Page 199 - 1992 - XVIII Congresso Internazionale di Storia Militare

IWSSI.WS IN AM.ERJCA 165
"Saim Pecer". The surviviog 46 panicipants of che expedition disembarked from
che sbip che mosc imporcant documems and ch.e personal effects becoming to Ber·
ing were Ì!YJmediarely sem ro Perersburg acd officiaUy the expedicion had complet-
ed ics work in 1743.
As forche fate of A.L Chicikov, havicg lost che sighc of "Se. Pecer", he reached
Norrh America on che "Sr. Pavel'' in rhe morning of 15 (26)July,l741, i_e. more
chao 24 hours before Beriog.
On June, 17 (28) Chlrikov sem a boar co che coasr wirh a oavigacor, A.M.
Demenciev, and cen sailors on board. ft did noc come back. They waiced for ch.e
men who had disappeared for a week, bue co no avail. A second boat was senc
righe afcer che fìrsr, bue ic disappeared wichouc a rrace coo. The deamof chose men
remains a myscery even nowadays. Food srocks were running our and Chirikov was
seriously ill so che decision to recurn was taken. On August 6 (17) Chirikov's ship
srarced ics rerurn crip. Continuing co sai.! aloog rhe coasc, Cbirikov surveyed che
American coasc approximacely 400 km. He gachered valuable informacion abouc
che fauna and flora of che region. On his way back, thac was rroughc wich difficul-
ties jusc as in Bedng's case, Chirikov discovered a pare of che Aleucian Ridge is-
lands (Adah, Kadyak, Agacru, Acru, Umnak) and Adek lsland pare of che grQup
of che Andreyanovskiye Jslands. Late in Occober "St. Pecer" rerurned co che Pecropav·
Iovskaya Harbor. Out of che 75 me.n of che crew, 57 carne back with him, inclad-
icg only rwo officecs m.
The discovery of Nortb America aud che A.leucian lslands was the result of
che Russian sailors brave expedition. Righrfully che new laods discovered by che
Russian rrail-blazers became che propercy ofRllSsia and che hisrory ofRllSsian Amei'Ì·
ca serdements dates back ro that cime.
Comme.rcial voyages ro che Aleucian Islands became a routine evenr and from
1743 uncil 1797, 89 voyages cook piace. Ar the same cime sciencific expedicions
were condueted. Informacion abouc che flora and fauna and che inhabicants of che
Aleucian Jslands as well as a part of A.laska led co furcher expl.orarion and che de-
velopmem of che newly discovered lands.
1n 1783-1786 che expediòon led by Grigoriy lvanovitch Shelikhov, nicknamed
Russian Columbus gor under way. He and his w ife Nata.liya A.lexeevna sec out w i cb
eh ree vessels from the porr of Okhocsk co the Aleucian lslan<ls and North America.
In Augusc 1784 Shelikhov reacbed Kadyak lsland, where he organized che sercle-
menr 'Pavlovskaya Gavan' (Harbor). In che settlemeru he founded a school forche
aboriginal children, raugbc che !oca! inhabirancs how co cultivare gardens and build
bouses our of wood. The relations be!Ween ch.e setclers and che aborigines became
warmer. Shelikhov himself wroce: "Such an anitude of mine towards chem tied che
laner and me by che minute ... It musr be admined in all fairness char che people
ha ve a sharpness of wisdom, as cheir childreo exrremely quickly underscood rheir
lessons ... (6)"
Simultaneously, Shelikhov concinued co explore che nearby islands and che coast
of North America. And after rwo years he lefr che following inscructions co bis depu_cy: