Empire Maker by Kenneth N. Owens Alexander Yu. Petrov

Author:Kenneth N. Owens, Alexander Yu. Petrov [Kenneth N. Owens, Alexander Yu. Petrov]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, Biography & Memoir
ISBN: 9780295805832
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Published: 2016-04-05T04:00:00+00:00

Both at Pavlovskaia and later at New Archangel, various official visitors commented on the settled domesticity of the Baranov home and the tidy arrangements they found there under the management of Anna Grigor'evna. Lieutenant Gavriil Davydov, a young navy officer employed by the RAC, recorded his impressions of the Baranov household when he arrived at Pavlovskaia aboard the company ship Sv. Elizaveta in November 1802. As soon as the vessel dropped anchor, despite foul weather a three-man baidarka came alongside, bringing the ship’s officers a gift from Baranov: “a fish-and-goose pie,” which, Davydov wrote, “we were very glad to receive.”17 Once their ship was securely moored, Baranov came aboard to greet them and offer his hospitality. He and the officers set off for the chief manager’s home. “There we found everything simple and clean,” Davydov recorded. Since a British merchant ship had recently called at Pavlovskaia, “Baranov had bought from them many goods and household utensils, and consequently gave [Davydov and his men] a very decent meal, at least for local conditions.”18

The following May, shortly before sailing back to Okhotsk, the lieutenant reported another social visit with Aleksandr Andreevich, whom he had come to know quite well. “Today,” May 24, “was Trinity Day,” Davydov wrote in his journal, “and in the morning we went to church. We spent the evening with Baranov. We sang, danced, and were very merry and eventually dispersed at two in the morning.”19 We can only sympathize with Anna Grigor'evna and the servants who were obliged to clean up after these roistering men finally called it a night.

A few observers left records of the impression made on them by Aleksandr Andreevich during the period of his conflict with the Sitka Tlingits. Lieutenant Davydov set down his vivid first view of the general manager. Physically, the tall young officer wrote, “Baranov is shorter than average, fair-haired, well-built with very prominent features erased neither by his labors nor by his age, although he is now fifty-six.” His history and his character gained Davydov’s admiration. “He had already been in America for twelve years, in the company of wild and primitive people, surrounded by constant danger . . . [and] struggling with the deep-rooted depravity of the Russians living here, working constantly, in need of many things, often hungry, and at the same time almost without anyone who could work with him with the same energy.” All his labors, the obstacles, sorrows, deprivations, and failures, judged Davydov, “had not blighted the spirit of this rare man, although it had naturally an influence on him and thereby made him rather somber in manner.” He was not very talkative “and seemed like a dry stick until you come to know him, but on the other hand he always explained matters with enthusiasm, especially when he knows his subject well.” After Baranov’s recent problems with Sub-Lieutenant Talin, we should not be surprised at his initial reserve when welcoming this new batch of aristocratic naval officers. Once they became well acquainted, however, Davydov

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.