fur-bearing marine animals were still abundant in 

 contrast to the badly depleted Aleutian Chain. Thus, the estab- 

 lishment of a village at Three Saints Bay was a logical eastward 

 step for organized fur purchasing operations. 2 



In 1792 the site of the first settlement at Three Saints Bay was 

 abandoned in favor of that at Kodiak village, then called St. 

 Paul. There timber was available as well as a suitable harbor. 

 Thence, representatives of two fur companies went northward 

 into the Cook Inlet region where each stymied the expansion 

 of the other. In the main, however, settlement spread eastward 

 (fig. 2) after the formation in 1797 of the great Russian Ameri- 

 can Fur Company whose Alaskan headquarters were at Kodiak 

 village. The movement was by a series of skips along the coast 

 to Sitka by 1800 and Fort Ross, California in 1812. The "back- 

 eddy" movement westward from Kodiak took place in the latter 

 part of the period. 



Two forces were behind the eastward advance of settlement 

 after 1784. One was the desire to find new sources of sea otter. 

 They were the most important resource to the Russians and fur 

 seal were second (fig. 3). By about 1790 the sea otter were 

 becoming scarce in the Kodiak area and westward. Thus, atten- 

 tion was directed eastward to new sources. The efforts were 

 worth it; annual returns in this period were the greatest in 

 Alaskan history. 



The other force leading to settlement was the will of Baranof, 

 the first manager of the Russian American Fur Company. The 

 company monopolized Alaska and Baranof sought to serve the 

 Czar by extending Russian holdings through his managerial 

 work. Some authorities (Ref. 11, p. 9) suggest that the Russian 



2 Two additional preliminary stages of settlement are bare possibilities. The 

 first is the possible discovery of Alaska in 499 A.D. by a Chinese explorer. The 

 second is the reported migration of Russians in the 16th century from the lower 

 Lena River in Siberia to an unknown site in the Territory. Neither requires 

 analysis at this time because each occurrence apparently is unrelated to the 

 continuous permanent settlement begun at Kodiak Island. 



