Kolmakov Redoubt Site Explained

Kolmakov Redoubt Site
Coordinates:61.5672°N -158.6197°W[1]
Nearest City:Sleetmute, Alaska
Added:February 15, 1974
Refnum:74002322
Designated Other1:Alaska Heritage Resources Survey
Designated Other1 Name:Alaska Heritage Resources Survey
Designated Other1 Color:
  1. A8EDEF
Designated Other1 Abbr:AHRS
Designated Other1 Number:SLT-001
Designated Other1 Num Position:bottom

The Kolmakov Redoubt Site is a historic archaeological site on the Kuskokwim River in western Alaska. The site is located downriver from the hamlet of Sleetmute, about 21 miles east of Aniak. The site was the location of a major trading post, which was one of the only ones established deep in the Alaskan interior by the Russian-American Company. The first site established by the Russians, in 1832, was little more than a log cabin near the confluence of the Kuskokwim with the Aniak River, and was known as Kolmakov's Townlet, after the trader Fedor Kolmakov. The success of this location prompted the construction in 1833 of an "odinochka" (a small outpost staffed by 1-3 men) at the present location, near the confluence of the Kuskokwim and Kolmakof Rivers. At this site the Russians collected more than 1,400 beaver pelts in 1834, when their entire Alaska trade amounted to about 5,000. This facility was then upgraded to a "redoubt" (not a conventional military redoubt earthworks, but something more akin to a fortified trading post). The site was used until 1867, when American traders took over the fur trade following the Alaska Purchase.[2]

The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Zagoskin L.A. Travel to American shores. "Редут Колмакова находится, по моим наблюдениям, в широте 61®34'02" и долготе 158®37'11" западной от Гринвича" http://az.lib.ru/z/zagoskin_l_a/text_1845_puteshestviya_k_amerikanskim_beregam.shtml
  2. Web site: Draft of Review of Alaska Request for a Recordable Disclaimer of Interest. US Bureau of Land Management. 2014-09-17.