John Ledyard's Journey through Russia and Siberia, 1787–1788: The Journal and Selected Letters

Preface

PREFACE T IDS BOOK presents for the first time in unabridged form John Ledyard's available writings about his journey across Russia and Siberia in 1787-88. My aim in editing these papers was to assemble and interpret the accessible information about this remarkable trip undertaken by an American traveler and explorer, and to furnish a biographical and historical setting that would increase the reader's understanding of the journey. John Ledyard became acquainted with the North Pacific region when he voyaged with Captain James Cook's expedition to the northwest coast of America, Alaska, and Kamchatka in 1776-80. Late in 1786 he set out from Western Europe to cross Russia and Siberia with the intention of reaching the American northwest coast from the west and traversing the American continent on foot. This attempt did not succeed, for reasons which, like some other circumstances of his journey, are still unknown. Nevertheless, the course of Ledyard's journey can be fairly accurately determined and some of its mysteries unraveled by examining letters he wrote from Siberia, his hitherto unpublished journal, and various accounts and documents of others who were in some way involved with his trip. Ledyard, himself, prepared for publication nothing but his Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, and v vi PREFACE in Quest of a North-West Passage, between Asia & America; Performed in the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, and 1779, which was printed in 1783. Until recently only a portion of his writings had been published, often altered or abridged. Biographers have romanticized his life and treated it incompletely. Jared Sparks's biography (1828) has rightly been considered the most authoritative , because of the extent of his investigations. Thorough study of Ledyard's journey into Russia and Siberia and careful editing of his writings about it have never before been undertaken . Problems that were not easy to resolve arose during the research and editing. If official documents, such as orders and letters of the Empress Catherine or of various civil authorities in eastern Siberia, still exist which might tell more about Ledyard's arrest in Irkutsk, they have remained inaccessible. The original journal which Ledyard was able to bring out of Russia has since been lost. Additional observations made in notes and a smaller journal-mentioned by Ledyard in several places-were left behind in eastern Siberia. Only a few letters concerning the journey can definitely be said to be in Ledyard's handwriting. Of the three known copies of parts of his journal, none is in his hand. While the two most important transcriptions of the journal contain much material of similar content, each contains unique material as well. For example, only one account follows the journey eastward across the Russian Empire, while the other provides the sole information about Ledyard's course in returning from Moscow through Poland. The present volume has two principal parts: an introductory section about Ledyard and his journey, and a section which contains the texts relevant to the journey. In the introductory chapters I have tried to outline the important circumstances in Ledyard's life leading up to the journey, as well as the historical Significance of his hopes for the future and of his travels. I have also attempted to throw light on conditions of life and travel in eighteenth-century Siberia and to describe this little-known and remote part of the earth as it was at the time of Ledyard's visit. Preface vii Chapter 4, on "The History and Editing of the Papers," discusses among other things the two transcriptions of the original journal which are used as texts and the procedure followed in preparing this edition of the journal for publication. Among Ledyard's letters I have chosen only those related, directly or indirectly, to the Siberian journey. First in order come the letters in some way connected with his attempts to reach the northwest coast of America with intent to cross the continent, which were written before his deportation from the Russian Empire; then the journal of the trip; and finally the letters related to the Siberian journey which were written after his return to Western Europe. Interspersed among Ledyard's letters are other documents pertaining to the journey. These include miscellaneous letters, recommendations, orders, reports, and so on, written by other people, in particular, letters by Thomas Jefferson. The entire series is numbered and each item...