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Fort Ross State Historic Park   

The staff and volunteers at Fort Ross find these academic and research papers to be of interest, as well as of use, to those interested in the activities and education of Russian, Alaskan, and California cultural groups and natural history of the Fort Ross region.

Fort Ross Interpretive Association is a wealth of current and up to date research information.

Forge and Falseworks: An Archaeological Investigation of the Russian American Company's Industrial Complex at Colony Ross.

I am Princess Anne Gagarin. I have been doing researches about my family.  I do have a picture of Elena and also a picture of her father. You can see that she looked like her father. Read her article and view the photos by viewing her website.

The Russian-American Company and the Northwest Fur Trade:
North American Scholarship, 1990-2000
In the past decade, much has been written in North America on topics that fall under the general theme "Russian America," topics ranging from various aspects of daily life in the colonies, Russian-Native relations, and Russian Orthodox missionization, to Russian scientific exploration and the Russian colonies in the context of international relations. Yet, in the midst of this wealth of information, it proves difficult to single out works that deal primarily with the Russian-American Company as a business enterprise, as a company engaged in the Northwest fur trade.

Death in the Daily Life of the Ross Colony: Mortuary Behavior on Frontier Russian America by Sannie Kenton Osborn. The appendix lists all persons known to have been stationed at Ross. these individuals and families were located during the course of my research of the archival and published literature. They are listed sequentially by ethnic group in the tradition of the Russian American Company: Russian, Yakuts, Foreigners, Creoles, Native Alaskan, Californian Indians, and persons believed to be other Russian or Creole by name or occupation but not clearly designated in the literature.

Daily Practice and Material Culture in Pluralistic Social Settings: An Archaeological Study of Culture Change and Persistence from Fort Ross, California. Journal article by Kent G. Lightfoot, Antoinette Martinez, Ann M. Schiff; American Antiquity, Vol. 63, 1998

Stranger in a Strange Land
By Dr. Sandra E. Hollimon and Daniel F. Murley In February, 1999, a visitor at Fort Ross State Historic Park noticed a skeletal remains eroding from the bank of Fort Ross Creek. After consultation with a representative of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, it was determined that this burial was an archaeological feature rather than a crime scene. The burial was then excavated and submitted for osteological analysis. Pictures of the reburial.

Meeting of Frontiers - Conference - University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, May 17-19, 2001 Program and Presentations - Conference - Participants About Meeting of Frontiers Sponsored by: The Library of Congress, Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks, The O pen Society Institute of Russia
Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences

Learning from Each Other: On a History of Russian-Native Contacts in Exploration and Mapping of Alaska and Aleutian Islands (late Eighteenth - early Nineteenth Centuries) Aleksei Postnikov, Institute for the History of Science and Technology, Russian Academy of Sciences

New Documents on the Russian-American Company Alexander Petrov,
Kennan Institute and Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences

The Russian American Company in Hawaii - Explore North
For a few years, Hawaii helped supply Russian trading posts in Alaska with food, as well as providing a market for Alaskan products.

Graham Priest, a traveler from England, visited Fort Ross. Here is what he had to say and an article he submitted with a history magazine in England.

History of the Fort Ross Chandelier
By Robin Joy – Park Interpretive Specialist
Fort Ross has so many wonderful stories of reconstruction, research efforts, archaeology, and of reproducing items of the past. The beautiful, yet very simple chandelier, which hangs in the Fort Ross chapel, is a true work of art.  Mr. Robert Fennell, the maker of this beautiful chandelier, tells the story of this authentic reproduction on a recent visit to Fort Ross State Historic Park.

WINDMILL'S NEW BREATH OF LIFE
RUSSIAN EXPERT COMMISSIONED TO MAKE BLUEPRINTS, MODEL FOR USE IN EVENTUAL CONSTRUCTION.

A Brief History of Sutter’s Bronze Field Cannon and A Brief History of John Sutter as interpreted by Stephen Beck -Archivist, Sacramento Historic Sites Association 
In 1841, John Sutter purchased Fort Ross from the Russian American Fur Company, and he acquired many of the materials and implements that went into the construction and development of Sutter’s Fort at New Helvetia.  Included in the purchase was a small brass field howitzer known now, and in the 1840’s, as the Sutter Gun. 

More than 1,000 books, studies, and reports are available online courtesy
of the National Park Service's History Program. 

Geology Of Salt Point State Park Sue Ellen Hirschfeld,  Ph. D. Professor Emerita  -Department of Geological Sciences California State University, East Bay  Salt Point State Park provides spectacular vistas of the ocean, with rugged offshore rocks and steep sea cliffs that take the full impact of the waves. The rocks are sculpted into an infinite variety of forms and shapes. Extending underwater, the rocks offer a range of habitats to a wide variety of marine plants and animals. What makes Salt Point State Park so special? What has created this unique landscape? We can look beneath the surface at the dramatic geologic processes that create this magnificent landscape.  To fully appreciate the geologic history of Salt Point State Park, it is helpful to understand how the rocks of the park formed and what dynamic processes were involved in the creation of the coastal mountains of California.