"Looking into Family History at the UAF Museum" Fairbanks Travelogue by mcpangie

One spring I went with the Aruvak Dancers up to Fairbanks. I made my coworker Snookie drive around the UAF Museum looking for the old blockhouse from Kolmakovskiy Redoubt. My great, great grandfather was the manager at the redoubt for the Russian-American Company and the Alaska Commercial Company when it was actually still located on the Kuskokwim River. UAF seemed to have moved since the last time I?d spent time in Fairbanks so we couldn?t find it and we were in a hurry. Fairbanks, by the way, is the town that I was born in. Snookie isn't offically related to me, but I was talking with one of her relatives and there is a tie between her family and mine, so we are cousins by marriage anyway.

The Plaque

Here is an image of the plaque that UAF created to describe the site. My great, great Grandfather Nicholai Dementov was one of the manager's at the site on the Kuskokwim. He died in the 1890's, and shortly afterwards my family moved up to the Yukon River.

I will include below some of the research that I uncovered about Kolmakovskiy Redoubt.

Kolmakovskiy Redoubt's Blockhouse

Fedor Kolmakov, a Siberian creole, was involved in the exploration of Bristol Bay in 1818. Kolmakov was thought to be involved in the construction of Aleksandrovskiy Redoubt on Nushagak Bay in 1819. By 1820, Kolmakov was the manager of Aleksandrovskiy Redoubt . Having managed Aleksandrovskiy for decades, Kolmakov, along with his son Petr, were instrumental in exploring the river roadways to the Kuskokwim in the early 1830's in the search for more pelts.

In June of 1839 Fedor Kolmakov's plans to construct what would become Kolmakovskiy Redoubt on the central Kuskokwim River were approved by the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian-American Company, Adolf K. Etolin. The site, called Muqthlugliq (Sandy) was located along the south bank, across from the mouth of the Kwik, or Kolmakov, River. The site was nearby trader Semen Lukin's Odinochka had stood since 1833. Kolmakov died in 1839, delaying construction for several years.

One Side

Construction of Kolmakovskiy Redoubt began in the fall of 1841. Though Petr Kolmakov was to be the first manager, by October the position was given to Semen Lukin, an interpreter. Semen Lukin was the manager from 1841 to 1855 or 1856. Lukin's son, Ivan, held the post until he was replaced by a man named Repnikov in 1860. The last man to manage the redoubt for the Russian-American Company was Nicholai Dementov. Nicholai became the manager in 1862.

Oswalt give's conflicting dates within his work. "From 1861 until the redoubt's abandonment by the Russians in 1866, Nicholai Dementov appears to have been the only manager stationed there. In 1861 the staff included Dementov, three creoles, the manager's assistant, Neofit Rezantsev, the scribe, Evan Andreanoff, and the interpreter and 'traveling elder' Aleksei Morozov, plus three native workers [Illarion, Sept. 19, 24, 25, 1861] (Oswalt 1980, Kolmakovskiy: 82)."

Another Side

In preparations for the sale of Alaska, the redoubt was abandoned in 1866. Oswalt states that little is known of the managers that followed Lukin, however the company records were seldom critical about how they performed their duties.

"On August 29, 1866, (Heirmonk) Illarion learned that Kolmakovskiy was to be abandoned, and in early December he went there for the last time to compile an inventory of church property and to arrange for the removal of certain items. On December 9, Hieromonk Illarion sprinkled holy water on all the buildings, and two days later he left. So ends the Russian record and the Russian era (Oswalt, 1980: 25)."

The Moravian missionaries William H. Weinland and J.A.H. Hartmann traveled the Kuskokwim in 1884, co-founding a mission in Bethel in 1885. Both kept journals that identified the whereabouts of people at the time.

"The station consists of two large, well-built log houses, the one serving on the lodging-house, the other as a store, together with a few smaller ones. There is also a 'kashima' or Russian bath house... We were greatly cheered by the view of the station, situated on a high bank, with a background of pine forest...

On landing we were welcomed by Mrs. Nicolai, Mrs. Ziprie, Mrs. Dormenteff and other natives. We were soon comfortably housed and invited to partake of a well cooked meal and a very fair cup of coffee, all prepared by the Eskimo ladies. It is very pleasing to observe what an effect civilizing influences had produced upon these Eskimo women. They were simply but neatly dressed in European costume, presenting a clean and tidy appearance... and doing all they could to make us comfortable." (J.A.H. Hartmann, June 20, 1884)

In all the books that I've read so far, this is one of the few references to Nicholai Dementov's wife. Her maiden name is somewhat of a mystery I hope to uncover. The next day Hartmann's partner wasn't so complimentary when talking about Mr. Dementov. "White at Bethel in 1884, Weinland (diary, June 21) recorded that the traders Dementov and Komolkoshen went on a spree, no doubt consuming intoxicants received on the supply vessel that had recently arrived." Interestingly, Oswalt's research revealed that Kuskokwim area traders did not deal in intoxicants in 1884. It wasn't until after the turn of the century that local traders sold alcohol in Bethel. I was wondering if the missionaries had inadvertently brought booze with them and didn't know it!