Page images
PDF
EPUB

I WISH to record here that I believe that patriotism needs culture, and that it is an

element in man like religion that flourishes when the soil is prepared for it. For a century and more we have been worshiping the heroes of other countries. I once related to the Sanctum my feelings at the Hotel des Invalides as I stood between a French peasant in wooden shoes and an old officer of the Legion of Honor, silently worshiping at the stately tomb of the greatest of all Frenchmen. It seemed then that there could be no American counterpart, that no American shrine would ever draw such never failing crowds as came daily there. Not long ago I took my little boy out to Riverside to the tomb of Grant. I did not expect to find more than a corporal's guard of sight-seers. I admit that curiosity drew me. The name of Grant seemed plebeian by the side of that of the French Emperor. Vicksburg, Donnelson, the Wilderness, Appomattox, rung flat alongside Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland, and Waterloo. One was the soldier of a republic, the other the Man of Destiny. The great gray dome that surmounts the remains of our soldier is not hedged round with historic associations or emblazoned with regal memories, and yet I was not alone in my pilgrimage. There was a line three deep, a quarter of a mile long, passing in and around the crypt. It was not one crowd, but many, and all day long it swayed in a ceaseless throng. For a month this has been going on. Every head was uncovered as we entered the stately sarcophagus, and the soft light that fell from above on the tomb carried with it the same idealization that enshrouded the last resting place of that other. The reverence was as genuine in the one as in the other the homage paid this republican hero was as sincere as that lavished on Frenchman's demigod. For the first time I appreciated at their full value the power and benefit of such national shrines. About it from year to year will crystallize a love of country and a pride of home. It is something that can be pointed to something tangible. On it will feed patriotism, and the tomb of the man who said: "Let us have peace," will become to unborn generations all that the golden dome of Des Invalides is to France.

[graphic]
[graphic][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small]

N DECEMBER 8, 1741, in a wretched little hut on the island off the coast of Kamchatka, which still bears his name, the intrepid explorer, Vitus Bering, died. Though a Dane by birth, he had been for many years in the service of the Tsar, and it was on his voyages and those of his able lieutenant, Chirikof, that the Russians mainly based their claim to territory in northwestern America.

From this time forth Russian traders and merchants made frequent expeditions to

America in quest of valuable furs, but they behaved so brutally that even now, at the distance of a century and a half, the memory of their cruelties has not been blotted from the minds of the natives. Very various fortunes attended the trading and exploring expeditions of those days; some vessels brought back large quantities of splendid furs, while the crews of others suffered terrible hardships and realized nothing in return.

After Kadiak and the islands of the Aleutian group had been visited, the imperial government thought it time to take steps

PRINCE BARANOFF

for the more accurate mapping out of the regions discovered by the Siberian traders. Accordingly several naval officers were detailed, on double pay and with increased rank, to accompany the traders, take notes of the resources and productions the country, and make astronomical observations. But the demon of ill-luck seemed to pursue these specially chosen officers, for though they made gallant efforts to extend their knowledge, and incurred serious dangers, they added very little to the information already acquired by the traders.

At this period most of the trading and exploration was done by companies organized for these purposes. The expeditions extended over three, four, five, or more years. On their return the total results were divided into two parts; the projectors of the expedition took one, and the other was divided into shares, of which each sailor and participator received one or two. Many of these exploring parties met with disaster at sea, but these were almost wholly due to utter ignorance of the simplest principles of navigation on the part of the adventurers, who were traders, hunters, and trappers, but not sailors.

When the game on the Aleutian islands and the adjoining peninsula began to become scarce, it was decided to try to make fresh

discoveries on the mainland. The first attempts were not successful, the natives offering a brave resistance and repulsing the Russians with considerable loss. In 1783 a company of Siberian merchants organized an expedition on a larger scale than any that had hitherto left the shores of Siberia: it consisted of three ships and numbered nearly two hundred men. One of the vessels was called The Three Saints, and was commanded by Grigor Ivanovich Shelikof, who, with his crew, wintered on Bering island, and then passed on to Copper and other islands. A somewhat long stay was made at Unalashka, where they took on fresh water, supplies, and several Aleutian hunters. Thence they sailed to the island now called Kadiak, and anchored in Three Saints harbor. Here they were received with hostility by the natives, but, nothing daunted, they began to build houses and to erect fortifications for a permanent settlement. The winter was spent at Karluk, where salmon were very plentiful, and where at the present day several canneries are situated.

Shelikof now became very anxious to secure a monopoly of the Russian discoveries and settlements in North America, and to obtain for his company the exclusive privilege of trading in the new colonies.

[graphic]

To further

his plans, he went back to Siberia, leaving in command of the colonies a Siberian merchant named Samoilof, to whom he gave instructions which give us a high idea of his wisdom and clear-sightedness. Shelikof directed his lieutenant to extend the sphere of Russian influence to the eastward and southward, to keep out foreign traders, to establish stations further and further along the coast of the American continent, and to set up marks of Russian occupation as far south as California. Samoilof was also instructed to send natives to Siberia to study the language, domestic life, and customs, of the Russians, so that on returning to their tribes they might aid in civilizing their countrymen; to collect ores, minerals, and shells, gather articles of native manufacture, make surveys, build block-houses, and establish schools.

Shelikof journeyed on to Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia, where he placed before the Governor-General, for transmission to Saint Petersburg, a long account of his discoveries, accompanied by maps and plans, and asked recognition of his work. The Governor-General took the matter up with

migrated to Siberia in 1780, and took the management of a glass factory in Irkutsk. Later, he engaged in trading on the Anadir river and in Kamchatka, and did a fair business. Being fond of his independence, he at first refused to enter the service of the Shelikof company. So Delarof, a Greek, was appointed in charge of the colony at Kadiak. He behaved with great kindness and justice; but, though visitors of all nationalities praised him highly, he was much too lenient and honest to suit his unscrupulous directors.

In 1789 Baranof lost two of his caravans, and was rendered bankrupt. Shelikof approached him again, and this time Baranof accepted his overtures, and entered the service of the company in 1790. He was excellently fitted for the work he had to do; shrewd, politic, full of courage and energy,

[graphic]
[graphic]

A RUSSIAN BLOCK HOUSE

enthusiasm, and fortunately for the success of Shelikof's schemes, the Russian government just about this time became convinced that many abuses existed in the relations between the various independent trading companies and the natives, and that it would be best to abolish the traders' rule, and place the whole American traffic in the hands of a single strong company. So Shelikof and his partner, Golikof, were invited to Saint Petersburg to be presented to the Empress, who manifested great interest in their projects, and conferred gold medals and swords of honor upon them. On September 28th, 1788, a decree was issued, giving the company exclusive privileges of trading and hunting in the regions discovered and controlled by them. Besides all this a subsidy of two hundred thousand rubles was advanced from the public treasury, to be repaid in twenty annual instalments without interest.

In Siberia Shelikof looked about him for a man who would carry out his plans, and set his heart upon Alexander Baranof, a native of Kargapol in eastern Russia. Baranof was born in 1747, and from his native place went to Moscow, where he was a clerk in retail shops; in 1771 he set up in business for himself, but dissatisfied with his prospects, he

Photo by Partridge

INTERIOR OF RUSSIAN CHURCH, SITKA, ALASKA

careful to avoid disputes, and yet not burdened with inconvenient scruples. That he was fond of strong liquor, loose in his relationships with women, and capable of lying whenever occasion seemed to require, did not detract from, but rather increased his usefulness in the post he was called to occupy.

Baranof sailed to the scene of his future labors in The Three Saints, but he was not destined to reach Kadiak that year. The ship was wrecked on Unalashka and went to pieces. Baranof at once showed his readi

post being at the bay of Three Saints, Kadiak. But his domain did not extend much beyond Kadiak and a few of the adjacent islands, as several private trading companies were yet in operation on the Aleutian islands and Prince William sound. After Baranof had been in power for some little time, he determined to extend the company's sphere of influence, and to seize the Alexander archipelago.

With these ends in view, Baranof removed the chief settlement of the company from Three Saints to Saint Paul harbor, because

[graphic][merged small]

ness of resource by distributing his fifty-two men over the island in search of seals and edible roots, and his energy by helping them to build underground huts in which to pass the long and cold winter. Though food often ran short, and many hardships had to be endured, Baranof learned much about the habits and customs of the natives that afterwards proved useful to him.

In the spring of 1791 the Russians constructed three bidarkas, or skin boats, in which they safely reached Kadiak, making many valuable explorations on the way. Delarof was relieved, and Baranof assumed command of all the forts, stations, and settlements, of the Shelikof-Golikof company, the principal

more timber for ship-building could be obtained near the latter place. He made an alliance with the chief of a tribe of natives, and while on an exploring expedition met with an English ship, the captain of which gave him a good deal of useful information. He effected a landing upon Nuchek island, but was attacked by a large body of natives, wearing wooden armor and carrying wooden shields strong enough to stop a bullet, and using arrows tipped with flint or copper. The natives fought stubbornly and the fortune of the day was turning against the Russians when some Aleuts in their service escaped to a Russian vessel anchored not far from the battle-field, and brought aid to

« PreviousContinue »