How many of us know that the Russians once established a post upon the coast of California and held it for nearly a third of a century? If the geographic conditions about this post had been different, it is possible that the Russian colonists would hold their position now.

The discoveries made upon the North American coast by the Russian navigator, Bering, in 1741, led to fur trading with the Indians; and in 1798 the Russian American company was organized and established its headquarters at Sitka.

The Spaniards still claimed the whole Pacific coast of North America as far north as the Strait of Fuca, though they had given up their station at Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island. They had, however, made no settlements north of the port of San Francisco.

It was nearly one hundred years ago that Rezanof, a leading Russian official, arrived at Sitka and began to investigate the condition of the settlements of the Russian American Fur Company. He found them in a sorry state; the people were nearly starved and most of them were sick with the scurvy. No grain or vegetables were grown along that northern coast, nor could they be supplied from Asia. Rezanof conceived the idea of establishing trade relations with the people of California. By this means furs might be exchanged for the fresh provisions which were so sorely needed in the north.

Rezanof sailed south in 1806 and tried to enter the Columbia River, where the company had planned to establish a settlement, for upon the Russian maps of this time all of the coast as far south as the Columbia was included under Russian jurisdiction. Rezanof was, however, unable to enter the river, probably for the same reason that Meares, the English navigator, had failed to enter. He then proceeded down the coast and finally ran into the port of San Francisco, where he was treated in a fairly polite manner by the Spanish.

After the return of the expedition to the north, definite plans were made for the establishment of an agricultural and trading station on the California coast, as a permanent supply depot for the northern settlements. Rezanof hoped in time to secure a portion of this fair southern land from Spain.

Several hunting expeditions, chiefly made up of Aleut Indians with Russian officers, were sent south and told to keep a sharp lookout for a suitable place to begin operations. In 1809 one expedition entered Bodega Bay, an inlet of some size about sixty miles northwest of San Francisco. This bay, which had been previously discovered and named by the Spaniards, was thoroughly explored two years later.

No good spot for a settlement was found upon this inlet, but in 1812 a location was determined upon, ten miles north of the mouth of the stream we now know as Russian River. There was no good harbor here, simply a little cove, but back of this cove a broad grassy tract formed a gently sloping terrace at the foot of a line of hills. The soil was good and timber was near at hand.

The Russians first made friends with the Indians, who ceded to them the territory in the neighborhood for three blankets, three pair of breeches, three hoes, two axes, and some trinkets.

In order to protect themselves from possible Indian attacks as well as to be able to hold their position against the Spanish, the Russians constructed a strong stockade. It was made of upright posts set in the ground and pierced with loopholes. At the corners, and a little distance within, were erected two hexagonal blockhouses with openings for cannon. As it happened, however, no occasion ever arose for the use of the ten cannon with which the fort was supplied. The post was given the name Ross, a word which forms the root of the word Russia.

The Spanish, of course, claimed the territory by right of discovery, and watched the work of the Russians with jealous eyes. They were not strong enough to drive the Russians away by force, although they protested more than once against the unlawful occupation of the land. Some trading was carried on between the Russians and the Spanish, and occasionally loads of grain and cattle were sent north.

The number of people at Fort Ross varied from one hundred and fifty to five hundred. The population consisted of Russians, Aleuts, and other Indians. The Aleuts were the hunters and sealers. They spent their time upon the ocean, sometimes entering San Francisco Bay, but usually hunting in the region of the Farralone Islands, which were originally inhabited by great herds of fur seal. There were also otters, sea-lions, and an infinite number of seabirds. A station was maintained upon the Farralones, where a few men stayed to gather birds' eggs and kill seagulls. Many thousands of gulls were taken each year, and every part of their bodies was utilized for some purpose.

Kotzebue, a Russian navigator, whose name has been given to a sound upon northern Alaska, visited Fort Ross and also San Francisco Bay. He considered it a great pity that the Russians had not gained possession of this territory before the Spaniards, for the magnificent bay of San Francisco, in the midst of a fertile country, would have been a prize worth working for.

Year after year the Russian Fur Company sent expeditions to California to trade and bring back provisions. They tried to extend the area under their jurisdiction, but the geographical conditions of the country were unfavorable. The narrow strip of land next the coast was cut off from the interior valleys by mountain ridges and caÑons. If the Sonoma Valley had opened westward instead of toward San Francisco Bay, it would have been easy to extend their territory gradually. As it was, the Spanish, who were in control of the bay, had easy access to all of the fertile valleys of central California.

As the sealing industry decreased in importance, and as the maintenance of Fort Ross was expensive, the Russians in 1839 began to consider the question of giving up their post. They finally sold everything at Ross and Bodega, except the land, to Sutter, an American who had acquired a large ranch and established a post or fort at the mouth of the American River. In 1841 the Russians sailed away, never to return. The Spaniards were greatly relieved when this happened, for they had not known how to get rid of their unwelcome neighbors peaceably, and were reluctant to stir up trouble with Russia.

The stockade at Fort Ross has entirely disappeared, but two blockhouses, the little chapel, and the officers' quarters remain as the Russians left them.

Fort Ross is now-a pleasant, quiet hamlet. A store and a farm-house have been added to the old buildings. Behind the sloping meadows rise the partly wooded hills, while in front lies the little bay where once the boats of the Russian and Aleut seal hunters moved to and fro. Occasionally a small schooner visits the cove for the purpose of loading wood or tan-bark for the San Francisco market.

Fort Ross was never marked by serious strife and seems destined to go on in its quiet way. The blockhouses are rotting and beginning to lean with age, and in time all evidences of the once formidable Russian post will have disappeared.