Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land

by Walter R. Borneman

The 1830s proved to be the glory days of Russian America. Recognizing that Baranov’s tenure as chief manager had gone on and on, the directors of the Russian-American Company fixed five-year terms for the navy men who followed him. The only one to rival Baranov in accomplishment was Ferdinand Petrovich von Wrangell, “governor”—as the chief manager was by then being called—from 1830 to 1835. As governor of Russian America, Wrangell oversaw a far-flung realm that extended from the Pribilof Islands to Fort Ross. With a population of more than 1,000, Sitka was the busiest port in the eastern North Pacific. At least one writer waxed eloquently and termed it “the Paris of the Pacific.” Such accolades were relative, of course, and even Wrangell did not get to enjoy the comforts of the “castle” many had accused Baranov of maintaining.