Sunrise from my window in San Francisco, September 26, 2016

 

 

Paul Bunyan at a trailer camp outside of Guerneville along Highway 116.

Russian River State Marine Conservation Area at Jenner, where the Russian River spills into the Pacific.

Russian River State Marine Conservation Area at Jenner, where the Russian River spills into the Pacific.

Goat Rock and Whale Point, where the Russian River spills into the Pacific viewed from the north side of the Russian River

The view looking south along Highway 1,on the way to Fort Ross

The cemetery at Fort Ross

Across the gulch to the east, one-quarter mile above the cove, a large Russian Orthodox cross marks the site of the settlement’s cemetery. One hundred thirty-one people were buried in the cemetery during the Russian-American Company’s thirty-year settlement.

“To the northeast about the distance of a cannon shot, they have their cemetery, still without a fence. Among the burials there are notable distinctions. For the three distinguished Founders facing each other they placed their mausoleum on a sepulcher of three squared levels from larger to smaller, and on these a pyramid of two varas (5 ½ feet), over this a sphere as a top and on [it] a cross, all painted in white and black in such a way that when one descends from the mountains it was what most attracts attention. Over another European they put only a sort of large box, and over the Kodiaks, a cross…

All of the crosses we saw are patriarchal; a small cross above and a larger cross nearby like arms, and below, a diagonally placed stick... "

Fr. Mariano Payeras, 1822

http://www.fortross.org/cemetery.htm

In 1990 the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee assisted the California State Parks in a project intended to better understand the boundaries and composition of the historic Russian cemetery. Excavations to locate and identify the individual Orthodox burials were conducted. The names of individuals associated with specific burials are not known, although researchers have identified a lengthy list of people who died at Fort Ross and were most likely buried here. The Ross settlement was a mercantile village with many families, and there are a large number of women and children buried in the cemetery. Remains have been re- interred and given last rites by priests of the Russian Orthodox Church. Artifacts, such as beads, buttons, cloth fragments, crosses and religious medals found in the cemetery restoration project, will help researchers better understand the Russian settlement’s culture.

http://www.fortross.org/cemetery.htm

 

Fort Ross State Historic Park brings attention to the varied stories that have occurred here through the centuries, including the long formation of the coastal natural history, the centuries past and present of resident Kashia Pomo people, the Russian colonization periods (1812-1842), the Ranch era (1842-1972), and the over one hundred year era of this area as a protected resource as a State Historic Park. The park's Visitor Center is an excellent place to start a tour of Fort Ross to become acquainted with the rich natural and cultural history of the area.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=449

Fort Ross Harvest Festival

October 15

http://www.fortross.org

The fort is situated atop a mesa which is surrounded by ravines which abut the sea. It is constructed of redwood planks (there is no other wood used in any of the structures) and forms a palisade. It is four varas high, uniformly, and is surmounted by a beam set with pointed stakes intended to dissuade any assault. It has three gates: one to the northeast, one to the west and one to the southeast... Diary of Fr. Mariano Payeras, 1822.

http://www.fortross.org/reconstruction.htm

Fort Ross had two windmills, both of which were the first windmill west of Mississippi. The first mill was constructed in 1814, not long after the Russians settled Fort Ross. The second mill was built in 1841. The windmills served two purposes: to grind grain into flour for baking bread for both Settlement Ross and the Russians’ Alaskan settlements, and to power the stamping of local tan bark, used in the hide tanning industry. These were very likely the first windmills west of the Mississippi River.

http://www.fortross.org/windmill.htm

 

 

 

 

A cannon on display in the entrance to the Visitor Center and Museum

 

 

 

The original blockhouses were built prior to 1817. The southeast blockhouse was reconstructed in a number of phases between 1930 and 1957. Original floorboards from the Officials’ Quarters were used for the floor. This southeast blockhouse has eight sides and offers a clear field of fire, protecting the south and east stockade walls from possible attack. The Spanish were a potential threat to the colony, and the armaments were always ready, but the defensive value of the fort was never tested. The naval cannons in this blockhouse were used to signal and welcome visiting dignitaries.

http://www.fortross.org/blockhouse.htm

Fort Ross Stockade and Blockhouse

http://www.fortross.org/blockhouse.htm

 

 

http://www.fortross.org/blockhouse.htm

The Kuskov House

 

 

 

A view of the Kuskov House from the Blockhouse

 

 

The stairs inside the Blockhouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Kuskov House

The Chapel viewed from inside the doorway of the Kuskov House

The most notable structure at the fort, the chapel, is unusual for North America and often photographed. With its landmark "small belfry" a familiar sight along Highway One, the chapel is a mecca to visiting Russians. The greatest efforts made over the years in maintenance and preservation at Fort Ross have been for the chapel. It was constructed by the resident Russians about 1825 with their own funds, and funds donated by visiting Russian officers and crew of the Kreiser. The chapel was never consecrated and there was no permanent priest; but one Company official, Fedor Svin'in, appeared to act as a lay deacon, according to Father Payeras. It was used and revered during the Russian tenure, as it is today. "The chapel with a cupola," as it appears in the Russians' inventory for Mr. Sutter in 1841, is not anywhere extensively described by early visitors to the fort. The earliest photographs of the original Russian chapel are from the 1880s.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=897

 

Detail of a Fort Ross cannon

The armory inside the Kuskov House at Fort Ross

The armory inside the Kuskov House at Fort Ross

 

The armory inside the Kuskov House at Fort Ross

 

The armory inside the Kuskov House at Fort Ross

The bell that hangs today outside the rebuilt chapel was recast, using the original bell's materials and a rubbing which had been made from the original. It bears the inscription: "Cast in the St. Petersburg Foundry of Master Craftsman Mikhail Makharovich Stukolkin." The bell's deep, resonant chime can easily be heard across the stockade, and twice a year it announces to the public the Orthodox services held in the chapel.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=897

On October 5, 1970 the restored Russian chapel was entirely destroyed in an accidental fire. It was reconstructed in 1973. Following Russian Orthodox tradition, some lumber from the burned building was used. The chapel bell melted in the fire, and was recast in Belgium using a rubbing and metal from the original Russian bell. On the bell is a small inscription in Church Slavonic which reads “Heavenly King, receive all, who glorify Him.” Along the lower edge another inscription reads, “Cast at the foundry of Michael Makar Stukolkin, master founder and merchant at the city of St. Petersburg.”

http://www.fortross.org/chapel.htm

Inside the Fort Ross Chapel

A view from the window inside the Chapel

Inside the Fort Ross Chapel

The Chapel was originally built in the mid-1820s. It was the first Russian Orthodox structure in North America outside of Alaska, although Ross had no resident priest. In 1836 Father Ioann Veniaminov visited the settlement and conducted sacraments of marriage, baptisms, and other religious services. Father Veniaminov later became Bishop of Alaska, then Senior Bishop of the Russian Empire.

http://www.fortross.org/chapel.htm

Inside the Fort Ross Chapel

In 1925, the Chapel began to be used for Orthodox religious services, and it continues to be used for such services every Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and during our Fort Ross Festival on the last Saturday of every July.

http://www.fortross.org/chapel.htm

http://www.fortross.org/chapel.htm

 

 

 

 

 

A view inside the Kuskov House at Fort Ross

The Kuskov House was the residence of Ivan Aleksandrovich Kuskov, who founded Ross and was the first administrator. It served as the colonial administrator’s house from before 1817 until 1838. In the upstairs were living quarters, downstairs an armory. Four of the five Fort Ross managers lived here. First hand accounts describe its historic use: “The first room we entered was the armory, containing many muskets, ranged in neat order; hence we passed into the chief room of the house, which is used as a dining room & in which all business is transacted. It was comfortably, though not elegantly furnished, and the walls were adorned with engravings of Nicholas I, Duke Constantine, &...” An anonymous Bostonian’s description, 1832.

 

A view inside the Kuskov House at Fort Ross

 

A view inside the Kuskov House at Fort Ross

A view inside the Kuskov House at Fort Ross

 

 

 

A view inside the Kuskov House at Fort Ross

 

 

 

 

Detail of the Fort Ross cannon

A view of the Kuskov House

The Kuskov House was the residence of Ivan Aleksandrovich Kuskov, who founded Ross and was the first administrator. It served as the colonial administrator’s house from before 1817 until 1838. In the upstairs were living quarters, downstairs an armory. Four of the five Fort Ross managers lived here. First hand accounts describe its historic use: “The first room we entered was the armory, containing many muskets, ranged in neat order; hence we passed into the chief room of the house, which is used as a dining room & in which all business is transacted. It was comfortably, though not elegantly furnished, and the walls were adorned with engravings of Nicholas I, Duke Constantine, &...” An anonymous Bostonian’s description, 1832.

http://www.fortross.org/kuskov.htm

The Old Magasin

This two-story Russian-American Company warehouse, or magasin, functioned both as company store and as a warehouse where supplies for agricultural operations and hunting were documented, assessed and stored for distribution. Reconstruction of the fur warehouse ("magasin") and interpretive display was completed by California State Parks in 2012. Click here for the warehouse brochure.

http://www.fortross.org/magasin.htm

 

The Sandy Cove and Pacific Ocean, as seen from the upper floor window of the Southeast Blockhouse

Sandy Beach Cove lies below the fort. The principal port of the settlement remained 19 miles to the south at Port Rumiantsev (Bodega Bay). There was frequent travel and transport of goods between Sandy Beach Cove and Port Rumiantsev in Russian launches and Native Alaskan baidarkas (kayaks) and baidaras (large, open skin boats used to carry cargo and up to 15 passengers).

In the cove area below the settlement were a number of buildings including a shed for the baidarkas, a forge and blacksmith shop, tannery, cooperage (for making barrels) and a public bath (“banya”).

There was a boat shop and shipways for building ships. Farm implements and boats were sold and traded to the Spanish, and four Russian-American Company ships—three brigs and a schooner—were the first built on the California coast. The shipyard was abandoned by 1825, but smaller boats continued to be built.

http://www.fortross.org/sandy-cove.htm

The Southeast Blockhouse

Cannons inside the Southeast Blockhouse

 

 

A view inside the Official’s Quarters at Fort Ross

Sometimes also know as the “Officer’s Barracks,” this building was constructed before 1817 and was originally the site of company workshops. On the 1817 map it was referred to as “house of planks containing a foundry and workroom for medical aide.” It was refurbished in 1833 to provide Company officials and visitors with accommodations.

Reconstruction of the Officials’ Quarters, previously demolished during the 1916-18 Chapel reconstruction, was completed in 1981.

http://www.fortross.org/officials.htm

A view inside the Official’s Quarters at Fort Ross

 

 

 

A detail inside the Official’s Quarters at Fort Ross

A view inside the Official’s Quarters at Fort Ross

A view inside the Official’s Quarters at Fort Ross

 

 

 

A view inside the Official’s Quarters at Fort Ross

 

 

 

A view inside the Official’s Quarters at Fort Ross

 

 

Detail of the Chapel

According to Russian Orthodox tradition, the cross on the chapel cupola has a short bar on the top representing a sign nailed to the cross: “Jesus of Nazareth-King of the Jews”; the middle bar represents Christ’s crucifixion; the slanted bottom bar, to which Christ’s feet were nailed, points toward heaven (signifying the thief on the right who repented) and downward (signifying the disposition of the mocking thief).

http://www.fortross.org/chapel.htm

Chapel, cannons, and well. . . Inside the stockade at Fort Ross

Archaeological excavations indicate that the original well cribbing was 34 feet deep. Though there was a nearby creek, the well inside the fort compound offered security in case of attack.

This site was selected for Fortress Ross because of its access to fresh water, nearby timber for construction, the flat coastal terrace surrounding it on which to grow crops, and because it was a defensible site with inaccessible ridges protecting the rear, plus a small harbor below.

The original Russian flagstaff marked on the 1817 map was in the vicinity of the well.

http://www.fortross.org/well.htm

 

 

Detail of a room inside the Rotchev House at the Fort Ross

Of the seven buildings presently within the fort compound only one, the Rotchev House, is an original Russian-built structure. It is a National Historic Landmark. The Rotchev House is unique and nationally significant because it is one of only four surviving buildings built in the Russian-American colonial period, and the only surviving Russian-built structure outside of Alaska.

http://www.fortross.org/rotchev.htm

Detail of a room inside the Rotchev House at the Fort Ross

The Rotchev House was constructed circa 1836 to serve as the home of the Russian-American Company’s last manager at Fort Ross, Alexander Rotchev, his wife Elena, and their three children, Olga, Elena and Konstantin. Alexander Rotchev was an intelligent, well-educated, and well-traveled man of the arts, and a poet.

http://www.fortross.org/rotchev.htm

Detail of a room inside the Rotchev House at the Fort Ross

A French visitor remarked that the Rotchevs possessed a “choice library, a piano, and a score of Mozart.” The hospitality of the Rotchevs was highly regarded. They lived in their Fort Ross home until 1841.

http://www.fortross.org/rotchev.htm

A view from the doorway of the Rotchev House inside fort Ross

The Chapel inside the stockade at Fort Ross

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The windmill now standing at Fort Ross is a gift from Link of Times, a Russian-based cultural and historical foundation chaired by Viktor Vekselberg. It was constructed in the Vologda Oblast in Russia, where Ivan Kuskov and other RAC employees were from, and then disassembled, put into two containers, and shipped to California, where it cleared customs and was trucked to Fort Ross in September, 2012, as part of the Fort Ross Bicentennial.

http://www.fortross.org/windmill.htm

 

Fort Ross State Park

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=449

Fort Ross - Seaview Harvest Festival

October 15, 2016

http://www.fortross.org/2016/harvest.htm