Feeding the Russian Fur Trade: Provisionment of the Okhotsk Seaboard and the Kamchatka Peninsula, 1639–1856

Contents

CONTENTS Introduction xv PART I. Perspective and Context 1 Historical Background: Occupation and Exploitation of the Russian Far East 3 2 Geographical Background: Physical and Cultural Setting of the Okhotsk Seaboard and the Kamchatka Peninsula 34 3 The Problem of Provisionment 46 PART II. Overland-Oversea Provisionment 4 Introduction 5 Routes and Carriers 6 Performance 7 Transport Problems 8 Reactions PART III. Local Agriculture 9 Introduction lO Agricultural Settlement 11 Production 12 Agricultural Problems 13 Reactions ix 59 72 105 113 141 155 160 171 185 202 X CONTENTS PART IV. Retrospect 14 Summary and Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index 219 229 285 311 ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS ILLUSTRATIONS following page 156 1 Petropavlovsk in 1741 2 Plan of Okhotsk in 1738 3 Nizhne-Kamchatsk in 1741 4 Okhotsk in 1741 5 Okhotsk in 1786 6 Map of the Yakutsk-Okhotsk River Route in 1737 7 Map of the Yakutsk-Okhotsk River Route in 1788 8 Plan of Okhotsk in 1786 9 Plan of Okhotsk in 1844 10 Petropavlovsk in 1807 MAPS 1 Siberia vis-a.-vis Canada xvi 2 Russian Expansion across Siberia 6 3 The Main Russian Settlements on the Okhotsk Seaboard and the Kamchatka Peninsula 15 4 The "Siberian Deliveries" 61 5 Yeniseisk Uyezd 64 6 Ilimsk Uyezd, Baikalia, and the Yakutsk District 65 7 The Yakutsk-Okhotsk Track 80 xi xii ILL U S T RAT ION SAN D MAP S 8 The Yakutsk-Udsk and Yakutsk-Ayan Routes 86 9 The Main Agricultural Regions of Siberia in the Seventeenth Century 158 10 The Main Agricultural Settlements on the Okhotsk Seaboard and the Kamchatka Peninsula 166 TABLES 1 Population of the Main Settlements of the Okhotsk Seaboard and the Kamchatka Peninsula for Various Years between 1647 and 1865 18 2 Number of State Peasants and Amount of State Plowland in Yeniseisk Uyezd for Various Years between 1621 and 1699 63 3 State Grain Shipments Received by Ilimsk from Yeniseisk and Dispatched by llimsk to Yakutsk for Various Years between 1652 and 1714 67 4 Riverboats Departing from Ust-Kut Landing for Various Years between 1767 and 1781 76 5 Number of Vessels and Amount of Freight Sent down the Lena River to Yakutsk for Various Years between 1767 and 1781 76 6 Cost of Contracted Pack Horse Transport in Spring from Yakutsk to Okhotsk for Various Years between 1773 and 1833 92 7 Number of Horses Packing Freight from Yakutsk to Okhotsk for Various Years between 1750 and 1840 98 8 Number of Horses and Conductors Transporting State Freight Eastward from Yakutsk, 1736-85 and 1796-1830 99 9 Amount of Freight and Number of Horses Sent by the State from Yakutsk to Okhotsk, Udsk, and Kolymsk for Various Years between 1773 and 1833 100 xiii xiv TABLES 10 Monthly Inlay and Outlay of State Provisions at Okhotsk, 1774-75 106 11 Monthly Inlay and Outlay of State Provisions at Gizhiga, 1784 107 12 Acreages and Yields of Grain at Kirganik, Mashura, Milkovo, Shigachinsk, and Verkhny, 1763-66 175 13 Grain Yields (in Bushels) at Udsk for Various Years between 1742 and 1789 178 14 Number of Livestock in Kamchatka for Various Years between 1743 and 1852 183 15 Number of Cattle at Udsk for Various Years between 1744 and 1856 184 16 Agricultural Population of Okhotsk, Insk, and Udsk for Various Years between 1735 and 1856 194 17 Total Crop Yields on State Plowland at Kashitino, 1765-68 206 ...