Grigory Ivanovich Shelekhov

Grigory Ivanovich Shelekhov was a leading merchant in the Aleutian fur trade who founded the first permanent settlement in Alaska, and was a partner in the company that, after his death, gained a monopoly over the economic and political fortunes of Russian America.

In the 1770s Shelekhov had, in partnership with another merchant Ivan Golikov, entered the highly profitable but fiercely competitive fur trade in the North Pacific. Two merchants formed the American, Northeastern, North and Kurile Company that brought a new level of organization and efficiency to hunting and trading in the Aleutian Islands.

In 1784 Shelekhov founded a settlement at Three Saints Bay on the southwest coast of Kodiak Island which served as his center of operations in America. From there his men organized trading, hunting, and exploration missions through Aleutians and Alaska. The company also maintained a network of outposts.

Through his activities Shelekhov tried to strengthen his operations in America and to use his company as an instrument for extending the reach of the Russian Empire. One of the forms by which he tried to do that was establishing of viable settlements on the ground. Among other things he built schools, imported seeds and animals in order to boost agricultural production and laid plans to develop shipbuilding facilities. The second direction of his efforts was to persuade the government on the need for a monopoly backed by government loans and soldiers. He argued that, through his company, Russia would be able to exercise and extend its political, commercial, and military power throughout the North Pacific. HE successfully lobbied the support of governors of Siberia, but failed to persuade the empress Catherine the Great (r. 1762-1796).

In 1790 Shelekhov appointed Aleksandr Baranov to manage his American establishments. After Shelekhov’s death in 1795, Aleksandr demonstrated the skill, energy, and foresight to realize, at least in part, Shelekhov’s ambitions for a “Russian” America.