Note 93 — Chapter XIV

It was a part of Astor’s plan to furnish provisions and articles of trade for the Russians on the Northwest Coast; that this would have been practicable, is proved by the later trade between Oregon and Sitka, when the Willamette Valley furnished most of the flour used in Alaska. Around Alexander Baranoff’s actions many legends have gathered. Born in Eastern Russia (1747), he entered business at Moscow, later drifted to Irkutsk and Kamchatka, and about 1790 crossed to America. In 1799 he built Sitka, where for many years he ruled as governor, with absolute sway. He died at sea, in 1819.—Ed.