RUSSIA'S EARLY TITLE TO PARTS OF THE AMERICAN 



COAST. 



From a summary of wliat has been said iu tlie Case' on the subject of 

 early discovery and ownership of the territory surrounding- Bering- Sea, 

 it appears that prior to 1821 the Eussians were without question both 

 the lirst discoverers and settlers of all territory on its western and 

 southern boundary. As to its eastern boundary, they were the first to 

 visit a portion of it, and the subsequent discoveries of Cook were fol- 

 lowed up by Russian expeditions, i^o nation save Russia ever claimed 

 this territory as its own. This she' did as early as the year 1799, when 

 she conferred ui)on the Russian American Company exclusive privileges 

 throughout its whole length; and it is not known that any jn-otest was 

 ever raised to this grant, whicli, furthermore, included the coast, already 

 largely settled by Russians, down to latitude 55° N. 



If further proof is required as to Russia's ownership not only of this 

 shore but also of the coast of the continent, at least as far west as 

 Prince William Sound or Takutat Bay, it is furnished by what follows. 



In a number of the London Quarterly Re^dew of 1822'^ it is said in ref 

 erence to tlie famous ukase of 1821: "Let us examine, however, what 

 claim Russia can reasonably set up to the territory in question. To 

 the two shores of Bering Sea we admit she would have an undoubted 

 claim, on the scope of i)riority of discovery, that on the side of Asia 

 Laving been visited by Deshnew in 1648, and that of America visited 

 by Bering in 1741, as far down as the latitude 51° and the peaked 

 mountain, since generally known by the name of Cape Fairweather; to 

 tlie southward of this i^oint, however, Russia has not the slightest 

 claim.'" 



In the North American Review for October, 1822, we find the follow- 

 ing: " We have no doubt but Russian l\ir-hunters formed establish- 

 ments, at an early period, on the Aleutian Islands and neighboring 

 coast of the continent; but we are equally certain that it can be clearly 

 demonstrated that no settlement was made eastward of Bering Bay 

 till the one at Norfolk Sound (Sitka), in 1799. The statements of Cook, 

 Vancouver, Mears (Mirs), Portlock, and La Perouse prove, what we 

 readily admit, that previous to 1786 the Russians had settlements on 

 tlie island of Kadiak and in Cook's River; l)ut we shall take leave to 

 use the same authorities to establish the fact that none of these settle- 

 ments extended so far east as Bering Bay.* 



Claret Fleurieu, in his iuti-oduction to the Voyage of Marchand,, pub- 



I Pp. 20-25. 

 * Vol. XXVI, p. 344. 



3 See also, to the samo effect, article in Quartoly Eoview for 1811, p. 2S5. 

 ^Sce alsi) North American lleview, March, ISU), p. 302: "At the settlement of 

 Norfolk Sound, iu latitude 57^ N., there are about 600 Kussiaua." 

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