Fort Ross is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America in what is now Sonoma County, California. It was notable as the first multi-ethnic community north of the Spanish missions in what is now the U.S. state of California. Owned and operated by the Russian-American Company, it was the hub of the southernmost Russian settlements in North America from 1812 to 1841. Notably cosmopolitan, different ethnic groups settled in and around the fort: Native Californians, Native Alaskans, Russians, Finns, Swedes. It has been the subject of archaeological investigation and is a California Historical Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, and on the National Register of Historic Places. It is part of California's Fort Ross State Historic Park.
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👉 Fort Ross, California in the context of Russian colonization of North America
From 1732 to 1867, the Russian Empire laid claim to northern Pacific Coast territories in the Americas. Russian colonial possessions in the Americas were collectively known as Russian America from 1799 to 1867. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but also included the outpost of Fort Ross in California. Russian Creole settlements were concentrated in Alaska, including the capital, New Archangel (Novo-Arkhangelsk), which is now Sitka.
Russian expansion eastward began in 1552, and Russian explorers reached the Pacific Ocean in 1639. In 1725, Emperor Peter the Great ordered navigator Vitus Bering to explore the North Pacific for potential colonization. The Russians were primarily interested in the abundance of fur-bearing mammals on Alaska's coast, as stocks had been depleted by overhunting in Siberia. Bering's first voyage was foiled by thick fog and ice, but in 1741 a second voyage by Bering and Aleksei Chirikov discovered part of the North American mainland. Bering claimed the Alaskan country for the Russian Empire. Russia later confirmed its rule over the territory with the Ukase of 1799 which established the southern border of Russian America along the 55th parallel north. The decree also provided monopolistic privileges to the state-sponsored Russian-American Company (RAC) and established the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska.