Strange Shores: A Russian America TLIAW

[Bartholome de Fonte]

Chapter 10: Victims of Changes

The introduction of horses on the Oregonian Plateau through the Shoshone in the early 1700s would have profound effects upon locals. Lifestyles became drastically altered as men began to hunt Bison seasonally across the Rocky Mountains. Contact with Natives in the Great Plains led many Sahaptian peoples to adopt tepees and bison buckskin clothing. Nations like the Liksiyu rose to a prestigious rank well above their small numbers due to their excellence in horsemanship. Liksiyu horses became prised for their agility and lean speed among the Oregonian Plateau. The beasts of burden would become one of the primary sources of wealth, a noble Liksiyu having hundreds if not thousands of horses. Relations between the Niimíipu and Liksiyu became quite close, the seasonal Bison hunts becoming a joint activity.[1] Neighboring Shahaptians like the Umatilla and Walla Walla often joined these excursions. In fact, between the four peoples it is likely there was an ongoing military alliance, though it must have been loose as Europeans have recorded a few minor battles between themselves. A common foe met on both sides of the Rocky Mountains were the Blackfeet, whose raiders proved to be a constant threat to Sahaptian peoples.

A Liksiyu horse.​

The exact date when the Coyote Confederation was formed remains disputed. Ties amongst its initial four nations were always fairly close, leaving it questionable when the semi-annual meetings on matters of mutual interest amongst nobles was formalised into a permanent council. It is known to have existed by 1816, as Canadian and Russian fur traders began to note the “Coyote traders” visiting their stations with members of the four nations. The threat of Blackfeet and demanding an identical price from white traders are thought to be the reasons behind the emergence of the centralised state. Each nation held a certain number of delegates to the council, determined by prestige rather than population size. Every member had to be of the noble class and very often were village headmen. The Niimíipu were the most powerful, holding three seats. Seen as the least prominent, both the Umtilla and Walla Walla had a single delegate each. Despite being the smallest tribe, the Liksiyu had two members.

Several scholars have felt that these developments did not constitute a formal polity, arguing it was the War of Lost Raven that formally created it. Long armed by Canadian traders, the Spokane and Okanagan peoples held friendly relations and participated in mutually beneficial raids on their neighbors. During a particular foray into the Mamachatpam[2] heartland, Xúxux Wáptas (Raven Wing), the favorite wive of Wiyapnít (known as Tall Elk, despite his name meaning Elk) was taken by Spokane warriors along with other captives.[3] This began a conflict artfully called “The Eastern/Western Trojan War” depending on if the historian was Russian or from an Anglo nation. Typically called the “War of Lost Raven” among many interior natives, it remains the contemporary name for the battles. The Mamachatpam had allies in the Xwálxwaypam[4] and the Palus, both other Sahaptians. Battles raged throughout 1825, the Spokane and their allies having better and more numerous rifles, the three Sahaptians peoples having more warriors. With winter closing in Wiyapnít in angushed words begged help from the Coyote Confederation, to retrieve his wive and right a terrible wrong. In return he promised to adhere to the Confederation and pressure his Mamachatpam, Palus and Xwálxwaypam allies to follow suit. Mobilising its combined calvary forces, the Confederation decisively struck against Spokane wintering villages, taking by some accounts over 200 hostages. Peace parlays were held in spring, Chief Elk finally reunited with Raven Wing.

The Coyote Confederation began to emanate military and political prestige across the Oregonian Plateau. Fellow Sahaptian nations joined institution, the Tenino and Wánapam both soon sending delegates. Its distinctive Sahaptian ethnic focus was lost with the addition of many interior Salish peoples, including the Spokane nation, during the 1830s. It seems the motivation in joining the Confederation came from mutual enemies and its privileged access to Russian merchants. Namely harassed by Blackfeet[5], and lacking any RAC trading posts after their closure, the Interior Salish were between a rock and a hard place. Joining as members of the Confederation offered both protection and access to former markets. A policy that long frustrated Russian officers was the policy among member nations to demand identical rates for products. Typically negotiated by the crafty Xwálxwaypam tradesmen, these concessions were given only grudgingly from RAC forts.

Outbreaks of diseases like smallpox, malaria and measles echoed across the Oregonian Plateau during the 1820s and 30s. Population loses more heavily struck the smaller tribes, putting them under the cultural influence of their neighbors. The Liksiyu became destitute in numbers, their language rapidly losing favor against Niimíipu. Despite the halt in expansionism, the Confederation remained a potent force. The border settlement with the British left arriving Imperial officials focused on protecting their eastern flank. Negotiations with the Confederation were a continuous process, the natives shaping the policies to fit their cultural sphere. Russian officials recognised the Confederation's territory and autonomy in return for border patrols and serving for the Empire if Chinukiya faced invasion. Additionally missionaries were to be tolerated and protected, and while the Russians clearly intended this right for only Orthodox Priests, Christians of any denomination were to be allowed. These agreements stood the test of time despite adjustments. The discovery of gold in Mamachatpam lands caused a panic at Sv. Nikolsk, already fearful from experience of gold rushes in Alta California and southern Chinukiya. With surprising finesse the Russians avoided outright conflict between miners and natives. The Russians stationed a battalion to eject miners from Confederation lands and pressed for allowing Imperial supported miners to harvest the gold viens. The proposition was at first unacceptable to many leaders, especially the directly effected Mamachatpam. Yet their Xwálxwaypam cousins convinced the Council to agree to the Russian offer if the miners were constant monitored and a portion of the proceeds were awarded to the Confederation...

Footnotes:
1 – The Nez Perce and Cayuse respectively. You may notice I'm using the autonyms for these Natives. If anyone fluent in Russian could have a stab at Russo-fying these terms I'd be appreciative.
2 – The Yakama people
3 – Both of these are invented people, details on specific Yakama leaders isn't terribly clear until the 1850s when they were dispossessed of their homeland.
4 – The Klickitat people, an ethnic group I hope to one day be able to write a scholarly paper on. They've been called Arab and Yankee merchants by observing whites for their particular trading prowess.
5 – If you're thinking I'm being uncreative, the Blackfeet seriously fucked up the Columbian Plateau nations and caused fear among many of them for decades. Just saying.

 

[RGB]

1. Gold Rush!
2. OTL Russians tried variolation at Fort Ross, perhaps here also?
3. Great to see the timeline progressing, looking forward to more.
4. I notice you are sort of skipping over my favourite part of the period (granted I am biased), which is Russian and other scientists aboard Russian naval expeditions. It's an exciting time to be a naturalist or an ethnographer, after all.
5. RE: Japan as you asked earlier - see Putyatin and Goncharov's missions. ITTL there's no America, so Russia is the foremost power interested in opening Japan's markets up, all they need is international acquiescence.

 

[Bartholome de Fonte]

1. Gold Rush!

The one among the Confederation is a tightly controlled affair. The mentioned one in southern Chinukiya will be an important part of the next update.

2. OTL Russians tried variolation at Fort Ross, perhaps here also?

Russians also had efforts among the Aleutians, along with the HBC doing similar measures. A common trend was a resistance to the medicine, seen as untested among Natives. The relative disinterest by the RAC in the far interior means they don't have a large presence. Further outbreaks would find much more reception to vaccines among the Coyote Confederition. Gee I find that name tacky.

I notice you are sort of skipping over my favourite part of the period (granted I am biased), which is Russian and other scientists aboard Russian naval expeditions. It's an exciting time to be a naturalist or an ethnographer, after all.

This is for a fairly simple reason. My early attempts at AH included a fuck ton of details that are in my opinion better presented on Wikipedia. Russian exploration in the Northern Pacific is among those topics. If you want to coordinate a project PM me!

Japan as you asked earlier - see Putyatin and Goncharov's missions. ITTL there's no America, so Russia is the foremost power interested in opening Japan's markets up, all they need is international acquiescence.

I was going to leave Japan alone, but since Rezanov's time there were efforts by the RAC to open up Japan....

 

[Bartholome de Fonte]

Chapter 11: Riding on the Wind

[1]​

Much of the Russian colonisation of in Alyaska was restricted to the Aleutians, Kodiak Island and the Kenai Peninsula remained the almost sole permanent settlements, with New Arkhangelsk long since lost its importance. After the move of the colonial capital to Sv. Nikolsk, St. Paul's Harbor once again became the focus of Alyaskan operations.[2] With the aid of Tsimshian and Haida militia, a Russian-Aleutian force was able to go on successful campaigns through out 1837 and 1838 subjugating coastal Tlignit bands. Several posts were opened on Tlignit lands to ward off the incessant British and New Englander merchants. Besides a rising Aleut-Russian Creole population, more impressive shipyards and warehouses, little had changed since the time of Rezanov for coastal Alyaska.

This would change with the rising international focus on whaling. Initially dominated by daring New Englanders, this would abruptly change with the Sack of Boston during the Fifth War of American Reunification. Alongside its British allies, the New England was able to retain a status quo ante bellum border with the American Federated States, its commercial navy was in shambles. During the conflict many captains in the Northern Pacific agreed to work for the RAC. These sailors proved critical in transforming the focus from the waning in fur production to dominance in the whaling industry. Most captains signed annual contracts that split the proceeds from catches and eventually drifted back to their ports of call in New England after the war. Yet several men remained in the service of RAC for decades, being at the forefront of securing immense profits.

....

Chinukiya settlers up til the mid century were primarily within the Wallamette Valley. As the majority of its lands were taken by incoming colonists, other areas close to the coast became claimed. The beginnings of Russian presence on the Puget Sound started with Quilliliaish Redoubt, named after a “friendly” S’Puyalupubsh[3] man, in 1824 on the southern terminus. It would remain the sole RAC post south of Saint Andrei Redoubt on Vancouver Island for over decade. Many Coast Salish peoples began to trade at the post and while its staff likely embellished reality, the visiting bands held positive discourse there. The Quilliliaish Redoubt would be an important center of dispute resolution amongst the interrelated peoples, the Russians being seen as a neutral third party. Marriages between employees and nobility only strengthen the relations. Salmon caught by Salishan fisherman was an item often sought at the redoubt as a companion to simple dishes centered around bread.

Coast Salish fishermen on the Puget Sound​

The first known farmers in the region were Michał and Maciej Jekot, Polish brothers that after a successful time in the gold fields of Alta California, decided to settle on the Sound. Spending time at Quilliliaish Redoubt, its officers invited the Polish brothers to consider Whidbey Island for its impressive open fields. Creating a small cabin in 1831, the brothers were able to solidify ties with neighboring Skagit bands by marrying into noble families. Tapping their financial resources, the Jekots create a small dock to expedite the export of wheat. Within four years the Jekots had 11 Hawaiians laboring on their two farms. Hoping to draw some more Polish nationals, they extolled the potential of the island through advertisements in the sole newspaper in Chinukiya. The main people to answer their calls would turn out to be Ashkenzai Jews, facing an amount of hostility from fellow colonists jealous at whatever financial success they had, real or imagined. Finding employment with the Jekots, Jewish workmen began long careers tilling the soil on the Island. It was the source of embarrassment for Imperial officials that a synagogue was erected before a regular Orthodox church on the Sound. Mixing into the patchwork of Salishan peoples, the Jewish farmers did much to promote their faith and language on Whidbey Island. A protected language today, Yiddish is still used in the ceremonies of Island communities of Snohomish, Skagit and Ashkenzai.

The first primarily ethnic Russian settlement was built in 1836 amongst the Duwamish peoples on a highly strategic isthmus. New Smolensk would prove to become the most important town on the Sound and the unrivaled port of Russian America. Its early history is rife with mentions of Hawaiian and later Chinese laborers though an accurate estimate of either people is muddled. A main reason for the confusion was the heavy intermarriage between neighboring Duwamish and Kanakas. Regardless it is safe to assume the town was dependent upon the labor services provided by Hawaiians. Arriving in New Smolensk during 1843 at the age of 17, William Nawana[4] would in time become a community leader among the Hawaiians. His conversion to Orthodoxy won him social acceptance by the Russians, enough so that he became mayor for five years in the 1890s. When trade with the Japanese was formalised in the 1850s, New Smolensk became a boom town overnight. Regular steamer service between the Asia and Russian America was a reality soon afterward, with New Smolensk the nexus of much of the budding international shipping.

New Smolensk during the 1840s, showing its frontier roots​

The cries of gold miners along the Takelma River[5] in 1833 lead to the colonisation of southern Chinukiya. Much like the Alta California Gold Rush, a swelling of miners led to many skirmishes with the indigenous Takelma and Shasta peoples. Imperial officials weren't actively monitoring the claims until the next year through an armed battalion. Like the Alta previous Californian Rush, farmers in Wallamette abandoned their farms in albeit proportionally smaller numbers. The Nahelekula Valley[6] became the scene of several violent encounters with Natives as Russian, Polish and Hawaiian miners disregarded respecting their homelands in favor of destructive exploitation of the gold veins. Naming their settlement after the very natives they fought against, Takelma was laid out alongside the Bear Creek. When the Russian commissioner arrived on the scene he was horrified to find two dozen of Takelma murdered the past year, and the refusal of miners to pay taxes on their finds. From his stream of reports, its clear redressing the obstinate attitude about taxes was his priority. Despite this relations with Takelma bands were smoothed over with material gifts and the promise to defend them against the miners. The damage had been done however, as diseases brought by miners into the valley began attacks upon the natives. With their kinship networks across the Tyee Mountains south into Alta California, Takelma leadership had heard of these new illnesses and were favorable to variolation dispensed by Russian authorities.

Since the ascension of Emperor Charles I[7] to the throne, the French funded several scientific voyages around, focusing on the Pacific Ocean. Visiting the Californian beehive of people, staff aboard ships later became mouth pieces for the amazing futures available along the Gold Coast.[8] While French miners had sent back millions of pounds worth of gold during the early years of the rush, the reports only bolstered the immigration to the Pacific shoreline. The French miners in the Tyee Mountains never surpassed above 200, but were influential in discourse with the Shasta peoples. After the dig sites were exploited, most of these men formed the nucleus of Burgundija, the first colony around Mt. Shasta. As the gold rush receded from southern Chinukiya, it was the French who created the first vineyards in the Nahelekula Valley.

A formal census was held 1847, showing the increasing settler population, with the Polish remained the most populous ethnicity.

Alyaska: Russian 320, Aleutian Creole 690, Polish 74, Jews 8, Yanqui 145
Total 1,237
Chinukiya: Russian 1,252, Aleutian Creole 27, Polish 3,192, Jew 273, Mexican 32, Yanqui 19, Hawaiian 457, French 180
Total 5,432

Footnotes:
1 – Gordon Miller, 1987
2 – A boring butterfly, OTL for decades certain Governors wished to return to Kodiak Island, finding New Arkhangelsk unsafe.
3 – The Puyllaup people.
4 – A historical figure, wowee. OTL he was an early Hawaiian in British Columbia.
5 – The Rogue River, itself a hold over from French-Canadians calling the locals Rogues.
6 – The related Rogue Valley, literal Hawaiian for “Forest Gold”.
7 – Joseph was a forgiving guy and restored both his brothers to the Imperial succession. Thus his zoological interested nephew Charles Lucien Bonaparte becomes the Emperor.
8 – You know, California.

 

[DrakonFin]

This is a well-written and interesting timeline, and you have done a lot of research, too. However, I understand a significant part of the "Russians" in Alaska were in fact Finnish IOTL (including a couple of Russian governors like Arvid Etholén in 1840-45), there was a Finnish Lutheran church there and the Russian-American Company used Finnish ships and employed Finnish sailors - I would be interested in knowing what is the Finnish input in Russian Alaska ITTL.

 

[St. Just]

Lovely updates!

 

[Bartholome de Fonte]

This is a well-written and interesting timeline, and you have done a lot of research, too. However, I understand a significant part of the "Russians" in Alaska were in fact Finnish IOTL (including a couple of Russian governors like Arvid Etholén in 1840-45), there was a Finnish Lutheran church there and the Russian-American Company used Finnish ships and employed Finnish sailors - I would be interested in knowing what is the Finnish input in Russian Alaska ITTL.

A church that St. Innocent demanded not try converting Natives. The greatest part of a too vague Napoleonic Wars is you can toss up all kinds of things. In particular I had from the beginning planned on Finland remaining tied to the Swedish crown. At first I considered an update about Northerners emigrating in numbers, but scrapped the idea. I'd see the Russo-Finnish Company not forming ITTL, and with Yanquis being the main whaling force they aren't needed as much. I'll attempt to think of an at mention of them, surely the Northern Pacific fleet would need men ITTL, especially if relations with Japan were suddenly swung open...

Lovely updates!

As always, thanks!

Update very broadly covering international events will be up with in two hours. In others, really short.

 

[RGB]

Thanks for the shout-outs

I am specifically loving the focus on the native peoples of the region, because well, you know. Sometimes you read history and it's like they weren't there.

Bannock and salmon, mhhhm.

 

[Bartholome de Fonte]

Chapter 12: Architecture of Aggression

“The heart of Asia was ripped open” a Russian author declared of the chaotic events of the 1840s and 1850s. The immense profits of selling opium were seen as worthy cause to defend by the British, leading to a successful war against the Qing Empire. While the conflict was still raging, Tsar Constantine I formulated a plan of mild expansionism.[1] The remaining northern bank of the Amur was to be seized and a port to be opened at its mouth. Konstantinovsky would in time become the most important Russian Siberian port despite its seasonal blockage from ice.

The sudden emergence of the Feng (奉) Dynasty has been the focus of many historical works. Only a brief account of it is necessary for its importance for the Russians. The inadequacy of the Qing Dynasty, tied in with crop failures and the humiliation of losing the Opium War caused waves of discontent. Rebellions started during the 1850s in southern China, though the turmoil of warfare didn't end for almost two decades. European powers understandably grew quite interested in the ascending dynasty. It wasn't the proclamations of the Feng supporting the capitulations, but their offer of the profitable contracts for hiring armies of specialists in a variety of fields. Many of the contacts awarded by the Feng Empire were to British, German, French, Italians, leaving the Russians out in the cold for their support for the Qing. While some have argued it was only through Russian arms that the Qing dynasty was preserved in their ancestral Manchuria, after two decades of warfare the Feng war machine was exhausted. Qing China would spend the next decades under the heavy watch of Ivan, its ports and railways developed by St. Petersburg capitalists and its capital with a Russian guard.

The two major neighbors to the Feng Dynasty took its rise in different ways. The Josen Dynasty was left in an uncomfortable position of their suzerains no longer controlling most China. The regime was rife with corruption, but Confucian traditionalists were able to forcefully push through reforms that strengthened the state, while enshrouding in it yet more isolationism. Formally calling upon Beijing to cover their Kingdom from the Qing and Russians, the Koreans were left out in the cold for subsequent decades until the Emperor felt ready to challenge the Qing once more. The Japan was another beast altogether, and became a prize between the rival British and Russian Empires. Based out of their Hawaiian protectorate[2] the Royal Navy had tried to send delegations to the reclusive Empire during the Feng Ascension War.[3] These never amounted to much, and were turned away. The Russian Imperial Navy had different results, perhaps from it sending an armed force of four steamships that demanded trade relations be opened. The groundwork for the Japanese Modernisation was laid, Nippon following the tactic of the Feng Empire in recruiting advisors from Europe. The difference was the position of the Russians, who held a large amount of sway. These relations would transform into an alliance against the Feng and French during the Great War. Often presented in a patronizing manner by particular Russians, much of the Japanese strength existed before her ports were crashed open...

A Russian officer with a Japanese courtesan, a common image in relations between the two nations for decades.[4]​

Footnote:
1 – A prideful man, keen on the military. As Tsar I could see him doing something akin to this.
2 – Without an Eastern Pacific port, a Paulet Affiar is treated like Dupetit-Thouars's seizure of Tahiti, with grudging approval of the government after the fact.
3 – Another crappy term
4 – Totally an American, but who cares right?

 

[Bartholome de Fonte]

Thanks for the shout-outs

I am specifically loving the focus on the native peoples of the region, because well, you know. Sometimes you read history and it's like they weren't there.

Bannock and salmon, mhhhm.

If I had the time and patenience I'd have bothered to try showing the various toyons and the Coyote Confederation. Ignoring Natives in AH is a pet peeve of mine, as many nations adapted to changing circumstances when allowed to.

 

[Bartholome de Fonte]

Chapter 13: One Shot at Glory

For much of its early colonisation much of work was completed by Hawaiians, Polish, Jews and Aleutian peoples. For all its bluster, the Russian-American Company was better at recruiting Polish than it was Russians. A project long toyed with by Tsar Constantine I was the Emancipation of Serfs, encouraged by the measures forced by Polish Prime Minister Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski onto the szlachta amounting to agrarian reform.[2] The Tsar made piecemeal steps by emancipating several thousand State serfs to settle in the Amur Valley, though this greatly angered the landed nobility. Further attempts were shelved until his nephew, also named Constantine, assumed the throne in 1846. Tsar Constantine II has been applauded a liberal monarch, but this was true only compared his relatives. With the enactment of the May Diploma during 1852, he became the first constitutional monarch of the Russian Empire. Yet he specifically defended much of the Tsar's traditional powers, including control over the armed forces and its budget, along with the important ability to close the Imperial Duma at his behest.[3] As a part of the May Diploma was the formal end of serfdom within the Empire. The May Diploma was a political bombshell that infuriated many of the land owning classes, especially with the forced sale of much of their estates. The compensation for individual freedom was in part the duty of each serf to pay off. The Empire gave incentives including covering these payments if the freed families moved to particular regions in Siberia, especially the Amur Valley. While not as promoted as the vast taiga, Chinukiya would became home for tens of thousands of Russians over the next few decades.

A typical Russian settlement on the Puget Sound​

Russian America at the close of the 19th century was land transformed. With a polyglot population of over 800,000,[1] in some ways it was more economically developed than much of Siberia. A continental railway from Sv. Nikolsk to New Arkhangelsk wouldn't be created until the relative peace of the 1920s. Yet in both regions there were dense infrastructure networks that interconnected the major settlements. The mouth of the Oregon River was dredged to allow for far better access of international shipping. Former logging trails became paved roads that drew interregional commerce. A highway with Alta California was financed Puget Sound Jewish timber magnates, reducing the hazards of crossing the Tyee Mountains. Shipbuilding continued to be a major industry in Alyaska, though the decline in whaling meant a conversion to producing domestic and international shipping vessels. Many of the Russian cargo ships used across the Siberian Coast originated on Kodiak Island. The economy was still generally dependent upon the vast timber reserves, fisheries and agricultural products. Diversification into coal and copper mining, and the employment of skilled Finnish lumberjacks began to pay dividends.

A group of Cohen and Sons Co. Finnish and Polish lumberjacks​

Russian America appeared to have a bright future providing products demanded by the Spanish and Asian markets. On farms near Vapata Falls Russian and Saphatin farmhands swapped hunting tales. Synagogues on the Puget Sound rang out in Yiddish songs sung by Salishan and Ashkenzai coreligionists. Across settlements Polish landlords collected rent from Manchu tenants, sometimes dining with their Asian neighbors. It seemed like the colony was to tick away at its own pace forever. The dramatic upheaval of the Great War abruptly changed this. Men were drafted to fight in distant theaters, and foodstuffs were forced to be sold at a flat rate favorable to the Army. There was comparatively no local government on par with their Canadian Allies, and service alongside them and in Europe led the political radicalisation of many Chinukiyan youths. The rise of demands for autonomy remain to be seen if effective or not...

Footnotes:
1 – OTL combined population figure for Alaska, British Columbia, Oregon, Washington and Idaho is over a million. ATL is less due to a variety of factors, namely the other vast regions in Siberia that absorbed Russian colonists.
2 – There was a reason I bothered to blather about Polish politics after all.
3 – Plausible? My readings on Constantine through Radzinsky's Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar really make me feel Constantine would boldly act against the wishes of many nobles. This constitution is essentially the October Manifesto.

 

[Bartholome de Fonte]

This was certainly an experience for me, and while I feel it was pretty haphazard I'm somewhat proud. Surely I've learned the importance of something, maybe the need to write interestingly, but I fear it is a skill that will remain outside my grasp. So what was all of this drivel trying to tell others interested in creating lasting (and larger) Russian Americas? There is a lot going against Russian colonies in North America. Enough so that I felt I may as well state them for other authors.

A huge problem was simply there wasn't a good pool of naval vessels during the early years. The only ships that lasted for more than a voyage or two were bought from American merchants. At the same time Americans were a primary source of desperately needed food. Yet these same merchants (along with British) challenged the Russians by trading with the Tlignit peoples, arming them with rifles and ammo. When the Navy took over as head managers, effort was put on making better ships, by the time of Governor Wrangel in the 30s, a working flotilla could be boasted. These were not ships of lines with hundreds of cannons, just small brigs and schooners. The RAC was supposed to send an annual ship to give supplies but amazingly this didn't occur all the time. During Baranov's long tenure one supply ship sank, but the company board felt that ship had sent enough materials and food to forgo sending another ship the next year! Clearly a Russian Pacific needs a working local fleet, with a stable connection to Russia and preferably several supply ships sent annually, like how the HBC operated its Pacific posts. By having the Russian seize the northern bank of the Amur during the first Opium War, a slightly better Pacific port is open for the Imperial Navy. Pressure for access to Pacific a warm water port would remain though. I'm not a fan of the OTL Russian-Chinese border, plus I am uncertain of the Russians being able to get OTL's gains at the time, so I kept this handicap in place.

There was always a critical problem of supplies in the Russian colonies in Alaska. This is most important issue TLs must deal with to have a longer lasting, and especially larger Russian-America. As mentioned early on much of the food came from American competitors, an undesirable situation to say the least. Fort Ross is a weird fixation on this forum, something that wouldn't happen if something beyond Wikipedia was consulted. Never over its existence did it annually purchase or produce enough food for the Alaskan stations. While Alta California offered some food, crop failures and later the secularization of the Missions made the territory unsuitable for large amounts of foodstuffs. A consideration seemingly never on any would be author's mind is that Fort Ross greatly offended Mexican and Californians, and continually hampered potentially better relations. Hawaii offers a good alternative I feel. The traditional economic system of nobles controlling the means of production, with the Monarch added as additional layer with the creation of the Kingdom kept prices exorbitant though. The only effective means of making Hawaii a bread basket geared for Alaska would for a Russian fleet to seize the islands. This is well beyond Russia without a Pacific warm water port, so the idea is moot for most TLs. So where did Alaska get is food? From 1839 to the sale of Alaska it was from its British rivals, the HBC. Farms across Western Washington state and British Columbia were made to feed the Russian posts. The flagrant illegal harassment by claim jumping Americans after the Oregon Treaty damped the agricultural effort though. What should be done in TLs then to ensure the Russian colonies are feed? Exactly what I did, which is seize the Willamette Valley. It's an incredibly easy area for farming thanks to the Kalapuya creating prairies through controlled fires.

Economically Russian America was focused on the fur trade, typical of colonies focused on an economical model of exploiting readily available resources. This doesn't draw people to form settlements, nor offer a lasting basis for Russian-America. Demand for furs in China (the main market) tapered in the 1840s and fashion changes in Europe to favor felt hats ensured that fur pelts were increasingly less valuable. When the California Gold Rush set off, it created alternative markets for the PNW. While Hawaii had been a small market for lumber previously, it was nothing like what California needed. Additionally American and Canadian farmers in the Willamette Valley had an excellent alternative to the HBC, previously the only purchaser of wheat in the region. If Russians settled and created farmsteads, the population boom in California ensures prosperity. This would be somewhat blocked if Fort Ross existed, but if there are extensive farmsteads, the post wouldn't have been created to begin with. The Russian PNW would develop as an economic periphery to the southern Gold Coast, with markets that would last for decades.

I don't need to make a wall of text explaining this, but the Tsars never gave a fuck about Alaska. While ITTL that is still the case, having a succession of Asia-orientated Tsars does as a side effect bolster Alaska through better Siberian/Asian ports. I made the HRE reappear, along with the Polish buffer state to rationalise this slight change in foreign policy goals and the earilier seizure of (part of) the Amur River. This is likely fairly faulty reasoning, but hey, who cares?

The last major issue Russian America has is other imperialist nations. The Spanish were the least interested in the region, but shouldn't be completely written off. The major threat is the Americans. This isn't from a power bestowed upon them by the Divine. There is massive region just as full of great farm land east of the fur trade, just as full of natives to steal land from. I had the US balkanise for very vague reasons to avoid this. Without a dick waving contest with the British during the 1830s and 40s, there is no way an Oregon Trail situation would develop. Lastly there are the British who only were committed to the region through the HBC monopoly. Without it operating in the region, it is doubtful that they would pay much attention to the distant region when it is already faces many domestic and international fronts to act upon. The seemingly endless number of areas where the British were committed to means the Empire is spread thin in the Pacific. To partially keep the Royal Navy out of the Eastern Pacific, I had the Spanish Empire develop far more peaceably. The Pacific Station in Chile is never created by the British, so they eventually go for seizing the Hawaiian Islands.

I hope this didn't bore everyone to death. Please use any ideas (not directly lifting content...) presented in here, as it was made to show better ways for models to use for Russian expansionism in North America.

 

[RGB]

I wasn't bored even once. This was a pretty perfect effort from my perspective, and you seem to have anticipated a lot of my questions (copper, American piracy etc.) in the final two updates.

It also opened my eyes up to the limitations of Fort Ross as a strategy. When I started reading I thought it was about as good as I could manage it (with what knowledge I had), but I can definitely say this was done better than I could have done it. It's also quite realistic other than the American handwaving, but America was always the biggest issue and had to be dealt with somehow.

Thanks again for the ride, it was lots of fun.

 

[Damascius]

What, no Alyaskan SSR?

 

[Bartholome de Fonte]

It also opened my eyes up to the limitations of Fort Ross as a strategy. When I started reading I thought it was about as good as I could manage it (with what knowledge I had), but I can definitely say this was done better than I could have done it. It's also quite realistic other than the American handwaving, but America was always the biggest issue and had to be dealt with somehow.

I'm all for TLs with Russians in California. It's just Fort Ross is a pretty bad spot to select ya know? Alas my fellow American relatives are expansionist tossers and need to handwaved lest they swallow the better bits that Russians could take.

Thanks again for the ride, it was lots of fun.

Hopefully my future TLs are more meaty, though happy someone enjoyed it.

What, no Alyaskan SSR?

For a long time I wanted to see an Agrarian (you know those SRs) Socialist Alaska, but it wouldn't quite fit with what I wrote. The ending feels very abrupt...

 

[St. Just]

The ending is a bit abrupt, but a very nice TL overall!

 

[Deleted member 67076]

Well done.

 

[othyrsyde]

Just finished the first page of updates, and it's awesome sauce so far amigo!

 

[EvolvedSaurian]

Y'know, I always thought Russian America was silly. After all, they have so much Siberia to populate. This was really cool though. Two thumbs up!

 

[Bartholome de Fonte]

The ending is a bit abrupt, but a very nice TL overall!

Haha, the ending is a flat stop.

Well done.

I doubt this was executed very well.

Just finished the first page of updates, and it's awesome sauce so far amigo!

It gets only worse I assure you.

Y'know, I always thought Russian America was silly. After all, they have so much Siberia to populate. This was really cool though. Two thumbs up!

I also find a Russian America pretty silly, like this TL. But someone has to try to show others how to execute a silly idea better.