War to the knife thereafter prevailed among the natives and the Russians. The latter waged it with the most ferocious energy, but were by no means always victors. A whole expedition of fifty men was destroyed on Unimak Island in 1762; and a similar party met the same fate in 1763, on Ounalaska. Indeed, for years the history of Russian progress in Alaska was one of unrelieved horror, an inferno of lust, torture and death.
And now the advance of the Spanish and others from the southward was resumed. Juan Perez sailed from Monterey in 1774, and discovered Queen Charlotte Island and Nootka Sound. The next year Bruno Heceta discovered the mouth of the Oregon or Columbia River. Then the famous English navigator, James Cook, came upon the scene. In 1778 he reached Nootka Sound; saw and named Mount St. Elias; explored Cook's Inlet; stopped for a time at Ounalaska; sailed up Behring Sea, through Behring Strait, to Icy Cape; explored Norton Sound and the adjacent waters; touched again at Ounalaska; and then sailed away to the Sandwich Islands, where he was killed in February, 1779. In these few months this immortal Yorkshire man and his Connecticut and Virginia comrades had done more active work of discovery and survey than all the Russian pillagers who had frequented that part of the world for seventy-five years before.
The first permanent industrial and commercial settlement was effected by the Russians under Shelikoff on Kadiak Island in 1783. Three years later the ill-fated La Perouse visited the Alaskan coast and saw Mt. St. Elias. In 1787, two Russians, Lastochkin and Pribyloff, discovered two islands in the south-east part of Behring Sea, which have since become of enormous value. They named them St. Paul and St. George, and called them together the Suboff Islands. They are now known, however, as the Pribyloff Islands, and are famous as one of the chief homes of the fur seals.
The Russian Government, about 1788, formally laid claim to all the Alaskan lands and waters, and even to the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. At the same time the Spanish and English laid conflicting claims to the region about Nootka Sound, and in 1789 came into violent conflict there. United States expeditions were also busy with explorations in that region, but the Spaniards made no objection to their presence. Captain Gray, of the "Washington," Captain John Kendrick, of the "Columbia," Captain Metcalf, of the "Fair American," Captain Ingraham, of the "Hope," Captain Crowell, of the "Hancock," Captain Roberts, of the "Jefferson," and Captain Magee, of the "Margaret," were among the Americans conspicuous in exploration and trade, chiefly about Nootka Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Captain George Vancouver, already mentioned as a member of Cook's expedition, also spent much time in exploring the coast, from the island which bears his name northward to the Prince of Wales Islands, in the British service; and Alexander Mackenzie traveled across the continent from Canada and explored the great river which has been named for him. The surveys of Vancouver were the most thorough and accurate that had been made.
To return, however, to the Russians. In 1782, Gregory Shelikoff, of Rylsk, Siberia, a man of great ability and energy, of remarkable brutality, and of unsurpassed unscrupulousness, entered upon an important campaign for the establishment of trading posts. In this he was accompanied by his wife, Natalie Shelikoff, a woman of extraordinary ability. In 1787, the Czarina Catherine II, gave him a medal in recognition of his services; and in 1790, by an imperial ukase, that notorious but brilliant sovereign gave to a company, of which Shelikoff was the head, the practical monopoly of the Alaska fur trade. Alexander Baranoff, one of Shelikoff's subordinates, was soon made Chief Director of Affairs in the Russo-American colonies. He, like his chief, was a man of consummate executive ability, and utterly destitute of humane feelings or moral sense. In the summer of 1793 he prevailed upon the Czarina to issue another ukase, authorizing the sending of missionaries to America to convert the natives to the Orthodox Greek faith, and also the sending thither of Russian convicts to teach them agriculture. Thirty convicts were thus settled by Baranoff on the Kenai peninsula, and the Archimandrite Joasaph, elder of the Augustin friars, also went thither. Many other convicts and their families, and monkish missionaries, were in 1794 landed at Kadiak and Cape St. Elias. As soon as they were landed, Shelikoff refused to support them, and they were compelled to work for their living. In consequence the missionaries sent bitter complaints to the Czar; and these were accompanied by still more bitter complaints from the natives, who were being subjected to such brutalities as cannot be described in print. These had little effect, however. In 1795, Shelikoff died, and his wife succeeded him as president of the company. At this time the population of Kadiak was more than 3,600 adults. The next year the first Greek church was erected there, and Father Joasaph was made Bishop. In 1799 the Czar Paul chartered anew the Shelikoff company, re-organized as the Russian-American Company, for a term of twenty years. He gave it absolute control of all the American coast-lands and waters north of latitude 55°. The Company was required to survey the region, plant settlements, promote agriculture, commerce and other industries, propagate the Greek faith, and extend Russian influence and possessions as widely as possible. As for the natives, they were by the same decree made the slaves of the Company. Baranoff was made practically the supreme head, the autocrat of the entire realm, on whose word were suspended the issues of life and death.
Under this new régime the old policy of cruelty and outrage toward the natives was pursued with added intensity. Generally the Russians worked their will with impunity, though sometimes the natives rose against them with vengeful might, and on several occasions the Russians were glad to flee to British and American ships for shelter. Meanwhile explorations went on. The American ship "Atahualpa" in 1802 discovered the mouth of the Stikine River. Baranoff explored the lower part of the Copper River. In 1804 Baranoff took Sitka from the natives, after a hard battle; renamed it New Archangel, gave the island on which it stood his own name, and made it thenceforth the chief station in the colony. About this time an attempt was made to plant trees on the Aleutian islands. The Imperial Chamberlain, Count Nicolas Petrovich Resanoff, founded a school at Kadiak, and effected some valuable administrative reforms, especially in the colonial courts and in the financial system. Then he went back to Russia to get the Czar's consent to his marriage with the daughter of Don Luis de Arguello, the Spanish governor of San Francisco. As soon as he was gone, Baranoff undid all his reforms. Resanoff died on his way to Russia. His betrothed never believed he was dead, and never would marry another; but waited patiently for his return until she became very old and died.
John Jacob Astor, having formed a company for the Pacific fur trade, sent a vessel to Sitka in 1809, and in 1811 an agent to St. Petersburg to negotiate with the Directory of the Russian-American Company. The negotiations were successful, and in October, 1811, were approved by the Czar, Mr. Astor was to furnish provisions and supplies at stated prices, and to take pay therefor in furs from the Company. They were to assist each other against smugglers, respect each other's hunting-grounds, and not to sell intoxicating liquors to the natives. In 1817 Baranoff, having grown old and weary of his toil, resigned the Chief Directorship of the colonies, and was succeeded by Captain Leontius Hagenmeister. He resigned within a year, and was succeeded by Lieutenant Janoffsky. At this time an Imperial Commissioner, Vasili Golofnin, was sent to investigate and report on the abuses of administration. As a result, in July, 1819, the Czar made sweeping changes in the regulations of the colonies, which effected some substantial reforms.
There were now Russian settlements on five of the Aleutian islands, four on the shores of Cook's Inlet, two on Chugach Gulf, and one at Sitka. The last named was a large and handsome place, surrounded by gardens and wheat fields. In 1821 the charter of the Company was renewed for twenty years. The profits of the enterprise, however, were now declining. Not one of Baranoff's successors had a tithe of his ability, and the result of his loss was seen in shrinking dividends. Explorations, however, were pushed vigorously. A two years' expedition surveyed the coasts of Norton Sound, Bristol Bay, and Nunivak Island. The Alexander Archipelago also was thoroughly explored. The Russian Government in 1821 issued a proclamation of sovereignty over the whole Pacific Ocean north of the 51st parallel, and forbidding vessels of other nations to approach within one hundred miles of the shores thereof, save in cases of extreme distress. Against this the United States and England vigorously protested, and with effect. In 1824 a convention was signed between the United States and Russia, by which the North Pacific was opened to American ships, and latitude 54° 40' was recognized as the southern boundary of the Russian possessions; and a similar treaty was made with England the next year.
Kotzebue Sound was explored by the English Captain Beechey in 1826. Captain Staninkovich explored much of the northern coast of Alaska in 1828. In 1830 Chernoff examined the harbor of Nuchek and the mouth of the Kaknu River; and Kolmakoff surveyed the bay and river of Kuskoquim. In this year the Company took formal possession of all the Kurile Islands. The next year Baron von Wrangell became Director of the Colonies, and an era of progress began. The colony was opened for settlement to all Russians. Fort St. Michael's, on Norton Sound, was established. Measures were taken to check the destruction of seals and other sea animals. An observatory was founded at Sitka. In 1835 Glasunoff explored the deltas of the Kuskoquim and Yukon rivers, ascending the latter stream as far as Anvik. Small-pox now broke out at Sitka, and for several years ravaged all the settlements, nearly depopulating some of them. In 1838 Malakoff went up the Yukon River to Nulato, and Kushevaroff thoroughly explored the northeastern coast as far as Point Barrow. The next year Mt. St. Elias was observed for the first time to emit smoke, but no further eruption occurred. In 1843 Lieutenant Zagoskin ascended the Yukon as far as Nowikakat, Malakoff explored the Suchitna, Gregorieff the Copper River, and Kashevaroff the shores of Behring Sea.
The second charter of the Company expired in 1841, and strong efforts were made to have it renewed at once. The Government hesitated, but finally, in 1844, renewed it on even more liberal terms than before. In the summer of 1848 the first whaling vessel passed through Behring Strait. It was the American ship "Superior," commanded by Captain Roys. The experiment was highly successful, and in the next season no less than one hundred and fifty-four American whalers followed the example, all making great catches, and the industry was thus established in those waters. English and American explorers continued to visit to northern coasts of Alaska, and surveyed almost every portion of it.