Sitka

In 1799, Baranov led a force of 1,100 men to build a settlement at Sitka. 100 of the men were Russians, and the rest were Natives: Aleuts and Alutiiq from Kodiak Island and Prince William Sound. Traveling the 600 miles from Kodiak to Sitka was not easy. The Natives paddled baidarkas, or open-skin boats. Along the way, storms and Tlingit raids killed nearly 100 men.

When he arrived in Sitka Sound, Baranov negotiated with the Sitka Tlingit chief the rights to build a settlement north of the Tlingit village. Despite the agreement, tensions with the neighboring Tlingit were high, and Baranov's men worked quickly to finish Fort Archangel Saint Michael. The outpost consisted of a large warehouse, blacksmith shop, cattle sheds, barracks, a bathhouse, quarters for the hunters, and a residence for Baranov, all enclosed by a high, strong stockade. After completing the fort, Baranov and most of the men returned to Kodiak. About 30 Russians and 200 Aleuts remained at Sitka to man the new settlement.

While the Sitka Tlingit Chief initially supported the Russian fort, he changed his policy under growing criticism for allowing the Russians to settle there. The Tlingit had the fiercest reputation of any Native group, and unlike the Aleuts and Alutiiq, the Tlingit had guns from trading with British and American merchant ships.

In June 1802, several Tlingit clans united and attacked the Russian fort at Sitka. The fort and a ship being built there were burned. Most of the Russians and Aleut workers were massacred. Of the 450 people at the fort that spring, only 42 survived. The Tlingit also took over 4,000 sea otter pelts stored at the fort. It was the worst military defeat the Russians would suffer in Alaska.

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