Southcentral Alaska

The main direction of Russian expansion was along the Gulf of Alaska coast, where the greatest number of valuable sea otters were. Within a few years of establishing Kodiak, Russians expanded into Cook Inlet. In 1786, a post was created at present-day Nanwalek. The Lebedev-Lastochkin Company, a rival to the Shelikhov company, also built forts in the Cook Inlet area at Kasilof (Fort St. George) and Kenai (Fort St. Nicholas), as well as smaller posts at Tyonek and Iliamna. They also built several posts in Prince William Sound.

For the next 10 years, the Shelikhov and Lebedev-Lastochkin companies competed for trade in Southcentral Alaska. At times, the competition between the Russians was violent, with each company encouraging raids on Native allies of the other company. Baranov aggressively expanded into Southcentral Alaska to preempt his rival Russians and establish a base for future expansion into Southeast Alaska.

In 1791, Baranov established a fort at the Alutiiq Eskimo village of Nuchek on Hinchinbrook Island in Prince William Sound. To win the alliance of Natives in the area, Baranov married the daughter of a Kenaitze Athabaskan chief. He named her Anna and built a house on Kodiak for them to live in. Later, they had two children together.

In Prince William Sound, Baranov would encounter the Tlingits for the first time when a Tlingit raiding party looking for local Alutiiqs surprised his camp on Montague Island in the middle of the night. The Tlingits were beaten off, but 14 of Baranov's 30 men were killed in the battle. 

In 1793, Russians built a small post at present-day Seward to take advantage of the area's timber resources and sheltered bay to build a ship. Founded during the Easter season, Baranov named the area Resurrection Bay. Part of Baranov's choice of Resurrection Bay was its strategic location between Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound. By establishing a post here, he hoped to discourage the expansion of the Lebedev-Lastochkin company further east into the Sound.

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