Hunters

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Dear Parents, AKA. Officers – First – thank you for assisting your classroom with this adventure. The ELP experience is one you and your child will remember for a lifetime. This packet is to assist you to ready yourself and your group for the overnight experience to Colony Ross. The more prepared you are, and the more prepared the students are, the better the experience for all. Please read the packet carefully. The packet is in two sections: first section is for pre-site preparations and the second section is for the onsite visit. You will want to bring the on-site section with you as it has pertinent information you will need.

 

Please remember that you are coming to a state park. Do NOT remove any objects that are lying on the ground: rocks, shells, glass, bones etc. If you find anything that appears to be historically or environmentally important please leave it where it is found and advise park Interpretive Specialist of the item’s location. All features of the park are protected. Remember: Take only pictures and leave only footprints. Also remember that many things that have been done in the past are not acceptable today.  Butchering of live animals on-site or bringing in weapons is not permitted.  All butchered meat must be dressed before you bring it to the fort. State Park rules and regulations must be observed. If you have any questions please call the Interpretive Specialist.

 

One of the two main purposes for the establishment of the Ross Colony by the Russian American Company was to conduct a fur trade. This meant hunting sea otter and other fur-bearing mammals that ultimately could be traded with China for goods desired in Russia. Trade was frequently conducted via third parties such as the British or American merchants.

Russian hunters (promyshlenniki) roamed over much of Northern California.  One Russian hunter is even recorded to have worked the Snake River of Idaho for the Hudson’s Bay Company. The Promyshlenniki served as foremen when hunting sea otter, overseeing the activities of Native Alaskans brought to Ross from Alaska. As hunters, Promyshlenniki and Alaskans, it is your function to hunt, fish, and trade in order to gather furs, foods, and other goods.

 

 

CLASSROOM PREPARATION:

 

 

Encourage students to bring a minimum of personal gear.

 

 

The names listed below are all male characters. It is OK for females to take on a male role and dress as such. It is also OK for a female to have a female name and be in the hunter’s group in hunter clothing.  Note – traditionally Alaskan females would hunt if it was needed for the family.

 

Iakov Dorofeevich Dorofeev –

 A Russian - In 1802 he joined the RAC. In 1822 or 1823 he accompanied Karl Schmidt, the new manager of Fort Ross, and a party of Aleuts on a journey by baidaras up the Slavianka River (Russian River, and called Shabakai by the Pomo). In 1824 (with an agreement made in 1823 with Don Luis Arguello, the governor of California), Dorofeev led a hunting party along the shores of San Francisco Bay. Later in the1820’s, Dorofeev returned to Alaska and became manager of the

Unalaska office in 1829. He held the post until September 1832, when he died.

 

Timofei Osipovich Tarakanov - A Russian- He was working for the company by 1802. Joseph O'Cain, the American Sea Captain, of the brig O'Cain suggested in 1803 to take a group of Aleut hunters to the California Coast with him. Tarakanov led the hunting group with 20 baidarkas. In the San Francisco Bay area they took 1,100 pelts and bought 700 pelts from the Spanish missions. They returned in 1804. In October of 1806, they left Kodiak with 12 baidarkas and a crew of Aleuts to hunt the California Coast, returning in 1807. On September 1808 he sent Tarakanov with a party of hunters back to the California Coast but this time to start looking for a hunting base to establish. The ship he sailed on was shipwrecked near the Washington Coast and several passengers were captured by the local Indians.  Several died in the months that followed, however, Tarakanov was able to talk to the Indians and encourage them to be freed with several others. They arrived back in Sitka on the brig Lydia, rescued by American Ship Captain Brown. A year later Tarakanov was again sent to California with a hunting party. They hunted the Farallones and Drake’s Bay and stopped at the new Ross Colony. His life is unknown for the next several years. He sailed several times to the Sandwich Islands and continued leading hunting parties.

 

Agchyaesikok Roman - A Kodiak - Possibly a hunter for the Company. He drowned in March 1821.  He was married to Kobbeya, a Southern Pomo. When he died Kobbeya returned to her home village. They had a son, Kiochan Mitrofan, who was left to be cared for by Alexey Chaniguchi for upbringing.

 

Matvei - A Kodiak - A Toion for the Company, meaning a hunting leader. He drowned in 1824. Kirill Khlebnikov reported, “Earlier this month, the Aleuts returned here with the body of the Aleut Toion Matvei. They said that he had been at Bodega Bay and had separated from the others in a two-hatch baidarka. After waiting for him to return for a long time, they had found him dead on the shore with the baidarka. As his body did not show any suspicious signs, the concluded that the Toion had grown weak from rowing and with hunger and had died. The Aleuts than buried him. Matvei was the elder Toion here..."

 

Talizhuk Kosma - A Kodiak - Worked at Ross between 1820 - 1836 possibly as a hunter. His first wife was a Kashaya woman, Yayumen. He and his second wife, Pelagiia, had two sons. Their names are Nikifor and Vasilii. He died between 1836 and 1838.

 

Taneikak Apianak Ivan - A Kodiak - His first wife is a Kashaya woman, PIzhichimiy. They had a daughter, Olga, and son Chunyuun. His second wife, Pelagiia Mukaia, had three sons Il'ia, Marko, and Simeon.  He died sometime between 1834 and 1838.

 

Osip Shaia - An Aleut - He lived at Ross for quite a long time. He was a leader or foreman of hunters.  His first wife is

possibly a Kashaya woman, Myssalaya.  His second wife, Alexandra, and son, Sazon, lived for years at Ross. It is possible that his first wife left with him to Alaska and returned with a Russified name, Alexandra. He was about 38 years old when he died from drowning.

 

Kasents - A Tlingit – His work at Colony Ross is unknown.

 

Native Alaskans

Tupuliahnak (Kodiak)

Kaskak (Kodiak)

Ungiyak (Kodiak)

Nehtkan (Kodiak)

Chananok (Kodiak)

Chevyihpak (Kodiak)

Kumuyak (Kodiak)

Kolyuzh (Tlingit)

 

 

                        Brief History and Walking Tour

 

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

 

INTRODUCTION

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.

 

ON THE TRAIL TO THE FORT FROM THE VISITOR CENTER

CALIFORNIA'S FIRST WINDMILL

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.

 

KASHAYA POMO—THE FIRST INHABITANTS

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.

 

THE VILLAGE COMPLEX— SLOBODA

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.   

 

GRINDING STONES

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.

 

ROTCHEV HOUSE

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.

 

OFFICIALS' QUARTERS

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.

 

SOUTHEAST BLOCKHOUSE

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].

 

STOCKADE WALLS

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.

 

CHAPEL

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.

 

KUSKOV HOUSE

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.

 

NORTHWEST BLOCKHOUSE

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.

 

The three cannon in this blockhouse are of unknown provenance.

 

WAREHOUSE or RUSSIAN MAGAZIN

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.

 

WELL

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. 

 

NATIVE ALASKAN VILLAGE SITE [Also an interpretive panel]

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

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.]

 

THE RUSSIAN CEMETERY

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.

 

 

 An Old Inupiat Song 

I sing to the seas

I sing to my kayak

It is part of my body,

We fly upon the waves.

It is my companion, my brother,

It is my wife.

If I die on the sea, we die together.

If we go down together, we remain together.

If I die an old man it will rest upon my grave

And still we go on together

And still we remain together.

 

1.      The Company will maintain the inhabitant of the Aleutian Islands in their present way of life.

2.      The inhabitants will be governed by their own native leaders and elders--supervised by Russian personnel appointed by the Company. Ultimate authority rests with the head administrative office.

3.      The Company will record all births, deaths, and baptisms.

4.      The Company will provide the inhabitants with agricultural tools and advice on agricultural matters.

Hunting:

1    All male inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands from the ages of 18 to 50 are obligated to hunt sea animals for the Company.

2.   When hunting on their own (not with a company organized expedition) and using their own equipment and resources, all hunters must have permission of the authorities and may only sell their catch to the company.

3.   All inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands are subject to Russian Law and will be punished for violations.

     Compensation:

1.   All hunters participating in a company-sponsored expedition do not own the pelts of their catch, but instead receive a salary.

2. The Company will provide: one baidarka, three laftaks, one gut kamleika, three and one half pounds of whale whiskers for tying, whale oil, firearms and ammunition to kill seals for food, fishhooks and lines, two pounds tobacco, three cups rum, some bread and some flour for each expedition.

3.   When hunting on their own, all hunters will receive the following price for sea otter hides: Large hide: $5.00 Medium Hide: $2.00 Small Hide:  50¢

4.   For work in the harbor or in the forest, Aleuts will receive 50¢ per day.

5.   Aleuts are permitted to buy any commodities available in the Company Store.

6.   Aleuts are permitted the usual holiday rum ration.

 

 

 

Make an Alaskan Sea Hunter Hat:

Wooden Headgear of Alaska Sea Hunters: Symbols of Power and Identity

Excerpts from Glory Remembered by Lydia T. Black.

In historic times wooden headgear in Alaska was very diverse. There were three different types of wooden headgear: closed-crown hats, open-crown hats, and visors. They were made of bentwood with long or cone visors or hollowed-out wood. Aleuts used a maximum of four colors: red, black, ochre-yellow (or brown), turquoise or blue-green to decorate their hats. Kodiak Islanders used red, white, green, and black. Experts agree that the headgear had symbolic function. It was used exclusively in association with sea mammal hunting and that sea mammal hunting was surrounded by elaborate symbolism and ritual among all the peoples of the North Pacific Rim. This holds especially for the hunting of animals valued symbolically: whales, walrus and sea otters. Clothing and items of personal adornment, such as beads, so prominent in bentwood headgear decoration, performed a double function. They served not only as items of utility and decoration, but also as talismans, protection charms and amulets.

            Kodiak Island headgear was worn by men, women and children during ritual festivities, ceremonies, social occasions, and by men while at sea, traveling, hunting, and in battle. They traded them at inter-tribal fairs.

            Wooden headgear was made to resemble the heads of the various animals and they were worn in the chase of the different animals which they represent. The use of short visors for hunting sea otters on Kodiak is well documented. They were decorated with a parallel band design.

Bentwood closed-crown hats with long visors were rare and perhaps used as war helmets or whaler's hats. Bird imagery on the hunting headgear may be symbolic of the Thunderbird theme. The Thunderbird is a giant eagle, dwelling on high mountains and volcanoes, and with the sun. This mythological being had power to kill both on land and sea; both animals and humans.   Painted, stylized, abstract bird figures, as well as realistic carved ivory bird images, are common.

It is generally agreed that the volutes (side plates) of the hunting headgear, connote birds, bird's heads, eyes, and beaks in a stylized abstract way.

Symbols such as spirals, rosettes, and parallel band motifs appear as characteristic features of headgear design.

 

 
 

Gyotaku, pronounced “Gee –Oh –Tah-Koo is the ancient Japanese folk art of painting fish. The first Gyotaku were created to preserve the true record and size of species caught by Japanese anglers as far back as 1862.

Materials:

Fish

Non-toxic non-permanent ink

Procedure:

A gyotaku print is said to be created by "using templates from the hand of God." Quite simply pigments are used to transfer images of natural objects. These relief prints or rubbings can be hand colored to produce a unique and beautiful art form. Nature printing is simply using pigments to transfer images of natural objects. (e.g. fish, shells, plants etc.) These are basically relief prints from nature.

 

Please use a non-toxic, non-permanent ink so that you can give your fish a bath and still eat him for dinner!

 

 

Native Alaskan Carving

 

 

Materials:

Bar of Soap (fragrance free)

Clay carving tools, inexpensive wooden and plastic tools

Pictures of Native Alaskan Whale Bone or Walrus Ivory Carvings

Pictures of Native Alaskan Wildlife: National Geographic is a great resource

 

Two books on soap carving are:

“Soap Carving” by Suzuki. A book for beginners/children

“Carving in Soap” by Suzuki. For advanced carvers, step by step photos of the process of carving eight different animals

 

 

Throwing Board and Dart Making

 

www.arctic.net/~dickson/sodart.html

 

 

Hunter Target Practice

 

Materials:

 

Hula Hoops

Physical Education poles or

PVC Pipe with foam on each end.

 

Procedure:

Adult rolls or throws into the air a hula hoop.

Hunters throw poles (spears) through the hoop.

 

Students learn how hard it is to hit a moving object.

 

Game idea courtesy of Bill Singer at Santa Rosa Charter School.

This is a variation of a Miwok Indian game.

One Miwok would roll a wooden hoop along the ground, while another would throw a wooden pole through it.

 

 

WALKING IN FROM THE FORT ROSS REEF CAMPGROUND:

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.

 

TO MAKE THE HIKE:  

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.

 

TO DRIVE AND DROP OFF GEAR: 

Drive from the campground a few miles north to the fort entrance. Go past the entrance kiosk (get a parking pass from the kiosk or the Interpretive Specialist at the fort) 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.

 

UNLOADING GEAR: 

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 a storage room located 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. The Interpretive Specialist should be there to help direct traffic. You will need to unload very quickly to insure that that cars are moved and drivers are back at the fort before the children arrive from their walk.  As soon as you are unloaded, drive your car back to the Visitor Center Parking lot. Cars must remain in the 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.

 

 

 

Officers: 1.) ________________________ 2.) _________________________

 

Fort Ross Hunters:

1.  ______________________________           AKA ______________________

2.  ______________________________           AKA ______________________

3.  ______________________________           AKA ______________________

4.  ______________________________           AKA ______________________

5.  ______________________________           AKA ______________________

6.  ______________________________           AKA ______________________

Tasks:

 

Rules and Responsibilities:

 

Night watch: 1:00 to 3:00. Wake up Gardeners in Kuskov House.

Morning Responsibilities: Pack personal gear. Parents sweep Northwest blockhouse. Check for wax and litter. Clean up kitchen area: wash pots and pans (make sure to clean the outsides too), wash down tables.  Make sure all kitchen gear (including washtubs and compost bucket) is washed, dried and put away.  The artisans will help put gear away.  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.

Morning Hike: Orchard, Beach, or Cemetery hike.

Warning: The ocean is VERY dangerous, even in a seemingly quiet cove.  NEVER turn your back on the ocean. BE VERY CAREFUL!!

 

Fishing:

Hunters will use poke poles to catch fish to learn how much skill, time and patience was involved in bringing dinner home. Poke poles means ‘a pole that is put in the water with a hook and placed near the rocks. It does not mean you poke the fish to catch them.

Materials We Provide:

Poke poles, conventional hooks, lines and sinkers (a rock will work as a sinker), weights You Bring:

Bait, such as squid.

Procedure:

Hike to the North Cove down on the rocks. Pass out poke poles to each student who will be fishing. Carefully bait hooks. Poke baited hooks into cracks in the rocks near to the shoreline. Even the best of fishermen know about disappointment, so don't quit before half an hour is up. Please leave starfish, small crabs, etc. in peace.

 

Objective:

Students will take a hike through the woods mapping their route and identifying native trees and plants as they go. This will give the students a taste of the thrill that early Russian explorers had in unknown territories, and an idea of the numbers and types of plant species that were identified by early Russian visitors.

 

Materials:

Group leader should have a plant and tree identification book. Students should each have clipboard, notebook and pencils.

 

Procedure:

From the entrance of Fort Ross State Historic Park walk across Highway 1 to Fort Ross Road. Continue uphill past the Russian Orchard. On your left, the north side of the road,  through the metal gate and out the dirt road. Identify the animals, insects and plants you may see.  Along the way, have each child make leaf and bark rubbings as well as drawings of the plant and wildlife around them.

 

Remember: all plants and wildlife are protected in the State Park. Be respectful.

 

 

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.

Lanterns:

Each group will have three tin candle lanterns.

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

Lanterns should be out when the group sleeps.

No lanterns burning without adult supervision inside buildings.

Night Watch Duties:

·        Keep close eye on glass candle lanterns.

·        Keep the fire going- a small fire is all that is necessary.

·        Each employee will have two Russian tea cakes and one cup of cocoa. Keep the teapot filled with water.

·        Write in night watch log.

·        Take a night hike; star gazing (weather permitting).

·        Walk the perimeter of the fort as a group.

·        Quietly play checkers, staves or cards to pass the time.

·        Clean up your mess when your watch is over.

·        Wake the next group as quietly and quickly as possible.

·        Notify the teacher in case of any kind of problem.

Night Watch Reminders:

·        KEEP VOICES AND NOISE TO A MINIMUM!  NO BELL RINGING!

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

·        Block the privy doors with a piece of wood to prevent them from slamming.

·        Students are not to play with candles or candle wax.

·        At no time should students wander off alone.

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

Night Watch Schedule and Sleeping Arrangements:

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.

First watch:                           9:00 -  11:00         Cooks              sleep in the Kuskov House

Second watch:                     11:00 -   1:00         Artisans:          sleep in front of Rotchev House

Third watch:                         1:00 -   3:00         Hunters:         sleep in Northwest Blockhouse

Fourth watch:                         3:00 -   5:00         Gardeners:      sleep in the back of Kuskov House

Fifth watch                             5:00 -   7:00         Militia:              sleep in Southeast Blockhouse

Wake-up for breakfast           7:00 -                   Cooks:            

 

Morning Clean Up

Blockhouse

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

 

Heating Water

Use large spider pot for heating water. Do NOT put tin washtubs on the fire to heat water.

 

Washing dishes

Hunters wash dishes after breakfast. 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!

 

Caring for Cast Iron

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!

 

Putting Things Away

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

 

Broken Items

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