Settlements

As the Russian fur-hunters spread thinly out through Alaska, they lived in work camps, outlying posts, forts, and towns. The work camps were places where the Russians and the Natives, whom they forced or paid to work for them, stayed temporarily. Most often, skin tents or traditional Native dwellings housed the workers. Outlying posts were remote log cabins, usually with a covered storage area attached. A Russian fur trader might stay in such a place for long periods, trading with Natives for furs. 

Forts included several log buildings surrounded by walls of upright posts. The structures usually included one or two blockhouses, individual dwellings for officials, worker barracks, storerooms, and special buildings such as blacksmith shops. At some forts, there were Russian Orthodox churches or chapels. Russian-America's two towns, Kodiak and Sitka, initially started as forts. Later, they became small cities.

Russian-America was very much a maritime-based colony. All of the settlements in Alaska were in similar locations on the ocean, either at the mouths of rivers, the heads of bays, or islands. It wasn't until the 1830s that posts were created very far inland. 

There were several reasons for this. The primary motive of Russians in Alaska was the sea otter trade. As these are marine mammals, Russians were focused on the coastline where sea otters could be hunted or their pelts traded for. Locations also needed to be easily accessible to sailing ships. All the Russian settlements depended on ships for trade, resupply, and communication with Russia or between posts. Coastal sites were also more defensible, especially as their larger ships with cannons gave Russians complete naval supremacy. 

Some settlements were near Native villages because the Russians depended on Natives as workers and hunters. Others were near particular resources such as coal, fish, or lumber. In some cases, Native villages grew up near Russian posts because of the trading opportunities. 

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