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NAVIGATING THE ‘DRUNKEN REPUBLIC’: THE JUNO AND THE RUSSIAN AMERICAN FRONTIER, 1799-1811 By TOBIN JEREL SHOREY A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2014 © 2014 Tobin Jerel Shorey To my family, friends, and faculty mentors ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to thank my parents and family, whose love and dedication to my education made this possible. I would also like to thank my wife, Christy, for the support and encouragement she has given me. In addition, I would like to extend my appreciation to my friends, who provided editorial comments and inspiration. To my colleagues Rachel Rothstein and Lisa Booth, thank you for all the lunches, discussions, and commiseration. This work would not have been possible without the support of all of the faculty members I have had the pleasure to work with over the years. I also appreciate the efforts of my PhD committee members in making this dream a reality: Stuart Finkel, Alice Freifeld, Peter Bergmann, Matthew Jacobs, and James Goodwin. Finally, I would like to thank the University of Florida for the opportunities I have been afforded to complete my education. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... 4 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 8 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1 LIBRETTO .............................................................................................................. 11 Historiography ......................................................................................................... 16 Characteristics of Russian America, 1799-1811 ..................................................... 25 Memoirs from the Juno ........................................................................................... 28 The Juno in Five Acts ............................................................................................. 32 2 ACT 1 – FROM EXPLORATION TO EXPLOITATION: RUSSIANS AND AMERICANS IN THE PACIFIC FUR TRADE, 1799-1803 ...................................... 38 Scene 1 – A Yankee Merchant Vessel in the Pacific Northwest, 1799-1803 .......... 38 Scene 2 – Left on an Island: Alexander Baranov, Russian Consolidation, and the Demands of Overseas Colonies, 1791-1804 ................................................. 50 Portrait of a Russian Merchant ......................................................................... 52 Chief Manager of the Russian American Colonies 1790-1801 ......................... 58 Yankee Merchants and the Attack on Fort Mikhailovsk .................................... 68 Russians and Yankees: Trade Established ...................................................... 73 Denouement –Commerce, Conquest, and Finding the Native Voice ...................... 75 3 ACT 2 – A RHODE ISLAND YANKEE IN RUSSIAN AMERICA, 1804-1808 .......... 84 Scene 1 – The Pacific Northwest from the Bow of the Juno ................................... 84 Voyage to the Northwest Coast ........................................................................ 86 Yankee Trade along the Coast ......................................................................... 89 The Battle of Sitka - 1804 ................................................................................. 91 The Final American Voyage of the Juno .......................................................... 98 Scene 2 - John DeWolf: Yankee Merchant and Explorer ...................................... 101 Wintering in Sitka ........................................................................................... 103 DeWolf in Siberia ............................................................................................ 109 Denouement – Russian America after the Battle of Sitka ..................................... 116 4 ACT 3 – THE METROPOLE MEETS THE PERIPHERY: NAVIGATING SOCIAL STANDING, DIPLOMACY, AND EMPIRE OVERSEAS, 1799-1807 .................... 123 Scene 1 - Nikolai Rezanov: Aristocrat, Merchant, Diplomat .................................. 123 Russia’s First Round-the-World Expedition .................................................... 128 5 Published Accounts of the Japanese Ambassadorial Mission ........................ 132 Soslovie at Sea .............................................................................................. 136 Scene 2 – Rezanov in Russian America ............................................................... 143 Rezanov’s Diplomatic Voyage to Spanish America ........................................ 149 Rezanov’s Death ............................................................................................ 162 Denouement – In Search of the Real Rezanov ..................................................... 165 5 ACT 4 – GEORG LANGSDORFF AND THE NATURAL HISTORY OF RUSSIAN AMERICAN COLONIZATION, 1805-1807 ........................................... 171 Scene 1 – Natural History and Empire .................................................................. 171 Langsdorff Heads to Russian America ........................................................... 173 Observing the Native Population of Russian America .................................... 176 Observing the Nature of the Russian American Colonies............................... 180 Scene 2 – A Ship of Exploration ........................................................................... 190 Trip to Spanish America ................................................................................. 193 Leaving Russian America ............................................................................... 199 Denouement – Natural History and Russian America ........................................... 200 6 ACT 5 – ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN VISIT RUSSIAN AMERICA, 1802-1807 ............................................................................................................. 206 Scene 1 – Two Visits from the Metropole to the Periphery ................................... 206 Khvostov: Social Status and the Return to Russian America ......................... 218 Davydov’s Ethnography.................................................................................. 223 Scene 2 – The Juno as a Ship of War: Davydov and Khvostov at War with Japan ................................................................................................................. 234 Attacking the Japanese .................................................................................. 235 Significance of the Japanese Excursion ......................................................... 241 The Tragic Deaths of Khvostov and Davydov ................................................ 246 Denouement – The Periphery and Identity ........................................................... 249 7 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 254 Curious Anomalies ................................................................................................ 255 Official Diplomatic Relations ................................................................................. 258 1812 as a Turning Point ........................................................................................ 265 Alaska as an American Frontier ............................................................................ 267 8 EPILOGUE: THE CURIOSLY LONG LIFE OF A SHORT-LIVED SHIP ................ 272 The Juno on Stage ............................................................................................... 274 Russia’s Memory of Its American Moment ............................................................ 278 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 285 Archives ................................................................................................................ 285 Books .................................................................................................................... 285 6 Journals ................................................................................................................ 293 Newspapers .......................................................................................................... 297 Video..................................................................................................................... 298 Websites ............................................................................................................... 299 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 300 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 5-1 Langsdorff sailed aboard the Juno from February through June 1806 with Rezanov on expedition to Spain. He agreed to accompany the Chamberlain to study the natural history of California in comparison to the North Pacific. .... 205 8-1 Dave Granlund’s satirical cartoon on the Crimean annexation by President Putin. ................................................................................................................ 283 8-2 Russian meme that circulated on social media shortly after the Crimean annexation shows that Russians had similar thoughts about