rival companies and traders, and not infrequently Russian was arrayed against Russian in armed conflict. This continued until Baranoff, feeling perfectly secure in his position, arbitrarily dispossessed his rivals of the stations they had established. This he accomplished by the assumption of governmental authority he did not possess, by threats, and a display of force the others felt themselves unable to withstand.

In August, 1794, two vessels arrived at St. Paul with cargoes of provisions, stores, implements, cattle, and 192 emigrants, among whom were fifty-two craftsmen and agriculturists, and eighteen priests and theological students in charge of Archimandrite Josaph. In sending priests and agriculturists to the colony, Shelikoff had no other object in view than the favorable effect such action was certain to have on the

members of the imperial family. Baranoff assigned the agriculturists to other labor, and in no very polite terms informed the priests that he would have no drones in his settlements, and that they, like all the others, must earn their living by physical, not mental, toil. The consequence was that the priests conspired against Baranoff's authority, and in return the chief manager made them the victims of a petty persecution of which they bitterly complained in communications that

were never permitted to reach the imperial authorities.

Most of these craftsmen and agriculturists were Siberian convicts, fifty of whom were sent to garrison a fortification erected at Yakutat in the summer of 1796. In this year the first church building was erected at Three Saints, but history is silent as to how, in view of Baranoff's hostility to the priests, the project was consummated. Two of the latter were sent with the convicts to Yakutat, where during the winter of 1796-7 they, together with their companions, suffered almost incredible hardships, being reduced to the verge of starvation before relief could be sent to them in the spring.

In 1799 the Russian-American Company was granted a charter giving it full and absolute control of the Russian possessions in America for a term of twenty years. This charter was much wider in its scope than that held by the Shelikoff company, of which the Russian-American Company was simply a reorganization, and by its terms the company was required to plant settlements, promote agriculture and other industries, propagate the established church, and extend the Russian possessions to the remotest limit possible. Baranoff was continued as manager, with the title of Governor, and as such was invested with a power which, owing to the improb

ability of any appeal ever reaching a higher authority, was practically supreme.

This charter empowered the company to vest in its employes, who were, or might become, occupants of lands in the colony, title thereto, on condition, however, that the possessions of the natives should not be disturbed. Acting under this charter, the company caused dwellings to be erected for the use of its employes on lots of ground set apart for that purpose, the title in fee to the same being vested in the employe in possession when he had faithfully served out his term of service, or, having died before it ended and leaving a widow or children in the colony, the title was vested in them. This was one mode adopted by the company for taking care of its employes when by reason of old age or other disability they were unable to maintain themselves, and of their widows and children after death. The term of service of these employes was fixed by the charter at five years, the company paying certain wages, which were small, furnishing necessary supplies, and presenting a bonus provided for in each contract at the end of the term of service. That the plan of vesting title in employes was not generally carried out is proved by the fact that at the time of the transfer only twenty-one fee simple titles were confirmed by protocol, and these, it is safe to say, do not cover

an aggregate of more than three hundred acres. All the Russians and Creoles* were left in possession of their homes, it is true, but of the whole number only twenty-one were successful in having their titles secured to them. To the credit of our Government, however, it can be said that they cannot now legally be distributed in the possession of any lands occupied or claimed by them prior to May 17, 1884. That Congress will ultimately, by the necessary enactment, secure to them absolute titles to their homes is not to be doubted. By a provision in the charter, or by a rule of the company, to which it conformed in all cases as to a law, an old and disabled employe while he lived in the Territory, and his widow and children after his death (so long as the children were unable to maintain themselves), were considered the wards of the company, to whom it regularly paid a yearly pension. As late as 1888 there were old employes of the company at Sitka who were still drawing these pensions, the imperial government having assumed the obligations of the company in that respect.

* Descendants of Russian fathers and native mothers, improperly so called by local usage.

CHAPTER IV.

Baranoff Establishes Settlement on Sitka Sound, 1799Archangel Fort and Settlement Destroyed and Settlers Massacred by Natives, 1802-Few Survivors Rescued and Natives Punished by English ShipsNatives Build and Occupy Fortification at Mouth of Indian River-Driven Out by Baranoff, 1804-New Archangel (Sitka) Founded Same Year-First Vessel Built at Sitka, 1807-Baranoff Superseded and Dies While on His Way to Russia-Natives Attack Sitka and Are Defeated, 1852-Brief Review of Events, 1818 to 1867.

In April, 1799, Baranoff sailed from St. Paul with two vessels, one of which had been built at Prince William Sound during the preceding winter, and a fleet of 200 canoes, with a view of establishing a settlement on Norfolk (now Sitka) Sound. Thirty of his canoes were swamped in a heavy sea off Cape Suckling, by which he suffered a loss of sixty men. Soon after, his fleet of canoes having landed for the night, those on shore were attacked by natives, in the dark, and here again he lost about thirty men and a number of canoes. On the 25th of May he landed at what is now known as Old Sitka, near which point he found the English ship Caroline at anchor. He found the natives hostile and inclined