America’s forty-ninth state, Alaska, has always been the western- and northernmost part of the North American land mass. But governance of the vast acres has changed hands multiple times. Indigenous peoples have lived there for thousands of years since the time of the existence of a land bridge between the Asia and North America continents.
A first sighting but a white man probably happened in 1648 when ships commanded by Semyon Dezhnev went off course from the Arctic Circle. With no settlements in evidence, this claim cannot be verified. A second expedition was undertaken by two ships piloted by Captains Bering and Chirikov in 1741. Although the ships were separated, Russian sailors from the Chirikov ship set foot on the land (probably the Alaskan Panhandle) on July 15th that abutted British America (Canada’s British Columbia province). But a formal claim as in the name of Russia ordered by Tsar Peter 1 wasn’t made until the Ukase of 1799. The Ukase granted the land as a colony of the Russian Empire and gave monopoly power for the Russian-American Fur Company to hunt and trap the native wildlife. The capitol was established as Novo-Arkhangelsk, (New Archangel) which is present-day Sitka, and a Russian Orthodox Church was built. Therefore, a number of workers (hunters, trappers, tanners, plus all of the support people) established and maintained a settlement in a wilderness along the land mass’s southern border. (Russian America also included Fort Ross in Northern California and three forts in Hawai’i.)
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| New Archangel in 1837, painted by Alexandr Olgin, state archives of Russian Navy |
Maintaining a colony so far from Moscow proved difficult. When the fur trade dwindled, people deserted the settlements, and the cost of maintaining a few locations in Russian America was too high. The Unites States bought the land for the amount of $7.2 million on October 18, 1867, and it became known by the following names: Department of Alaska, District of Alaska, Territory of Alaska, and finally the State of Alaska, each having a different form of governance.
My research revealed Captain Bering was Danish and Captain Chirikov was Russian. From these designations, I inferred these two ethnicities had interactions within mainland Russia. So I gave the protagonists of my soon-to-be released story, Aebleskiver by Annika, a background of growing up in Russian America before the US took possession. I imagined those few families transported from Russia to Russian American as workers and rulers would have been fairly close knit. Great backstory for the romance.
Blurb for Aebleskiver by Annika, book 11 in Old Timey Holiday Kitchen, to be released 8/16/22:
Annika
Nilsdatter juggles her new manager position at the Riverside Bakery owned by
her best friend, Glynna, and being courted by Erich von Griswald, son of the
town’s most prominent banker. A friend, the object of her young affections from
her growing-up years, arrives in town. Suddenly, she is being flattered by the
attentions of two handsome men to the detriment of the business. Guilt plagues
her, but, just for a little while, she wants to feel special.
Levka
Maksimillian, an undercover Pinkerton agent, is surprised to run into Annika in
the town where he’s been assigned a case. At least, he’s in disguise so she
didn’t recognize him. But when he’s injured, he has to rely on his good friend’s
sister to nurse him back to health. Levka doesn’t want to put Annika in danger,
but he has to heal fast. His role in hunting down the head of a theft operation
is essential. Will the need for secrecy and their close proximity create a
false attraction or a lasting love?
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