24.07.2018

In 1812 the Russian-American company founded the Russian settlement in California - Ross, now known as Fort Ross. It existed until 1841, when, due to economic inexpediency, Ross was liquidated, and its inhabitants were transported to Alaska. For almost thirty years of the existence of the village of Ross, Russian seafarers and employees of the Russian-American Company were engaged in collecting collections among local Indians. The most significant materials were acquired in 1840-1841, when in this area worked as an employee of the Imperial Academy of Sciences Iliya Voznesenskiy. Within 1839-1849 he collected about fifteen thousand items for academic museums - materials on ethnography, zoology, botany, mineralogy and other sciences.