Moscow Times - 07.23.2001

 

The Moscow Times

How Russia Used Trade to Conquer America 

By Valeria Korchagina
Staff Writer 

Boris Yeltsin's habit of addressing his foreign counterparts as friends — "My friend Bill," or "My friend Jacques" — may have seemed shocking to some of his contemporaries, but the tradition was, in fact, set long before Russia's first president showed up in the international political arena.

Back in 1862, Tsar Alexander II always referred to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln as a "Great and Good Friend" in letters that ranged way beyond international politics and even touched on private family matters such as the birth of Alexander's nephew.

The letter in which Alexander II writes about the birth of the Grand Duke Vyacheslav and Lincoln's congratulatory reply are part of a new exhibit called "Russian American" that recently opened at the State Historical Museum.

"Russian American" is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the formation of the Russian-American Trading Co., a state-controlled enterprise that largely helped the Russian Empire conquer large parts of North America, including Alaska and California.

Russian-American Trading was set up in 1799 by decree of Emperor Paul I, and it came after Peter the Great kicked off Russia's expansion to the East almost 100 years earlier.

The company was largely responsible for setting up Russian colonies along the North American west coast, many of which — like Sitka in Alaska and Fort Ross in California — still bear reminders of the Russian presence.

Russian-American Trading had its own flag based on the white, blue and red Russian tricolor and its own money, both of which are on display at the exhibit. The company folded in 1867 with the sale of Russia's American colonies to the United States for $7 million in gold. The money was used to build railroads in Russia.

U.S. Congress' ratification on May 28, 1867, of the deal is also being showcased at the museum.

The history of early Russian-American relations, however, has even deeper roots. In 1770-80, Russia effectively helped the Americans in their fight for independence. In 1775, Empress Catherine the Great refused to send the Russian army across the ocean to help British King George III fight the revolutionaries. In 1780, Russia backed a pan-European plan of not taking sides in the conflict that effectively prevented Britain from staging a sea blockade of the New England colonies.

More help arrived during the Civil War some 80 years later. While France and Britain openly sided with the Confederates, Russia sent its fleet to New York, Boston and San Francisco in a show of support for the Union. The reception the Russian naval officers received was grandiose.

In New York, the elite of the Russian navy was received at New York Music Academy by Theodore Roosevelt, father of the man with the same name who would later become president. A reception thrown in honor of the Russians included 12,000 oysters, 12 giant salmons, 1,200 turkeys, 1,200 partridges and 3,500 bottles of wine, according to the museum. Also at the banquet were likenesses of Tsars Alexander II and Peter the Great and Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln — all made of sugar.

Visits by high-ranking Russians appears to have been a source of great excitement and fascination for Americans even after the Russian territories were transferred to the United States.

The Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich visited in 1871, becoming the first Romanov to set foot on American soil. According to a copy of his itinerary at the museum, the then 21-year-old grand duke visited half a dozen major cities, traveled to Niagara Falls and inspected a Colt gun factory.

Alexei Alexandrovich was received so enthusiastically in New York that local butchers placed on their counters chicken made to resemble the Russian imperial double-headed eagle.

However, not all stories about Russians in America were so light-hearted. One of the more touching and tragic love stories was about Count Nikolai Rezanov and a 15-year-old Spanish girl, Concepcion Arguello.

In 1804, Russian-American Trading sent Rezanov, then about 40, to Alaska to check up on the company's activities. During that visit, he saw how hard it was to live in Alaska and decided to try to hammer out a trade agreement with the Spanish in California.

He arrived in the then-small Spanish fortress San Francisco in 1806. Within three months, he had both sealed the deal and won the heart of the Presidio commandant's daughter, Concepcion, or Concita. Rezanov, a widower with two children back in Russia, got engaged to Concita. But he died while en route back to Russia to arrange for the wedding.

His fiancee for years refused to believe that he was not coming back. She never married and became a nun in the 1840s, about the time she learned about Rezanov's fate.

While some historians debate whether Rezanov's engagement with Concepcion was a diplomatic trick, there is no doubt that the trade deal he signed improved Russia's fortunes. His plans for trade with Spain resulted in a treaty in 1807, and an idea he had for a Russian colony north of San Francisco resulted in the establishment of Fort Ross in 1812.

Rezanov's diaries and some of his personal possessions are also part of the exhibition at the State Historical Museum.  

The exhibition is scheduled to be open on Wednesdays through Mondays until Sept. 18.