Expansion

From the new settlement on Kodiak, the Russians looked to expand the fur trade. Posts were created on the Alaska Peninsula (Sutkhum and Katmai), Bristol Bay (Nushagak), and the Pribilof Islands. They traded with local Natives, sometimes in a friendly manner, sometimes not. 

The post on the Pribilof Islands has an interesting history. While the Aleut people knew of the islands, they were uninhabited when the Russians arrived in 1786. The Pribilof Islands are the major breeding ground of the northern fur seal. Each spring, an estimated four million seals arrive to mate and give birth. To harvest this bounty of furs, Russians moved hundreds of Aleuts (men, women, and children) to the islands. Today, the descendants of these Aleuts continue to live on the Pribilof Islands, which are the largest Aleut communities in Alaska.

The Pribilofs would become the Russian base for expanding trade into western Alaska, first with the Yupik on the Bering Sea Coast and later inland towards the Interior on the Yukon River. However, the Russian presence in this area would remain small, and no further permanent posts were created until the 1830s and 1840s.

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