The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-06-14
RUSSIA IN
CALIFORNIA.
Once the Gar Laid Claim
to Part of the
Golden Coast.
He Had a Stronghold at Fort
Ross, in SOnOma
County.
An Interesting History of the Early
Russian Settlements in
This State.

Every student of American history
knows that by ukase in 1922 the Emperor
of Russia asserted his ownership of the
whole northwestern coast of America,
from Boring Sea southwark to 81 degrees
north latitude, and warned all foreigners
not to come within 300 miles of the coast,
and that this country's protest and the
negotiations which followed resulted in
the line of demarcation being fixed at 81
deg 40 min.
That Is AIaska's southern boundary to
this day. Not so well known, however,
are the facts with reference to the daring
occupation by the Russians of the terri
tory OF California in the early years of the
present century. Hon. r. a. Thompson
of Santa Rosa has treated the latter SUBJ
ject at length and with much detail in his
paper, just published, entitled 1.-The Rus
sian Settlement in California, Known as
Fort Ross; Founded 1872, Abandoned
1S41. Why the Russians Came and Why
They Went" Mr.. Thompson has per-
formed work of no little importance
to this State in historical
sense. He shows that, when the re-
gion north of San Francisco Bay
was occupied by order OF Alexander
Baranoff, the bold and energetic head of
the Russian-American Fur Company, it
was undoubtedly Baranoffs intention to
hold it against its then owners for all time,
'and his successors would have done so,
but for the timely PRONUNCIATION in 1923 of
the Monroe doctrine, which gave notice to
all the world that no occupation of Ameri-
can territory by European powers would
be tolerated by the United States" AL
though the Russian settlement in Califor-
MIA was not mentioned in the agreement
of 1924 with reference to the $40
parallel, still it involved the abandon
nj nd Yolt to
any farther encroachments in California.
In 1911 the Russian agents fixed upon a
site for a fort and settlement, and it was
called Fort Ross. ''As to the exact orig
inal meaning of the word Ross" says
Mr.. Thompson, 'there seems to be a diff
ference OF opinion; but it is certain that
the people of the Volga were formerly
called Rus, and the Russians generally
were called the people of Ross. and the
country is yet called Rossia, or Russia"
Fort Ross is in Sonoma County. In
1872 it was fortified village, and in the
fort twelve cannon were mounted, but
the number of cannon was afterward in
creased to forty. The investigations by
the Spanish authorities in 1913 and the
results are narrated, and the story of Fort
Ross is carried down to the time when the
Mexicans asserted themselves in 1840 and
as the latter refused to cede any territory
to Russia, Governor w rangeIl of Ross
sold the fort and it was abandoned in 1871.
One of the purchasers was General John
A. Suffer, Sho afterward disposed of his
interest (1845) to William Benitz, who had
purchased the site as part of Mexican
land grant. The old settlement is now
the property of g. w. Call, who preserves,
as best he can, the old buildings and such
relics as are not perishable. During all
those eighty three years the little belfry
and dome of the Russian chapel at Ross
have stood bravely facing the heavy win
ter storms. The watch-toYers are partly
decayed. OF the apple-trees planted by
the original settlers some fifty are alive
and bear apples every year. This is all
souls. santa Rosa: Sonoma Democrat
Publishing Company, publ shers.