144 Alaskan Science Conference 



tion was stationary at about 400. In 1818 about 200 of them 

 were in Sitka and 75 in Kodiak. Thus, the average Russian 

 population for other villages at that time was about five while 

 some places actually had but one. That these people were 

 mostly men may be assumed. 



Russian and English Settlement: 1830-1867 



From 1830 to 1867 Russian interest in Alaska as a permanent 

 possession was maintained until near the end of the period. 

 New settlements were founded until 1845 and the annual "take" 

 of sea otter, fur-seal, and other pelts remained steady. 



Settlement spread to western Alaska in this period (fig. 2). 

 Like in the previous era most of the expansion was from Kodiak. 

 The main route was southwestward around the Alaska Penin- 

 sula to St. Michael, founded northeast of the mouths of the 

 Yukon River area. In the 1830's the work of missionaries of 

 the Russian Orthodox Church became significant and a few 

 new settlements were primarily religious centers (fig. 4). Min- 

 eral resources were investigated. Traces of gold and copper 

 were found and coal was mined temporarily near the mouth of 

 Cook Inlet but major deposits were not known. Too, a decree 

 in 1835 provided for the establishment of agricultural villages 

 (as the cheapest way of retiring employees of the fur company) 

 but Ninilchik, on Cook Inlet, is the only known result. In spite 

 of these varied interests, procuring sea otter and fur seal ap- 

 parently was still a, if not the, major motive for Russians being 

 in Alaska. This contention is supported by the Russian Ameri- 

 can Fur Company's continued requests for extension of charter 

 privileges and the fact that annual harvests of furs during this 

 period were still relatively high. After 1845, however, no new 

 settlements were founded by Russians (fig. 2). 



A general increase in Russian population was associated with 

 the four decades before the sale of Russian America (Refs. 1,2, 

 6, 10, 14, and 16, passim). The more reliable counts indicate a 

 growth from about 400 in 1830, to 650 in 1832, to 730 in 1836, 

 to a maximum of 784 in i860, and then a decrease to 577. This 

 population was a relatively large one to be 6500-7500 miles from 



