Kodiak - Historical
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KODIAK, ALASKA, NOVEMBER 26, 1960
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Historic Kodiak Island Established
AsOradle of Orthodoxy In Nor. America
Old maps call the present coasts
of British Columbia, Alaska and
the Aleutian Islands — Russian
America. They give proper credit
to the people who settled it and,
in a measure, civilized it.
Russia claimed it for a century
and a quarter and her occupation
of it is still evinced by the gener
ous proportion of Russian blood in
native veins, by the existing Rus
sian speech in many sections, by
the bulb-domed churches of Rus
sian Orthodoxy whose priests still
minister to the natives from Sitka
to Unalaska, and by the surround
ing geographic names—Shelekhov
Straits, Pribiloff Islands, the Bar
anoff Mountains and many more.
Vitus Bering, the Danish sailor,
was sent by Peter the Great of
Russia, in 1725, in search of the
Northwest Passage, and to ascer
tain whether Asia joined America.
Bering sighted the mainland of the
Northwest coast, but died follow
ing shipwreck on the island that
still bears his name. His men, how
ever, in 1742 found their way home,
toothless from scurvy and starva
tion but wearing around their
bodies, as clothing, and using as
sleeping blankets—furs of the sea
otter, seal and Artie blue fox to
the value of a fortune.
Peter the Great was dead and
what is described as “the old Asi
atic apathy” had redescended in
Muscovy when Bering’s men re
turned, else their discoveries might
have created the sensation they de
9t?rv«u.
But the Promyshlenki, or fron
tiersmen of the Siberian back
woods were fully alive to the values
of Bering’s discoveries. They set
forth in a hastily constructed gal
ley of green timbers lashed to
gether, and in 1745 returned with
another fortune in furs to con
firm the richness of the region.
These expeditions continued
every summer. In twenty years,
Russian vessels of respectable size
financed by wealthy Siberian mer
chants, were sailing the length of
the Aleutians to the mainland it
self.
About 1780. the Irkutsk mer
chant Gregor Shelekhov decided
to plant a colony on the Ameri
can coast at his own expense. By
the summer of 1783 three vessels
were built and named the Three
Saints, the Saint Michael Archan
gel and the God’s Friend, Simeon
and Anna His Prophetess. Shelek
hov himself took charge and with
his wife, Natalia, sailed on August
16, 1783, with 192 men. They win
tered on Bering’s Island. On Au
gust 3rd, a year out of Okhotsk,
they entered a fine little harbor
which was picked as the settlement
and named it Three Saints Bay.
This proved to be Kodiak Island.
The natives seemed to know and
mistnist Russian occupation and
Shelekhov had a battle on his
hands, but his luck held. The sun
went into eclipse. The Kodiak is
landers promptly made peace on
his promise tp restore the sun. A
neat settlement was built com
prising some four or five log
houses decorated in Russian style,
a ropewalk, a blacksmith shop,
barns for the animals, a commis
sary, and a counting house. The
navigators were kept busy ex
ploring, and on Cook’s Inlet an
outpost was established and named
Fort Alexander in honor of the
Empress’s grandson. In March of
1786, Shelekov transferred com
mand to Konstantin Sanoloff and
returned to Irkutsk.
Late in 1789 reports from the
colony showed that things had
gone pretty bad. Shelekhov depos
ed Samoiloff. Alexander, at 42
years of age, accepted the offer of
Saints Bay. He lived to push the
Shelekhov, and on July 8, 1790
landed in the village of Three
Saints Bay. He ived to push the
Russian advance until the Rus
sians had footholds even in Cali
fornia and reached for another on
the Hawaiian Islands.
Baranoff explored the island be
fore winter set in, and noted the
northern half with its excellent
spruce. He noted one bay, the site
of an Aleut village called Chiniak
that would have been ideal, and
thought of moving the colony
there. He was impressed by the size
of the Aleut population of Kodiak
and its neighbor Afognak Island.
Baranoff wrote to Shelekov and
asked for a priest. “Send me one
who is intelligent, able to get a
long with others, not bigoted, and
above all, sincere,” he said.
It was the year 1794, when Bar
anoff was making preparations to
lay the keels of two small sloops
on Yelowi (Spruce) Island out
from St. Paul Harbor where the
colony was established on Sept
ember 15, the Three saints pulled
in with 8 Orthodox pritsts. There
were the Atchimandrite Iaasaph
of Vaaam monestery, near St. Pe
tersburgh, the Archmonks Father
Nektary, Makary, Afanassy, Juven
asly, Archdeacon Father Stefan
and two monks, Father Herman
and Ioasaf, that were sent to estab
lish the Church.
More More More
Later, Archimandrite Ioasaf was
lost on the Phoenix in 1799 when
he was coming back to Kodiak as
a bishop. Hiermonk Juvenaly was
killed at Illiamma in 1796, Afanas
sy returned to Russia in 1825, Ne
ktary returned to Irkutsk in 1806,
Monk Ioasaph died in Kodiak in
1837. Hiermonk Makary was lost
at sea on the Phonix, as was Hier
monk Stephan.
Following a winter of prevation
and conditions not to the taste of
the clergy, the priests went out to
convert the natives to the Greek
faith, and had baptised 12,000 con
verts before a church was complet
ed a Kodiak in 1796.
Father Herman selected a site on
Spruce Island, built a chapel, and
for many years carried on work
at what is konown as Ouzinkie,
where he died in 1837.
The missionaries ornamented the
towns and villages with churches
and chapels, around which com
munites of natives and Russian
emigrants sprung up. The Russian
civil life was introduced, Christian
morals and customs took hold of
the populace, and the country be
came enlivened and elevated by a
higher inspiration. In 1815, a Rus
sian church was built on the Island
of Novo-Arkengelsk (the present
Sitka) which became the first Rus
sian Diocese in the new world.
The first Bishop of this new Dio
cese was Innocentius (Veniamin
off) ordained Dec. 15, 1840, as
Bishop of Kamchatka, the Kuriles,
and Aleutians and was seated at
Sitka.
After 1867, when Alaska was
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sold to the United States, the title
of the sea was changed to Aleutia
and Alaska and afterwards to
Aleutian Islands and North Ameri
ca. In 1872 the residence of the
Bishop was transferred from San
Francisco to San Francisco where
as early as 1812, adherents of the
Church had settled.
In 1905, Bishop Tikhon changed
his see from San Francisco to New
York. The Russian Holy Synod
raised him to the dignity of an
Archbishop, and created the offices
of Bishop of Alaska and Bishop of
Brocklin and his assistants.
At the present time the Head
of the Church is His Eminence,
The Most Reverend Leonty, Arch
bishop of New York, Metropolitan
of all America and Canada with
his Grace, the Right Reverend
Amvrossy, Bishop of Sitka and
Alaska, as one of his assistants.
Baptist Church
Built In 1940
The Community Baptist Church
also observes a "Oth anniversary
this year, with ground breaking
and construction on the present
church taking place in 1940.
The prayerful concern of a group
of Christians in Kodiak resulted in
the organization of the church in
1939. Rev. Walter A. Warner of
the American Baptist Home Mis
sion Society was assigned in 1940.
The Church and the old parsonage
on the present site, which, incident
ally, is the site of the old Russian
Church, were built by the Society
in 1940. Additional rooms were
added in 1950.
The present all modern parson
age was built by the church in
1957.
A modern kitchen in the church
has added to the social functions,
and the facilities of the social hall
and main auditorium have been
used frequently by the community.
Miss Estelle Marlin, director of
education at the church, came to
Kodiak as a House Mother at the
Baptist Mission, and has been ac
tive in the church and community
work for 20 years.
The present pastor, the Rev.
Lewis E. White, came to Kodiak
with his family in May of this year.
The pastor previous to that was
the Rev. John Molletti who ac
cepted a call at the turn of the
year, as a regional supervisor for
the Society on the West Coast.
New Phene
Number
4844
Wm. DAMERY ,
MARINE SURVEYOR
GAME NIGHT
Every Wednesday
8:30 P. M.
at the
ELKS GLOB
% ° ■ o
William Damery
Marine Surveyor
Conditions, Valuations and
Damage Surveys
DIVING AND SALVAGE
Eleven Years in Kodiak
Eighteen Years in Alaska
Ph. 4844 P. O. Box 91
Beauty—
for where you lire -
and for you to give!
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KNUDSEN’S - ,.where Kodiak ''
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