[2] Over one hundred American ships had been on the Pacific coast of
America before 1812.
[3] Rezanoff married the fur trader's daughter. The bride did not live
long, nor does the union seem to have been a love affair; as Rezanoff's
infatuation with the daughter of a Spanish don later seemed to indicate
a heart-free lover.
[4] See Chapter XII.
{316}
CHAPTER XII
1747-1818
BARANOF, THE LITTLE CZAR OF THE PACIFIC
Baranof lays the Foundations of Russian Empire on the Pacific Coast of
America--Shipwrecked on his Way to Alaska, he yet holds his Men in Hand
and turns the Ill-hap to Advantage--How he bluffs the Rival Fur
Companies in Line--First Russian Ship built in America--Adventures
leading the Sea-otter Hunters--Ambushed by the Indians--The Founding of
Sitka--Baranof, cast off in his Old Age, dies of Broken Heart
No wilder lord of the wild northland ever existed than that old madcap
Viking of the Pacific, Alexander Baranof, governor of the Russian fur
traders. For thirty years he ruled over the west coast of America from
Alaska to southern California despotic as a czar.
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