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Olga - A Kodiak- Wife of Naneshkun Avvakum (a Kodiak) died August 1820. It is not known how she died.

Ayumin Mar'ya - A Kashaya - She had a daughter, Maria with the Russian Promyshlennik named Rodion Koroliov. He died December 9, 1820 of "some disease". Ayumin and Maria returned to her native village near Ross after his death.

Kunuchami - A Kashaya - She had a son, Izhuaok Peter, with a Koniag named Tlyualik Trofim.

Unitma - A Coast Miwok - She married a Chugach man named Sipak Ishkhatskiy. She died in September of 1821 for unknown reasons. They had two daughters, Anusha Maria and Aglal’ya.

Katerina Ukkelya - A Coast Miwok - She was living with but not married to Vasilii Antipin, Russian promyshlennik, a carpenter who died at Ross in the end of 1821 or 1822. They had a son, Alexander and daughter, Matrena.

Chaikku - A Coast Miwok -. She was the wife of Chazhvahkak Nikita, a Kodiak of Razbitovskoe village. They had a daughter, Akki Arina.

El’bus’shika - A Coast Miwok from the Bodega region - She was married to Avenge Ivan, a Kodiak from Pasko village. They had a daughter, Anis yak Maria, and a son, Atunnuki.

Paraskov'ia Kulika - A Creole - She was employed as a cowherd for the Company at Ross. She was married to the scribe, Kulilalov, who died in 1820. She died in 1827 leaving no property. She owed the Company 51 rubles and 59 kopeks. The Company wrote this off as a loss.

Anna Vasil'eva - A Creole - She was married to Vasilii Vasil'ev. They had five children, three of which lived at Ross. She had a house, a field, a vegetable garden, and various livestock. When she died her dresses were given to her children. Her eldest daughter married, and other employees adopted the other minors.

Vaimpo - A Coast Miwok - He worked at Ross in 1820 to pay off obligations to the Company.

Chichamik - A Coast Miwok - He worked at Ross in 1820 to pay off obligations to the Company.

Kapisha - A Coast Miwok - He worked on the Farallones to pay off obligations to the Company.

Chilan - A Kashaya - He worked at Ross to pay off obligations to the Company.

Iik - A Kashaya - He worked of his own free will in the kitchen

Ukayla - A Coast Miwok - Living with Kili Fedor, a Kodiak.

Mit'ya - A Kashaya - Married to Aniehta Nikolai, a Kodiak. They had one son, Chanian Vissarion.

Vera Grudinin - A Kodiak and wife of Vasilii Ivanovich Grudinin. They lived in a home outside the Fort compound possibly along one of the creeks. They had a son Mikhail. They had a baby daughter January 11, 1825, named Agrafina. The family left Colony Ross in March of 1825 for Sitka. Mikhail died in August. Another daughter, Natalie, was born August 18th.

Kobbeya - A Southern Pomo - she had lived along the Russian River. She married Agchyaesikok Roman, a Kodiak. They may have lived in the Alaskan neighborhood out on the front terrace. They had a son, Kiochan Mitrofah. Kobbeya returned to her home and people along the Russian River in 1820. The father raised the young boy, until the father drowned. A Kodiak, Alexey Chaniguchi, was said to have raised the boy.

Read this to your employees in your group in the classroom and bring this information with you for your onsite tour.

The settlement of Ross, the name derived from the word for Russia (Rossiia) was established by the Russian-American Company, a commercial hunting and trading company chartered by the tsarist government, with shares held by members of the Tsar's family, court nobility and high officials. The Company controlled all Russian exploration, trade, and settlement in North America and included permanent outposts in the Kurile Islands, the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and a brief settlement in Hawaii. From 1790 to 1818, Alexander Andreyevich Baranov, the Company's chief manager, supervised the entire North Pacific area. Trade was vital to Russian outposts in Alaska, where long winters exhausted supplies and the settlements could not grow enough food to support themselves. Baranov directed his chief deputy, Ivan Alexandrovich Kuskov, to establish a colony in California as a food source for Alaska and to hunt profitable sea otters. After several reconnaissance missions, Kuskov arrived at Ross in March of 1812 with a party of 25 Russians, many of them craftsmen, and 80 native Alaskans from Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands. After negotiating with the Kashaya Pomo people who inhabited the area, Kuskov began construction of the fort. The carpenters who accompanied Kuskov to Settlement Ross, along with their native Alaskan helpers, had worked on forts in Alaska, and the construction here followed models of the traditional stockade, blockhouses and log buildings found in Siberia and Alaska. Outside the main gate stood the dwellings of the Native Alaskans, brought to the settlement as a labor force.

The history of Fort Ross is a unique blend of diverse cultural groups. These groups include the Russians, the Kashaya Pomo, Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Indians, the Aleutian and Kodiak Islanders, and the Spanish and Mexican settlers. Their settlement included many more Native Alaskan people than Russians. Creoles, the children of Russian men and Native North American women, comprised a large group during this era.

The site of California's first windmill appears on the 1817 map of Fort Ross. From this map the windmill is triangulated northwest of the fort on a rise midway between the Northwest Blockhouse, the Visitor Center and Highway One. The windmill is visible on the 1841 watercolor by Russian naturalist and artist, Ilya Gavrilovich Voznesenskii. Two windmills were still there in 1841, with their grindstones, along with an animal powered mill. The original Russian millstones are now inside the fort compound beside the west gate.

The windmills highlight the important agricultural aspect of the Russian-American Company settlement at Fort Ross. One important reason for the establishment of the colony was to grow wheat and other crops for the Alaskan settlements. At Fort Ross the coastal fog, wind, rocky terrain, gophers and lack of trained agriculturalists combined to thwart this effort. Although the Company established three farms at inland sites between Fort Ross and Port Rumiantsev (Bodega Bay), and agriculture intensified after sea otter hunting diminished in the early 1820s, production was still insufficient. Trade with Spanish and Mexican California was conducted to increase the food supply to Alaskan settlements, and after 1839 a contract with the Hudson's Bay Company supplied Russian Alaska with grain and other needed supplies.

On the hill to the north just below the tree line, you can see the Russian orchard. The original Russian orchard encompassed two to three acres, and contained approximately 260 trees at its peak. Fruit trees were planted to provide for the Ross settlement in the early 1800s, and to supplement other agricultural products such as wheat and barley grown in California and shipped to the Russian colonies in Alaska. It has not yet been determined whether the oldest surviving trees date back to the Russian settlement.

The Kashaya Pomo, who lived in this area when the Russians arrived, were a spiritual, peace-loving people hunting game and gathering wild foods abundant in the area. The Kashaya lived on the lands from the Gualala River to Salmon Creek located just north of present day Bodega Bay. The name Kashaya, which means “expert gamblers”, was given to them by a neighboring Pomo group. The Kashaya, superbly matched to their environment, moved their homes from the ridges in the winter to the ocean shore in the summer, hunting and gathering food from the ocean and the land. Along the shore there were plentiful supplies of abalone, mussel, fish and sea plants. Sea salt was harvested for domestic use as well as for trading. Plants (acorns and seeds) and animals (deer, elk and a vast number of smaller animals) provided abundant food inland. The Kashaya created a wide variety of tools, utensils, basketry, and objects of personal adornment which reflected a high degree of technical knowledge, design and artistic ingenuity. Their basketry, a ritual art, has achieved extraordinary respect. The Kashaya’s first encounter with Europeans was with the Russians. They provided much of the labor for agricultural efforts at Ross. The high land beyond the highway supported the villages of the Kashaya Pomo while they worked at Ross.

Most of the Russian-American Company population lived outside the fort. Only the higher ranking officials and visitors lived inside. Lower-ranking Company employees and people of mixed ancestry lived in the village complex of houses and gardens that gradually developed outside the northwest stockade walls. Intermarriage between Russians and Alaska Natives was commonplace. Their children, known as Creoles, formed a large part of the colony's population. Population varied over the years. In 1836 Ioann Veniaminov reported: "Fort Ross contains 260 people: 154 male and 106 female. There are 120 Russians, 51 Creoles, 50 Kodiak Aleuts, and 39 baptized Indians."

Vallejo in 1833 describes the village outside the fort: "The village of the establishment contains 59 large buildings… They are without order or symmetry and are arranged in a confusing and disorienting perspective. Inside the walls there are nine buildings, all of them large and attractive, including the warehouses and granaries." Later, the inventory for Mr. Sutter in 1841 lists: "twenty-four planked dwellings with glazed windows, a floor and a ceiling; each had a garden. There were eight sheds, eight bath houses and ten kitchens."

[Graphic: Superimposed on portion of Settlement Ross, 1841by I.G. Voznesenskii.

These grinding stones up to three feet in diameter and one foot thick were made of indigenous stone. They were once used for grinding flour in California's first windmills.

Of the six buildings presently within the fort compound only one, the Rotchev House, is an original Russian-built structure. It is a National Historic Landmark. The Rotchev House is unique and nationally significant because it is one of only four surviving buildings built in the Russian-American colonial period, and the only surviving Russian-built structure outside of Alaska. The exterior of the Rotchev House was restored to its late-1830s appearance in a series of modifications between 1925 and 1974. Numerous rare examples of original Russian building techniques are visible. The interior is now the focus of a five-year preservation and furnishing project.

The Rotchev House was constructed circa 1836 to serve as the home of Alexander Rotchev, the Russian-American Company's last manager at Fort Ross, his wife Elena, and their children. Alexander Rotchev was an intelligent well-traveled person and a poet. His wife, Princess Elena, a descendant of the titled nobility, was also accomplished in the arts and conversant in several languages. Accounts indicate that the Rotchev House was considered a relatively refined and properly furnished residence, given its location on the frontier. A French visitor remarked that the Rotchevs possessed a "choice library, a piano, and a score of Mozart." The hospitality of the Rotchevs was highly regarded. They lived in their Fort Ross home until July of 1841.

During the American ranching era following the Russian settlement, the Rotchev House was enlarged with a two story addition and a long front porch by the owner William Benitz. It is possible that the existing fireplace was added at that time. Later, when Fort Ross was part of the George W. Call Ranch, the enlarged structure became the Fort Ross Hotel.

This building was built before 1817 and was originally the site of company workshops. On the 1817 map it was referred to as "house of planks containing a foundry and workroom for medical aide". It was refurbished in 1833 to provide Company officials and visitors with accommodations. Reconstruction of the Officials' Quarters, demolished during the 1916-18 Chapel reconstruction, was completed in 1981.

The original blockhouses were built prior to 1817. The southeast blockhouse was reconstructed in a number of phases between 1930 and 1957. Original floorboards from the Officials' Quarters were used for flooring. This southeast blockhouse has eight sides and offers a clear field of fire, protecting the south and east stockade walls from possible attack. The Spanish were a potential threat to the colony, and the armaments were always ready, but the defensive value of the fort was never tested. The naval cannons in this blockhouse were used to signal and welcome visiting dignitaries.

Historical accounts of the numbers and distribution of the Fort Ross cannons varied over the years. The 1822 the diary of Fr. Mariano Payeras mentions: "...two bastions, one in the northern corner with five guns on two floors, and another on the south with seven guns… Also within the presidio they have four mobile cannons with their gun carriages." Mariano G. Vallejo in 1833: "12 pieces of artillery on two towers … of 8 caliber, six in each one… All of these pieces are mounted on naval gun carriages except for two "violentos" of 3 caliber…" In 1836 Sir Edward Belcher states "These towers, armed with three guns each… In the center of the yard or square, in front of the governor's staircase, a brass nine-pounder gun commands the gateway…" 1837 William A. Slacum "…mounts four 12 lb. carronades on each angle, and four 6 lb brass howitzers fronting the principal gate…" 1841 John A Sutter: "From the Russians I have got only one fine brass field piece (mounted with caisson)… This piece has been cast in St. Petersburg, 1804."

The four cannons now in the center of the fort compound are contemporary reproductions; two are capable of firing. They are 5 ½ inch howitzers mounted on field carriages. In the southeast blockhouse there are 12 pound carronades on naval carriages, as well as a [two?] reproduction 4 pounder bronze Russian cannon[s].

The original stockade walls and sally ports deteriorated rapidly. They were reconstructed several times on a piecemeal basis between 1929 and 1989. After Highway One was rerouted to bypass the Fort in 1972, the stockade was finally re-enclosed for the first time since the 1800s. The original walls of the fort were approximately 1204 feet long (172 Russian sazhens) and 14 feet high (2 sazhens). They were held together by a complex system of mortised joints locked by wooden pins. The top truss and the sills were locked into main posts spaced about 12 feet apart extending about 6 feet into the ground.

The Chapel was originally built in the mid-1820s. It was the first Russian Orthodox structure in North America outside of Alaska, although Ross had no resident priest. The chapel was probably built by the settlement's shipbuilders. In 1836, Father Ioann Veniaminov, who later became Bishop of Alaska and then Senior Bishop of the Russian Empire, visited the settlement and conducted sacraments of marriage, baptisms, and other religious services. Father Veniaminov had been an active missionary among the native Alaskan people. Unlike the Spanish, the Russian priests in North America baptized only those natives who demonstrated a knowledge and sincere acceptance of Christian belief. The chapel is constructed from wooden boards... It has a small belfry and is rather plain; its entire interior decoration consists of two icons in silver rizas. The chapel at Fort Ross receives almost no income from its members or from those Russians who are occasional visitors. Journal of Father Ioann Veniaminov, 1836.

The chapel was partially destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. The foundation crumbled and the walls were ruined; only the roof and two towers remained intact. Between 1916 and 1918, the Chapel was rebuilt using timbers from both the Officials' Quarters and the Warehouse. On October 5, 1970 the restored Russian chapel was entirely destroyed in an accidental fire. It was reconstructed in 1973. Following Russian Orthodox tradition, some lumber from the burned building was used. The chapel bell melted in the fire, and was recast in Belgium using a rubbing and metal from the original Russian bell. On the bell is a small inscription in Church Slavonic which reads "Heavenly King, receive all, who glorify Him." Along the lower edge another inscription reads, "Cast at the foundry of Michael Makar Stukolkin, master founder and merchant at the city of St. Petersburg."

According to Russian Orthodox tradition, the cross on the chapel cupola has a short bar on the top representing a sign nailed to the cross: "Jesus of Nazareth-King of the Jews"; the middle bar represents Christ's crucifixion; the bottom bar, to which Christ's feet were nailed, points toward heaven (signifying the thief on the right who repented) and downward (signifying the disposition of the mocking thief). In 1925, the Chapel began to be used for Orthodox religious services, and it continues to be used for such services every Memorial Day and Fourth of July.

The Kuskov House was the residence of Ivan Alexandrovich Kuskov, who founded Ross and was the first manager. It served as the manager's house from before 1817 until 1838. In the upstairs were living quarters, downstairs an armory. Four of the Fort's five managers lived here. First hand accounts describe its historic use: The first room we entered was the armory, containing many muskets, ranged in neat order; hence we passed into the chief room of the house, which is used as a dining room & in which all business is transacted. It was comfortably, though not elegantly furnished, and the walls were adorned with engravings of Nicholas I, Duke Constantine, &c... An (anonymous) Bostonian’s description, 1832. The old house for the commandant, two stories, built of beams, 8 toises [sazhens] long by 6 wide, covered with double planking. There are 6 rooms and a kitchen. Inventory for Mr. Sutter, 1841. The Kuskov House reconstruction was completed in 1983, based in part on the plan of 1817.

The Voznesenskii Room is in the upstairs of the Kuskov House on the northeast corner. Among the later visitors to Ross was the naturalist and artist, Ilya Gavrilovich Voznesenskii. A trained scientist and competent graphic artist, Voznesenskii was sent by the Imperial Academy of Sciences to explore and investigate Russian America. Many important sketches of the Ross Settlement and its surrounding area come from Voznesenskii’s hand, the result of a year-long visit to Northern California. His avid interest in California’s flora and fauna, as well as Indian life, took him far afield by foot, boat, and horseback. On these and other expeditions, Voznesenskii was able to gather an ethnographically invaluable collection of California Indian artifacts.

The original was built in 1812. In 1948 ruins of the blockhouse were removed, and it was reconstructed in 1950-1951. The Northwest Blockhouse has seven sides. As a watchtower for sentries with muskets and cannons, it protected the north and west stockade walls from potential attack by land. Each blockhouse carried a flagstaff, used to signal colonists in case of attack or provide a navigational aid for ships approaching Ross. From this blockhouse could be seen the two windmills which were located beyond the fort compound.

This two-story Russian-American Company warehouse, or magazin, functioned both as company store and as a warehouse where supplies for agricultural operations and hunting were documented, assessed and stored for distribution. Reconstruction of this warehouse is being conducted by California State Parks.

Goods stored in the warehouse reflected extensive Russian trade with Spanish and later Mexican California, as well as Britain, the United States, Europe and China. The Pacific Coast as far north as the northern boundary of the current state of Washington was claimed by the Spanish, though in 1812 they had no settlement north of the Presidio of San Francisco. The Governor of Spanish Alta California, Josė Joaquin de Arrillaga, was friendly with the Russians, and profited by trade. After his death, the Spanish took a harder line, demanding the removal of the Russian colony. While trade with the Russians was strictly forbidden by Madrid, the Spanish colonists found ways to get around the rules, and trade between Settlement Ross and the Spanish colonies continued. Eager to buy goods made by the Russians, the Spanish traded food, which was sent to the Alaskan settlements. When Mexico separated from Spain in 1821, trade with Ross assumed greater importance as the Russians provided military goods to the former Spanish colony, which no longer had a mother country to supply it.

Archaeological excavations indicate that the original well cribbing was 34 feet deep. Though there was a nearby creek, the well inside the fort compound offered security in case of attack. The site for the settlement of Fort Ross was partially selected because of the proximity of water. The site was also chosen because of nearby timber for construction, the flat coastal terrace surrounding it on which to grow crops, and because it was a defensible site with inaccessible ridges protecting the rear, and a small defensible harbor below.

Outside the main gate of the fort stood the dwellings of the Native Alaskans who were brought to the settlement by the Russian-American Company to hunt sea mammals and provide a work force for the colony. The Native Alaskan Village Site was the primary residential area for single Native Alaskan men, Native Alaskan families, and interethnic households composed of Native Alaskan men and local Native Californian women. The village was situated on the marine terrace directly south of the stockade walls. The extensive archaeological deposit sits on approximately one-half acre, and was investigated by archaeologists from State Parks and University of California, Berkeley, in the summers of 1989, 1991, and 1992.

The Alaska Natives brought their native baidarkas, swift maneuverable kayaks, used for hunting and transport. From these baidarkas they hunted the valuable sea otter and other sea mammals along the California coast and from a base on the Farallon Islands. Hunted by the Spanish, English, Americans and Russians the number of sea otters was greatly diminished by the early 1820s. The Russian-American Company made the first efforts at marine conservation in the North Pacific when they established moratoriums on fur seal and sea otter hunting. In 1834 the Company stopped the harvest of sea otters for 12 years, and then imposed a strict yearly limit.

Sandy Beach Cove lies below the fort. The principal port of the settlement remained 19 miles to the south at Port Rumiantsev (Bodega Bay). There was frequent travel and transport of goods between Sandy Beach Cove and Port Rumiantsev in Russian launches and Native Alaskan baidarkas (kayaks) and baidaras (large, open skin boats used to carry cargo and up to 15 passengers).

In the cove area below the settlement were a number of buildings including a shed for the baidarkas, a forge and blacksmith shop, tannery, cooperage and a public bath. There was a boat shop and shipways for building ships. Farm implements and boats were sold and traded to the Spanish, and four Russian-American Company ships—three brigs and a schooner—were the first built on the California coast. The shipyard was abandoned by 1825, but smaller boats continued to be built.

[Graphic? Perhaps superimposed on Plan of Fortress Ross (1817) Detail from the Russian-American Company map sent to Madrid. Original map in State Naval Archive, St. Petersburg, Russia. By 1817 the Russian Cemetery is marked as well as a number of structures in the cove and the brig Rumiantsev built in 1816. Also include graphic of brig Buldakov in Sitka Harbor, Mikhailov, 1827.]

Across the gulch to the east Russian Orthodox crosses mark the site of the settlement's cemetery. Over 150 people were buried in the cemetery during the Russian-American Company's thirty-year settlement here.

“To the northeast at a cannon shot’s distance they have their cemetery, although unfenced. In it there is a noteworthy distinction... [a] mausoleum atop a sepulcher of three square steps, from larger to smaller. Above these was a pyramid two yards high, and over it a ball topped off by a cross, all painted white and black, which is what most attracts one’s attention when you descend from the mountain. Over another burial… they placed only something like a box, and over the Kodiaks a cross... All of the crosses we saw are patriarchal; a small cross above and a larger cross nearby like arms, and below, a diagonally placed stick...” Payeras, 1822.

In 1990 the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee assisted the California State Parks in a project intended to better understand the boundaries and composition of the historic Russian cemetery. Excavations to locate and identify the individual Orthodox burials were conducted. The names of individuals associated with specific burials are not known, although researchers have identified a lengthy list of people who died at Fort Ross and were most likely buried here. The Ross settlement was a mercantile village with many families, and there are a large number of women and children buried in the cemetery. Remains have been re-interred and given last rites by priests of the Russian Orthodox Church. Artifacts, such as beads, buttons, cloth fragments, crosses and religious medals found in the cemetery restoration project, will help researchers better understand the Russian settlement’s culture.

Excerpted from A Guided Walk at Fort Ross State Historic Park – published by Fort Ross Interpretive Association – 2004.

(Mixed Russian and Native Blood)

Russian-American Company February 28, 1822

1. Creoles will be encouraged not to follow savage ways.

2. Creoles who are not legitimized are citizens of the colonies and are therefore Russian subjects. They have all the rights of laws and must obey them.

3. Creoles must apply, in writing, to the Company Office in order to change residence. Transferring residences without permission will lead to a charge of vagrancy.

4. Education:

A. Creoles are obliged to the company for their education and must serve the company for twenty-nine years.

B. Creoles educated to a craft at Company expense will fit into the following categories:

1. From birth to age 16 they will be treated as apprentices.

2. From ages 16 to 20 they will be assigned to occupations and will be provided with the necessities appropriate to the positions they occupy.

5. Compensation:

A. From ages 20 to 29 they are to receive salaries from $50.00 to $175.00 per year including clothing and food. Each Creole will receive 1/2 to 1 pound flour per month free.

6. Rank:

A. Creoles educated to an art or science will be treated as students:

1. Each pupil will receive: one set warm gray woolen clothing, one set summer clothing made of ticking, 3 fur hats, 3 lined shirts, one cap, one set leggings.

2. Each student will receive 10 pounds flour per month, five pounds of groats per month, and five pounds peas per month.

3. Each student will receive necessary ink, pencils, etc.

B. Creoles in the Company Service can become clerks or office managers.

C. Creoles in the Company Service can, in special cases, be given privileges and titles.

Those Creoles Who Do Not Enter Company Service:

1. Those Creoles not in Company Service may go in hunting expeditions with their relatives, but they must participate according to the rules.

2. Those Creoles not in Company Service must not ask the company for assistance in food, clothing or other privileges.

3. A charge of laziness or vagrancy on the part of Creoles not in the Company Service will result in one year’s service.

4. Those Creoles not in Company Service will be granted free medical care in an emergency.

Piroshki (meat and/or vegetable pies) are traditional fare in Russian homes. They are easy to make and are delicious. Make these ahead of time before your visit.

Potatoes cooked any number of ways: in a stew, creamed, or boiled with sour cream or churned butter on top.

Marinated beets are often a new and interesting food to try (kids do like this).

Kasha or grains can also be served in a variety of ways. Different grains can include a 9-grain cereal, wild rice or buckwheat. Try roasting them on the fire before cooking. For a tasty breakfast, add nuts and dried fruits or berries to the grains, serve with cream if you wish.

Pancakes or blini’s made on-site are not a good idea for breakfast. They can drip and make a mess on the fireplace stones. Please consider other options for breakfast.

Dark Rye Breads or “Mission” style grain breads can be ordered from your local bakery. It is most important that the bread be different from the bread that the children usually eat. Using round loaves of bread can add to the difference.

Fish: It is possible that the hunters may bring in a fish or two. Be prepared to pan-fry the hunters’ catch.

Churning butter is a fun and traditional activity. Manufacturer’s heavy cream, which is far superior to regular whipping or heavy cream for churning, can be special ordered from most supermarkets or dairies. However, do not worry if you can only get the regular cream. A half-gallon container should be plenty for your group. The cream will turn to butter more easily if it is at room temperature. Take cream out of the cooler shortly after you arrive at the fort. Wrap a towel around the churn, including the top, to keep it from cooling from the action of churning. Churning action is up and down with a twist of the wrist in both directions. Churning must be continuous! Don’t stop before butter has formed. The crock is very fragile. Please be very careful with it. Place it on the ground and straddle it.

Coffee can be a different experience when you bring green coffee beans. Roast them on the open fire, grind and then pour boiling water on top. Then let grinds settle. It makes great coffee and will help parents and teachers get through chilly afternoons and night watch.

Herb teas are a treat for the employees. Herb teas could replace cocoa for night watch.

Sack Lunches for the second day: This could be a repeat of the layout of foods mentioned under snacks: or

Put all ingredients except sour cream and fresh dill in one big pot. Cook for a few hours on the open fire. Top each serving with sour cream and dill. That is the Fort Ross way.

Roll meat in the flour and brown in olive oil in large spider pot. Than add sliced onions and more oil. Add some broth to deglaze the pots and than add remaining broth and berries. Add water if needed. Stir in the honey. Cook over a low fire until all is tender and blended. Salt to taste.

Brown buckwheat in an ungreased skillet (cast iron works best). Cool. Bring water to a boil and add salt and oil. Stir in the cooled groats. Cover tightly. Reduce to low heat and continue cooking on low heat, stirring carefully once or twice. Allow to simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes. When water is all absorbed and kasha looks fluffy it is ready to be served with butter, milk or as a side dish.

Green Beans with Yogurt

Cook green beans. Let them cool and add 1 cup of yogurt per 1 lb. of beans. If you like, spice up the flavor with sautéed onions and garlic. This is a very typical Russian fare.

Half box or more of Graham Cracker crumbs. Combine all ingredients. Cook over low heat, stirring very attentively. This dessert can burn very easily.

Beat eggs. Add sugar, cheese, stir well. Add flour and stir till blended. Form into balls using a rounded tablespoon to measure each. Roll balls in flour. Flatten into patties about 1 inch thick. Fry in a little butter until both sides are deep and golden and seem set. (If they are brown but not set, try covering.) Eat hot with sour cream or cool.

Food was abundant at Settlement Ross. Below is a list of foods known to have been either grown by Ross residents, introduced to the settler’s diet by Native Alaskan or Pomo cultures, or brought to the colony through trade. All but the foods known to the Pomo people were, of course, introduced to the region’s ecology. Seeds and plants were brought from all over the world. Radishes, for example, came from China. The Spanish introduced the peppers grown at the settlement from South America. The list is not intended to be a complete inventory, and research is ongoing.

Grown Fruits:

peaches, apples, pears, apricots, cherries, quince, plums, grapes, melons such as casabas, watermelons, cantaloupes.

Grown Vegetables:

winter squashes, pumpkins, cabbage served both fresh and as sauerkraut, beets, turnips, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, radishes, horseradish, peas, beans, lettuce, parsley, mints,

Grown Grains:

millet, wheat, barley, buckwheat (kasha).

Grown Flowers: roses, calendula.

Honey: from beehives in the orchard

Mushrooms: gathered from nature

Domestic Meats:

Chicken for meat, feathers, or eggs. Cattle for meat, milk, cheese, butter. Pig for meat and hides. Goat for meat and hides.

Wild Animals

Deer for meat, hides, and horns.

Elk and Bear for meat and hides. Quail for meat and feathers.

Fish: various ocean and freshwater

Pomo Influence:

purslane, miner’s lettuce, mustard greens, wild onion, bay laurel, acorns, hazelnut

wild grains, roots of cattail, shellfish

dill, fennel, wild carrot, blackberries,

huckleberries, thimbleberries

Trade with Spanish, European, Chinese, or merchant ships

Rye, cornmeal, oats, rice.

Sugar

Herbs and seasonings

Sage, pepper, rosemary, ginger, dill, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, mace, molasses, poppy seed.

Olive oil.

Beans: garbanzo, Mexican frijoles.

Cranberries.

Drinks:

Tea, coffee.

Cranberry juice or other locally grown fruit juices

Russian Kvass (a yeasted fruit drink

Native Alaskan Influence:

Sea Lion: meat, skins.

Seagull: eggs, feathers.

Seal: meat, oil, intestines

As in many cultures, the kitchen is the favorite or central spot of the home. Russia is not different. It is where families gather for meals, friends get together to chat over a cup of tea and welcomed guests feel the warmth of Russian hospitality.

Depending on where you are from, Russians refer to the three meals of the day differently. To most Americans, these are breakfast, lunch and dinner or supper. Russians start the day with breakfast or zavtrak. It is a hearty meal, unlike most Americans who either skip breakfast or just grab a quick bagel. A Russian breakfast will include a protein such as eggs, sausage, cold cuts and cheese. This is accompanied by bread and butter with tea or coffee. Hot cereals are particularly popular with mothers. Yes, Russian children get their first shot of energy from a hot bowl of oatmeal, just as most of us did! Cold, boxed cereal was introduced to Russia in the early 1990’s and is, generally speaking, found only in specialty stores.

Russians don’t have a meal called lunch. In fact, this was a generally not understood term until the 1990’s. The second meal of the Russian day is taken around 1 o’clock p.m. and is called obyed or dinner. This is the main meal of the day. Appetizers, zakuski, highlight this meal. One can easily make the mistake of making a meal out of a selection from such delights as caviar, pickles, smoked fish and various combinations of vegetables. Soup is a part of dinner along with the main course of meat or fish. The main dish is usually accompanied by a starchy food: potatoes, rice, or noodles and vegetables: fresh or marinated. Finally there is dessert! Last course might be cake, stewed fruit or vegetables.

The evening meal is served around 7:00 p.m. or later. It is supper or uzhin. It is similar to dinner but without the soup and often, dessert. One notable exception is, in the agricultural regions, field workers take their soup with supper and not with dinner.

Children and the elderly enjoy a mid-afternoon nap followed by a snack. Everyone, young and old, enjoys a nice cup of tea. It is the most common breakfast beverage. Orange juice is not a breakfast staple in Russia. Water and soft drinks may be served with dinner or supper. Coffee and tea are offered at the end of these two meals. Of course, festive occasions and celebrations mean the presence of wine, vodka or cognac!

Tea was introduced to Russia in 1640. Russian ambassadors from the Mongol camps brought with them packets of tea. It was instantly praised for its medicinal powers and ability to refresh and purify the blood. By the beginning of the 18^th century tea had become the national drink and asking one to partake in tea was a traditional sign of hospitality. A samovar was essential to the brewing of tea and they began appearing at this time in a great variety of shapes and sizes. The traditional spherical, cylindrical and tapered samovars began to be made in great quantities so that by the end of the 19^th century production was around 1/2 million per year. The samovar creates its own coziness at the table and the participants generally declare the tea is usually tastier.

A Russian Tea Party begins when the hostess fills the samovar with cold water and puts burning coal in the draft chimney. She boils the water and carries the samovar to the table. To make the tea she rinses a porcelain or ceramic (never metal) teapot with some boiling water. She fills the teapot with loose tea (using 1 tbs. of tea for every 3 cups of water) and pours boiling water until 3/4s full. After letting it steep for 5-6 minutes, she tops the essence off with some more boiling water.

Tea from a samovar is a mixed drink: strong tea from the pot, diluted to taste with hot water from the spigot. Serve with sugar cubes and a slice of fresh lemon.

What contains vitamins A and C and potassium, has been used as a bone salve, a sinus remedy, rouge, a cure for toothache, and the base for a really tasty soup? Why, the humble beet, of course. Named for its resemblance to the Greek letter beta, the beet is a relative of leafy spinach.

There are three groups of beets: root beets, leaf beets, and the uncultivated sea beet. The leaf beet was the first to be domesticated, its name, chard, was derived from the Latin cardus, or thistle. Leaf chard was eaten 2000 years ago by the Greeks and Romans but the root of this early beet was unimpressive and used chiefly as a medicine. In the second or third century, Italian farmers developed larger roots and beets began appearing at mealtimes throughout Europe. During the Middle Ages, in the first of several historical collaborations between the two countries, German farmers improved on the “Roman beet” developing the rosy, round root we enjoy today.

Beets have been used and prepared in a wide variety of ways throughout culinary and nonculinary history. Sixteenth century sinus sufferers were advised to inhale beet juice to “purge the head”. It was recommended that cooks of the same period wipe their beets with fresh dung before cooking them. One assumes that the beets were then peeled prior to consumption; and one is glad that twentieth century cooks use a common vegetable brush. Young women in the nineteenth century used beet juice as rouge, but that is the extent of the practical use for beet dye. Although it will redden the cheeks, fingers, and Easter egg shells, beet dyed fabric will fade upon washing.

So beets can’t be used to make dye, but they can be prepared in many dishes to die for. Russian borscht, a hearty beet soup, is a fine example. Many people enjoy beets pickled, although some beetophiles feel that pickling obscures the beet’s distinct sweetness. If a small beet is added to apples being cooked for sauce, the resultant product will be a pretty rose pink.

Potatoes were first domesticated in the Peruvian Andes about 6000 years ago where they were a staple of the Incan diet. The Spanish discovered potatoes while searching for gold and took as many as 80 varieties back to Spain. These plants so intrigued the French and Italians that soon they could be found growing throughout Southern Europe. People refused to eat potatoes, though, because they were thought to resemble the hands of lepers and it was feared that they carried diseases. The first potatoes in Europe were grown as novelty.

Despite a bitter-tasting introduction into England where the tubers were discarded and the leaves eaten, the English took to eating potatoes. They were especially welcome in famine-plagued Ireland where it was discovered that a family of six could, with relatively little labor, live for a year on the potatoes produced on only an acre and a half of land.

Still, throughout most of Europe the potato was snubbed as livestock or slave food. In the late 1600s, after a disastrous crop failure, Emperor Frederik Wilhelm ordered all peasants to plant potatoes as famine relief or lose their noses and ears. At first disliked, the potato soon became part of the Prussian diet.

King of France Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, in an apparent effort to appease the masses, embraced the potato to the extent of adorning their hair and clothing with potato flowers. The potato soon became a popular French vegetable.

The potato has become a staple throughout the world. In 1845 when black rot attacked Ireland’s potato crop 1.5 million Irish citizens died and another million immigrated to the United States.

Today most of the controversy around the potato has dissipated leaving us only to argue about whether or not the spuds are fattening. They are not. They are loaded with many vitamins and minerals. A potato plucked fresh from the ground and steamed or baked to perfection needs no butter – its delicious plain. Honest!

Tomato: In 1591 when the Spanish arrived in Mexico, Europeans had their first contact with the tomato. A native of Western South America the tomato was widely grown from Peru to Mexico. The Spanish found the plants, with their gangly vines, ugly but the curious red fruit was interesting enough to be carried back to Europe. Since it is a member of the deadly nightshade family it was thought to be poisonous and planted only as an ornamental.

Within a few years taste overcame fear and tomatoes became a popular addition to the cuisine of old Spain. Portugal, Morocco and Italy followed the Spanish lead but England and France viewed the tomato as attractive on the outside, like a peach, but deadly on the inside. This view is how the tomato came to be called the “wolf Peach” in England.

The English brought their tomato fear with them to colonial America. It was common for doctors and ministers to speak out against the tomato. All of this changed on September 26, 1820, when on the courthouse steps in Salem, New Jersey, Robert Johnson ate a tomato in public. Quite a crowd gathered but Mr. Johnson failed to die. Soon seed companies began to offer the “love apple” and by 1860 commercial harvesting of tomatoes had begun.

By the time the long and winding car ride is over (you may want to supply each car with a few plastic bags in case of car sickness emergencies), the students are truly excited. It is a VERY good idea to burn off a bit of that energy before they arrive at the fort itself.

The walk from the Reef Campground to the fort is a wonderful experience. It is a short walk (only about a mile, 15-30 minutes), safe away from the edge of the cliffs, beautiful and a great way to begin the students’ historical experience. It is a wonderful visual experience to see the fort looming ever larger on the coastline as you get closer and closer.

The campground is about ten miles north of Jenner. It is a good idea to plan for a snack when you arrive. When everybody has arrived, all cars will drive to the fort to quickly unload the gear, leaving behind the teacher, children and enough adults to make the walk safely. Note: The campground is closed December 1 through March 31. Please walk around the gate. There is a pay phone at the campground entrance. You must monitor the students at all times, to avoid misuse of this phone.

Walk downhill through the campground until you get to the parking area/turn-around at the bottom of the road. Look up the hill to the North for the trail to Fort Ross. The trail is marked. Follow the trail to the Sandy Cove; descend to the sand, cross the creek, and up to the fort. Don’t rush on the hike. Encourage them to ask questions. Look at the local flora and fauna on the marine terrace and out to the sea for ships or whales. Taking your time to enjoy and learn gives the drivers more time to unload. If the cars are still unloading in front of the fort, then slow your walk or spend some time at the cove.

WARNING: On very rainy days or on days just after heavy rains, the creek may be impassable. If it has been raining, please call us at the fort a day or so before your program date to ask if it is possible to safely cross the creek.

Drive from the campground a few miles north to the fort entrance. Go past the entrance kiosk and drive to the dirt road at the end of the parking lot. Follow this road to the fort itself. The speed limit on this road is 10 mph. Please drive slowly.

Please find the Park Interpretive Specialist inside the Officials’ Quarters for instructions. It works best to take personal gear out of the cars and put it just inside the fort wall or if the ground is very damp to pile it up on the benches or the picnic tables inside the fort. If it is raining all the personal gear will go in the Rotchev House for the day. Do not put gear into the buildings in which the children will be sleeping. Personal gear will be moved into sleeping quarters after the fort is closed to the public at 4:30. Food and kitchen gear can be carried to the kitchen area by the fire pits in front of the Officials’ Quarters. You will need to unload very quickly to insure that cars are moved and drivers are back at the fort before the children arrive from their walk. As soon as the vehicles are unloaded, drive your car back to the Visitor Center Parking lot. Cars must remain in the upper parking lot during your visit! The next morning when you are ready to leave Colony Ross, you may bring cars to the front gate of the fort only long enough to load supplies.

For groups who cannot walk from the campground (light rain, heavy mist, creek too high) we request that you let the children off at the end of the parking area with supervision. It is best not to stop at the Visitor Center when you arrive in the morning because it can detract from the historical experience of the fort. Parents drive the cars down to the fort, unload gear, and then drive back to the parking area. When everyone has reunited, walk to the fort compound together to be greeted by the Interpretive Specialist. If it is raining hard please drive directly to the Fort and unload gear.

Morning Responsibilities: Pack personal gear, and remove it from the Kuskov house. Check for wax and litter. Continue with breakfast and cleanup. If your group is finished and another group is not, ask: “What can I do to help?”

Stockade Litter Pick Up – All groups line up shoulder to shoulder and walk the inside of the fort for a full stockade cleanup.

Night watch is a unique part of the ELP and it is mandatory. It becomes a time of reflection. Surrounded by the coastal night and sounds, students can imagine what it must have been like at the fort in the “old days”. An on-site night watch log is available to record any thoughts the students may have while on the night watch. Your students may also bring their own journal to write in at night watch. Parents must sleep in the same area as their assigned group so they can get the group to watch duty quickly and quietly.

· Parents pour the hot water for one cup of cocoa or tea. Keep the teapot filled with water.

· Each employee will be accompanied by an officer at all night time activities.

· The First Aid Kit will be kept at the kitchen area. Emergency phone is in Interpretive Specialist’s office.

Night watch is important for the safety of the fort and the group. The following schedule is for an all-night watch. The sleeping arrangements described work well for waking one watch group while not disturbing others. Militia serves the fifth night watch to start fires for cooks.

Personal gear removed, floors swept, candle wax scraped off, mud/dirt swept out, litter picked up.

For washing dishes, we provide three large washtubs: one for soapy water, one for sterilizing bleach rinse, and one for a clear water rinse. You will need to bring bleach and soap. The first washtub should contain hot water and dish soap. The sterilizing solution should contain warm water with 1 tablespoon of 5% chlorine bleach to each 2 gallons of water. The utensils should be soaked for 30 seconds or more, and then rinsed in the third tub of hot, clear water. Please dry all the utensils before putting into boxes or sending them to the ELP closet. Use ash to get the soot off the pots and pans. It really works!

Wipe clean and dry the tarps used to cover the tables in the Officials’ Quarters before you fold them.

There are many fine cast iron pots available for your use. They are wonderful to cook with and are very authentic, but need a little care. After cooking in one of the pots, it should be wiped clean, using mild soap, never a strong detergent. Do not scour; scouring will remove the natural seasoning of the pot and cause rust and possibly metallic taste. If at any time it is necessary to scour or scrape, be sure you do it as little as possible. Wipe a little oil around inside of the pot and lid to season. DO NOT SEND WET POTS BACK TO THE ELP CLOSET!

All of the items we provide for the ELP must be put back into the ELP storage closet by the group

Please let the Interpretive Specialist know if anything is broken so we may be able to replace it before the next ELP group arrives.