Wintering at Sitka 1805-1806

On the way DeWolf encountered the Mary again and the two ships sailed together to Sitka, arriving on 14 August 1805. DeWolf wrote that Baranov welcomed him to Sitka "with that kind of obliging hospitality which made him loved and respected by every visitor". By this time DeWolf had collected about 1,000 sea otter furs. He arranged to have the Mary take them to sell in Guangzhou (Canton), the only port in China open to Western trade at the time. ^[8]

The Juno was brought ashore and repaired until 6 September 1805. Many floor timbers were repaired and the copper along the hull bottom was replaced. Despite the work, DeWolf wrote of Juno as "crippled", and that he would just have to carry on, "and endeavor to prosecute the remainder of our voyage with more caution".^[8]

Nikolai Rezanov

DeWolf proposed to Baranov a joint venture to hunt sea otters on the coast of Spanish California, despite such activity being considered illegal poaching by the Spanish. The plan involved about 50-60 RAC Aleut and Alutiiq hunters and their kayaks being taken aboard Juno, which would sail to California in October 1805. This kind of joint venture was first done in 1803–1804 by the American trader Joseph O'Cain. Baranov agreed to DeWolf's proposal.^[8] However, on 26 August 1805 the Russian ship Maria arrived at Sitka. The Maria, under Andrei Vasilevish Mashin, brought several passengers whose presence changed the course of events for DeWolf. These included the nobleman Nikolai Rezanov, Russia's ambassador to Japan, plenipotentiary of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, and part owner of the Russian–American Company, and Georg von Langsdorff, a German naturalist and physician working as a diplomat representing the Russian Empire, and officers of the Russian Imperial Navy including Gavriil Ivanovich Davydov and Nikolai Aleksandrovich Khvostov. The Maria also brought carpenters and supplies for building two new RAC vessels at Sitka.^[8]

Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff

With the Russian post at Sitka less than a year old and still under construction, and with supplies dwindling, Baranov was not able to comfortably shelter the Russians newly arrived on Maria and the crew of Juno. DeWolf wrote that there were 150 Russians and 250 Alutiiq and Aleut hunters, plus his own crew, at Sitka. Everyone was actively preparing for the coming winter, building workshops, barracks, and other structures. The planned construction of a new RAC ship was postponed. DeWolf, learning how difficult and expensive the new ship's construction would be "jocosely", as he described it, told Langsdorff and Rezanov that he would sell Juno to the RAC. Rezanov immediately agreed. Acutely aware of the RAC's shortage of ships, Rezanov was willing to pay far more than Juno would have gone for elsewhere.^[14] DeWolf, surprised by Rezanov's earnestness, began talks about actually selling his ship. After some deliberations, it was agreed that the Juno would be sold to the RAC for $68,000 (worth approximately $1,500,000 in 2023), which would be paid with bills of exchange on the Directors of the RAC in Saint Petersburg worth $54,638, 572 sea otter furs worth $13,062, a small and poorly-built Russian vessel called Ermak (also transliterated as Yermak) with which DeWolf's crew could take the furs to China, and $300 in cash.^[8][11] The RAC, desperate for sailing vessels, paid about twice what Juno and her entire cargo had cost the DeWolf family.^[10][3]

On 5 October 1805 the Ermak was transferred to DeWolf and Juno to the RAC. The US flag was taken from Juno and raised on Ermak. The Juno was renamed Yunona. On 27 October 1805 Ermak left for China via Hawaii, under the command of George Stetson, one of DeWolf's officers. DeWolf himself agreed to stay at Sitka until the spring of 1806, after which he would travel with Rezanov across Siberia to St. Petersburg.^[8][11]

Over the winter of 1805–06, DeWolf and Langsdorff became close friends. They went on hunts for game and to collect specimens for Langsdorff's interests in natural history. They learned how to use and navigate in native baidarkas (Aleutian kayaks). In November, while Rezanov was away with Juno acquiring supplies from Kodiak Island, DeWolf and Langsdorff decided to visit the Tlingit who had been displaced from the Sitka area after the 1804 Battle of Sitka. Baranov reluctantly agreed to provide them with several Alutiiq men and the daughter of a Tlingit clan head to serve as translator. It took them three days to reach the Tlingit fortified settlement where they stayed for two days. They got back to Sitka about the same time that Rezanov returned in Juno.^[8]

The Tlingit stronghold was known as Tchartle nu ou or Chartle con nu, meaning "Halibut Fort" or "Fort on the Halibut". Its exact location is not certain, variously described as being at Point Hayes or Point Craven,^[15][16] perhaps on one of the small islands nearby in the eastern end of Peril Strait; or at Lindenberg Head in Peril Strait,^[17] about 6 mi (9.7 km) west of Point Craven. Langsdorff described the house of Chief Dlchaetin as having a raised hearth in the middle of an interior open space large enough to hold the several hundred Tlingit who gathered to see Langsdorff and DeWolf.^[18]

DeWolf noted that both Tlingit men and women "are expert in the use of fire-arms, and are excellent judges of their quality." Langsdorff wrote that Tlingit weapons "consist principally of bows and arrows; but since their trade with the American States, they have acquired so large a stock of guns, powder, and shot, that they scarcely use their arrows except in hunting sea otters and [seals]." And that the Tlingit "understand the qualities of a good gun so well that it is impossible to impose a bad one upon them: even the women are accustomed to the use of fire-arms, and often go out on the hunting parties". He also wrote that DeWolf "assured me that the best English guns may now be bought cheaper upon the north-west coast of American than in England".^[18]

Over the winter DeWolf, Langsdorff, Rezanov, other special guests, and officers of the RAC and Russian Navy lived decently, enjoying the provisions DeWolf had brought aboard Juno, while the common workers at Sitka suffered from overwork, malnutrition, and scurvy. DeWolf made special note of the strong social disparities at Sitka in his memoirs. While he was there, the food shortage became an emergency and scurvy began impacting work at Sitka, such as the construction of a new ship, dubbed Avos. So Rezanov and Langsdorff took Juno, captained by Nikolai Khvostov, to Spanish California to acquire provisions. They left on 8 March 1806 and returned on 21 June. On the way they tried but failed to enter the Columbia River, hoping to reconnoiter for a possible Russian outpost near the river's mouth. Thus they came very close to meeting Lewis and Clark. The Russians continued to San Francisco, where they were welcomed by Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga and allowed to acquire provisions for Sitka. Rezanov tried to establish regular trade between California and Russian Alaska, but both governments give little heed.^[12][19][20]

In May, while Juno was away, the American ship O'Cain, under Jonathan Winship, arrived from Boston via Hawaii. Winship, hoping to repeat the earlier joint venture done with O'Cain under Captain Joseph O'Cain, proposed a joint venture with Baranov to hunt California sea otters with Alutiiq and Aleut hunters brought to California on the O'Cain. This was agreed to and arranged, with O'Cain leaving in mid-May with over 120 Alutiiq and Aleut hunters and 75 baidarkas.^[21][8]

By late June, when Rezanov and Langsdorff returned with Juno, DeWolf was becoming increasingly bored and worried about being able to get to Siberia before unfavorable weather would prevent his departure for another season. Rezanov did not want to send Juno west until Avos was finished. The only other available vessel was the Rostislav (also transliterated Russisloff), a small brig of about 25 tons burden.^[10] DeWolf asked if he could captain Rostislav to Siberia himself. Langsdorff, who had also grown tired of Russian America, was excited by the idea. Baranov and Rezanov agreed, and on 30 June 1806 the Rostislav was made ready to sail with a crew of ten men. Shortly after, DeWolf and Langsdorff left Sitka. The Rostislav proved seaworthy but very slow, especially in the light summer winds. They reached Kodiak on 13 July, and Unalaska on 12 August. They then sailed for the Kuril Islands, hoping to reach Okhotsk, the starting point of the overland route across Siberia. DeWolf neared the Sea of Okhotsk in early September, but bad weather prevented Rostislav from entering the sea. DeWolf was forced to instead sail to Petropavlovsk on the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, where he would have to spent the winter of 1806–07. The Rostislav arrived at Petropavlovsk on 22 September 1806.^[8]

Wintering at Petropavlovsk 1806-1807

Avacha Bay, Petropavlovsk, Koryaksky Volcano. Painting by Friedrich Georg Weitsch, c. 1806

Not long after DeWolf arrived at Petropavlovsk two Russian ships arrived bringing people DeWolf had met in Sitka. First, Avos arrived, under command of Davydov. Then DeWolf's old ship Juno, under Khvostov. The two vessels, with Rezanov on Juno, had just conducted a raid on Japanese settlements on Sakhalin Island. Rezanov had been dropped off at Okhotsk. Several Japanese prisoners were brought to Petropavlovsk. The Russians planned to bring the Japanese prisoners to Japan in early 1807 in hopes of breaking through Japan's isolationist sakoku policy and establishing trade relations.^[8]

Over the winter DeWolf learned to use dog sleds, which were the main form of winter transportation in Kamchatka. He and Langsdorff made a number of dog sled expeditions, sometimes together, sometimes with Davydov and Khvostov. DeWolf visited villages in the vicinity of Petropavlovsk and, as his confidence increased, took longer trips around the southern end of the Kamchatka Peninsula.^[8][12]

Khvostov and Davydov left for the Kuril Islands in March. Due to ice in the Sea of Okhotsk, DeWolf and Langsdroff had to wait until 26 May 1807 to depart Petropavlovsk for Okhotsk with Rostislav. On 30 May they ran into a large whale. DeWolf later wrote that the impact was "like striking a rock" and that the Rostislav, upon the whale's back, was raised 2–3 feet out of the water. Langsdorff recalled the incident in a similar way—that they had run into a whale, which "could have been disastrous if the boat listed or was shaken too hard by the impact, but Captain DeWolf acted quite competently".^[8] In later years DeWolf recounted this story to his nephew Herman Melville, who included it in Moby Dick, Chapter 45, quoting Langsdorff account of the whale.^[1]

Overland across Siberia

On 27 June 1807 DeWolf anchored Rostislav at Okhotsk. There he and Langsdorff leaarned that Rezanov had fallen ill and died on 13 March 1807. DeWolf made preparations for the start of his overland trip across Russia to Saint Petersburg. Langsdorff had other plans, so DeWolf traveled without him. He left for Yakutsk on 3 July 1807, with eleven horses and a Yakuts guide. He took the main route, which proved to be rough and difficult. He arrived at Yakutsk on 26 July 1807.^[8]

From Yakutsk DeWolf traveled to Irkutsk by boat on the Lena River. A Cossack traveled with him on the boat, and DeWolf noted how the provincial population treated the Cossack and himself with great deference. He later wrote that as an "American captain" traveling to Saint Petersburg "on government business", the local peoples held him in very high regard. At one point the boat stopped near a village that was experiencing an outbreak of smallpox. DeWolf helped inoculate villagers using a technique he learned in the USA. He ran a thread through the lesions of infected villagers, then cut the thread into small pieces, which were put into small incisions made in the arms of uninfected villagers. This technique usually made people immune to smallpox.^[8]

DeWolf arrived at Irkutsk on 28 August 1807. There he met up with an RAC official who provided room and board. He also ran into his friend Langsdorff, who was on his way to Kyakhta, the only place where China allowed Russia to trade, via a crossing of Lake Baikal. So the friends soon parted ways again. The rest of DeWolf's trip across Russia was relatively uneventful. He reached Tomsk on 10 September 1807, then Kazan on 30 September, then Moscow on 8 October. He stayed in Moscow until 17 October before leaving for Saint Petersburg, which he reached on 21 October 1807.^[8]

Saint Petersburg, 1803

At Saint Petersburg DeWolf went to the RAC headquarters where he was introduced to the RAC Director, Mikhail Matveevich Buldakov, who, like Rezanov, was a son-in-law of the influential pre-RAC Alaskan fur trader Grigory Shelikhov. Language difficulties were resolved by the appearance of the American Benedict Cramer, a partner in the banking firm Cramer, Smith and Company, and a member of the RAC Board of Directors. Cramer was already familiar with DeWolf's sale of Juno and helped facilitate the payments owed. The bills of exchange DeWolf had been given in Sitka were honored in Spanish dollars. The proceeds were then invested in hemp, iron, and manufactured goods, and sent to the USA.^[8]

After payment, DeWolf was free to enjoy himself in Saint Petersburg, where Director Buldakov put him up. During his stay, DeWolf met Levitt Harris, the American Consul General in Russia, as well as Count Nikolay Rumyantsev, the Minister of Commerce and future Minister of Foreign Affairs. Rumyantsev was also the principal financier of the expedition that had taken Rezanov and Langdorff to Russian America. DeWolf planned to stay in Saint Petersburg until late November, but the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian War between Russia and the United Kingdom hastened his departure. He found transport on a small Dutch ship and left Saint Petersburg in early November, arriving at Helsingør (Elsinore), near Copenhagen, Denmark, on 13 November 1807.^[8]

In Denmark, DeWolf met Captain David Gray, an American merchant from Portland, Maine. Gray agreed to take DeWolf to America. They quickly reached Liverpool, England, but had to spend the winter of 1807–1808 there while Gray's ship underwent repairs. They left Liverpool on 7 February 1808 and arrived in Portland, Maine, on 25 March.^[8] From Portland, DeWolf traveled by stagecoach to Bristol, Rhode Island, arriving home on 1 April 1808.^[3] From departure to return, DeWolf's trip had taken almost four years. Overall, the expedition netted the DeWolf family over $100,000, a considerable profit at the time.^[8] John DeWolf's epic voyage earned him the nickname Nor'west John.^[3]

John DeWolf's expedition had a large impact on his life. He had made valuable contacts in Russia which led to trade relationships. He adventures made him a local celebrity, and he told his stories to many people over the years until he finally wrote a book about it, titled A Voyage to the North Pacific and a Journey Through Siberia: More Than Half a Century Ago, published in 1861.^[12]