| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Lydia |
| Fate | Sold to Russian–American Company, December 1813 |
 Russia (Russian–American Company) | |
| Name | Il'mena orIlmena orIl'men' |
| Acquired | December 1813 |
| Fate | Wrecked on the coast of California in 1820.[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Brig |
| Tons burthen | 50 tons (bm),[2] or 200 tons (bm)[3] |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Sail plan | Brig |
Lydia was aUSmerchant ship that sailed onmaritime fur trading ventures in the early 1800s. In December 1813 it was sold to theRussian–American Company and renamedIl'mena, also spelledIlmena andIl'men' (Russian: Ильмена). As bothLydia andIl'mena it was involved in notable events. Today it is best known for its role in an 1814 massacre of theNicoleño natives ofSan Nicolas Island, which ultimately resulted in one Nicoleño woman, known asJuana Maria, living alone on the island for many years. These events became the basis forScott O'Dell's 1960 children's novelIsland of the Blue Dolphins and the 1964 film adaptationIsland of the Blue Dolphins.
The vessel was abrig built in theEast Indies ofteak.[4] In April 1809Lydia, under captain Thomas Brown, leftBoston for thePacific Northwest Coast. In 1810 Brown rescued the Russian survivors ofSv. Nikolai ("St. Nicholas"), which had wrecked on theOlympic Peninsula in November 1808. They were taken aboardLydia and brought toSitka, the capital ofRussian America. In October 1811 Thomas Brown exchanged commands with James Bennett ofDerby. In late 1813 Bennett tookLydia to Sitka where the vessel was sold to the Russian–American Company (RAC) and renamedIl'mena.
As an RAC vesselIl'mena, under captain William Wadsworth, broughtAleuts with theirkayaks andbaidarkas toCalifornia to huntsea otters along the coast ofCalifornia, in 1814. During this time an altercation with theNicoleño ofSan Nicolas Island resulted in a massacre of the Nicoleño. In addition some of the RAC employees were captured by the authorities of Spanish California, who considered their activity poaching.
From September 1815 to April 1816Il'mena was laid up atBodega Bay for repairs. The vessel was taken to theHawaiian Islands in 1816, where it became involved in theSchäffer affair before leaving in June 1817 under captain George Young. By late June 1817Il’mena was back at Sitka.[4] In 1820Il'mena wrecked atPoint Arena on the coast of California. All the people and cargo on board were saved and taken to nearbyFort Ross.[1]
Lydia was abrig built in theEast Indies ofteak.[4] By 1804 it was owned byTheodore Lyman and Associates of Boston.[3] By 1809 Lyman was joined in ownership by James &Thomas Handasyd Perkins (J. & T.H. Perkins).
Sources differ over the size of the vessel. Some sources say it was 200 tons,[3] while others say 50 tons.[2]
In April 1809 the brig was sent from Boston on amaritime fur trade voyage to thePacific Northwest, under Captain Thomas Brown.Lydia spent 1810 to 1813 cruising the Northwest Coast, between about theColumbia River andSitka Sound, trading with theindigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast forsea otter furs, which commanded a high price in China.[5]
In 1810 Captain Brown rescued the Russian survivors ofSv. Nikolai ("St. Nicholas"), which had wrecked nearRialto Beach on theOlympic Peninsula on 1 November 1808. The survivors, led byTimofei Nikitich Tarakanov, lived with theHoh andMakah in a servile way until rescued by Brown.[6] One of the Russian survivors fromNikolai was on boardLydia, having been sold as a slave to the south and acquired by Captain Brown on theColumbia River. Later Brown visited the Makah village atNeah Bay where on 22 May he arranged to purchase the Russians enslaved there.[7] They were taken aboardLydia and brought toSitka, the capital ofRussian America.[6][8]
Sometime in 1811 Captain Thomas Brown exchanged commands with James Bennett of theDerby, another Boston–based maritime fur trading vessel, also owned by J. & T.H. Perkins along with James Lamb and Thomas Lamb (J. & T. Lamb Company),William F. Sturgis, and others.[5]
During theWar of 1812 American captains in theHawaiian Islands, worried about the possibility of British warships, sold the maritime fur trading vesselsAtahualpa andLydia toAlexander Baranov, governor of theRussian-American Company (RAC).Lydia was sold to the RAC in December 1813 for 46,000 seal skins.[9] About the same timeAtahualpa was sold as well. TheLydia was renamedIl'mena (orIlmena), and theAtahualpa was renamedBering (orBehring).[10]
After agreeing to sellLydia to Alexander Baranov and the RAC, James Bennett tookLydia to Sitka where in late December 1813 the sale was finalized andLydia renamedIl'mena.[4][10]
In 1814 Baranov sentIl'mena, under the American captain William Wadsworth, with supplies to the Russian outpost ofFort Ross in California. From thereIl'mena spent the summer of 1814 engaged in poaching Californian sea otters, a practice that had been established several years earlier. For this purposeIl'mena had brought a party of about 50Aleut hunters with theirkayaks andbaidarkas, under the RACpromyshlenniki overseersTimofei Nikitich Tarakanov and Iakov Babin. Also on board and serving assupercargo and pilot was João Elliot de Castro, who had been physician to KingKamehameha I of theHawaiian Kingdom, but had gone to Alaska and was employed by Baranov because of his knowledge of Spanish and theSpanish missions in California. At one point Tarakanov and eleven Aleuts were captured by Spanish authorities nearSan Pedro (today part ofLos Angeles).[10] The US fur trading vesselsPedler andForester assisted the RAC hunters brought byIl'mena, having been paid to do so by the RAC.[3]
The Russian hunters operated in multiple places over several years, focusing on theChannel Islands nearSanta Barbara andLos Angeles. A number of violent incidents were reported up the RAC chain of command. Among these incidents was the 1814 massacre of theNicoleño people ofSan Nicolas Island by RAC Aleut hunters under Iakov Babin. This occurred during the summer of 1814, allegedly in revenge for the Nicoleño killing one of Babin's hunters.Il'mena spent the 1814–1815 winter atBodega Bay, along with most of the otter hunters including Babin.[11][10]
Babin was held responsible for the massacre. In April 1815, at Bodega Bay, the chief hunting supervisor, Timofei Tarakanov, demoted then fired Babin, replacing him with Boris Tarasov. Babin was taken to Sitka and eventually required to go toSaint Petersburg, the capital of theRussian Empire, to stand trial for the Nicoleño massacre.[3]
In late April 1815 a group of RAC sea otter hunters, under Boris Tarasov, were taken by theForester back to San Nicolas Island to continue hunting otters. Tarasov was disappointed by the hunt and decided to move the group, using kayaks and baidarkas, toSanta Rosa Island, thenSanta Catalina Island, then to the mainland. In September, nearSan Pedro (now part of Los Angeles) they were captured by Spanish authorities and taken to thePueblo of Los Angeles. Some of the hunters were imprisoned there, while Tarasov and others were taken to Santa Barbara andMonterey.[3]
One of the hunters imprisoned in Los Angeles, Ivan Kyglaia, later provided eyewitness testimony of the torture and murder of fellow Aleut hunter Chukagnak, by order of a Spanish priest. Kyglaia said the priest wanted the Aleuts to renounce theRussian Orthodox Church and acceptCatholicism. Although some Aleuts did so, Chukagnak and Kyglaia refused, leading to the torture and murder of Chukagnak. Kyglaia expected the same treatment but, according to Kyglaia, the priest received a letter and instead had Kyglaia transferred to Santa Barbara.[3]
Around the same timeIl'mena was cruising among the Channel Islands with Alexander Baranov's son, Antipatr Alexandrovich Baranov, on board. Antipatr's journal and letters provide additional details about the events of 1815. He describesIl'mena sailing south fromSan Luis Obispo Bay to Santa Barbara, with stops atEl Cojo andRancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio. Despite being warned by José María Ortega not to come ashore due to the presence of Spanish soldiers, some of the crew ofIl'mena landed at El Cojo where they were apprehended by Spanish troops. Captain Wadsworth and three others escaped but supercargo Elliot de Castro, Osip Volkov, and five others were taken to Santa Barbara, then Monterey. Although imprisoned, Elliot de Castro wrote letters toIl’mena, which the Spanish delivered. Information passed betweenIl'mena and Elliot de Castro, but eventually it was clear thatIl'mena could do nothing further and so sailed to retrieve the hunting parties on the Channel Islands, arriving at San Nicolas Island on 1 October 1815. This was the vessel's last visit to San Nicolas Island until 1819.[3]
After Chukagnak was killed in Los Angeles Kyglaia was transferred to Santa Barbara. He was imprisoned with another group of captured Aleuts. Kyglaia and another Aleut, Filip Atash'sha, managed to escape in a baidarka. They paddled to San Pedro, then among several Channel Islands until reaching San Nicolas Island. They found no RAC employees there, only the Nicoleño who had survived the 1814 massacre. With the help of the Nicoleño Kyglaia and Atash'sha lived on the island from about 1817 to 1819, hoping theIl'mena or some other friendly vessel would return. Atash'sha died before one came. In the spring of 1819Il'mena visited the island again and rescued Kyglaia, who was taken to Fort Ross. There he was interviewed byIvan Kuskov, after which the story of Chukagnak's martyrdom spread. Kuskov sent Kyglaia's disposition to his superior, who in turn sent it to the RAC Main Office in St. Petersburg, where it gained the attention ofEmperor Alexander I himself. The Emperor had the story of Chukagnak investigated. In time the Church believed Kyglaia's account to be truthful, leading to Chukagnak'scanonization as SaintPeter the Aleut. Spanish records corroborate most of the events described by Russian sources, including most of Kyglaia's testimony and the deaths of some Aleuts, but are silent on the possibility of Spanish-ordered torture and murder.[3]
Years later, in 1835, a Mexican ship took the surviving Nicoleño from San Nicolas Island to Santa Barbara. One woman was left behind, who became known asJuana Maria. In 1853 she was found and taken to Santa Barbara, but died within the year. Her story, semi-fictionalized, became well known due to the bookIsland of the Blue Dolphins and subsequent film adaptation.[3]
While the various events in California, from 1815 to 1817, played out,Il'mena spent time in the Hawaiian Islands.
In November 1815Il'mena sailed from Bodega Bay for Sitka, but was damaged at the harbor entrance and returned for more repairs.Il'mena was laid up at Bodega Bay for repairs until April 1816. After the vessel departed Bodega Bay in April a leak was discovered and Captain Wadsworth decided to sail to the Hawaiian Islands for repairs, arriving there in May 1816.Il'mena remained atHonolulu for several months.[10] This was during the 1815–1817Schäffer affair, when RAC employeeGeorg Anton Schäffer attempted to conquer the Hawaiian Islands for the RAC and theRussian Empire, during which timeRussian Fort Elizabeth was built atWaimea and Fort Alexander atHanalei,Kauai. Schäffer tried to build an alliance of Native Hawaiians to overthrow King Kamehameha I, but ultimately failed in the face of growing resistance of Native Hawaiians and American traders. In July 1817 Schäffer admitted defeat and left Hawaii.
Il'mena remained at Honolulu from May 1816 to August 1816 while the Schäffer Affair continued under increasing difficulty. Other Russian vessels present in Hawaii around this time includedKad'iak (also spelledKadiak andKodiak), under the American captain George Young, and the American schoonerLydia (different from theLydia that had becomeIl'mena) under Henry Gyzelaar, who had been hired by the RAC. In August 1816 Schäffer boughtLydia from Gyzelaar, who remained employed as captain. Shortly after the purchase,Lydia andIl'mena, with Schäffer aboard the American shipAvon, under captain Isaac Whittemore, sailed from Honolulu toHanalei Bay, Kauai, then Fort Elizabeth at Waimea, Kauai. There Schäffer boughtAvon and gave Gyzelaar'sLydia toKaumualii, King of Kauai, in exchange for the valley and port of Hanalei.Il'mena returned to Honolulu. Then on 12 September 1816 Schäffer began construction of Fort Elizabeth, on land donated by Kaumualii.[10]
During September 1816 in Honolulu there was trouble between the Russians and the Native Hawaiians and Americans. The crews ofIl'mena andKad'ak allegedly built ablockhouse in Honolulu, mounted cannons and raised the Russian flag. This alarmed the Native Hawaiians and soon Kamehameha sent a large force, causing theIl'mena andKad'iak to leave for Kauai.[10]
On 24 September 1816 the American shipO'Cain, under captain Robert McNeil, arrived at Waimea, Kauai, en route to Canton (Guangzhou), China, from the Pacific Northwest Coast. On board as passengers were the experienced fur trading American sea captains Nathan Winship, William Smith, Richard Ebbets, and Henry Gyzelaar, and Doctor Frost. They tried to take down the Russian flag at Fort Elizabeth, but were thwarted by a guard placed by Kaumualii.[10]
Schäffer and Kaumualii, and other Hawaiian chiefs, entered into various agreements in late 1816, including a number of land grants. Schäffer and the RAC was granted Hanalei province. The RAC was given various tracts of land and villages near Waimea, mostly along theWaimea River. Tarakanov, ofIl'mena, was given a native village on theHanapēpē River, Kauai.[10]
In early December 1816 the brigRurik, underOtto von Kotzebue of theImperial Russian Navy, with Elliot de Castro on board, arrived at Honolulu. Elliot had been the commissioner ofIl'mena until being captured by Spanish authorities in California. He was freed due to intercession by Kotzebue. Despite the presence ofRurik things were becoming increasingly difficult for Schäffer. Captain Wadsworth ofIl'mena told Kaumualii that Schäffer intended to arrest him. In retaliation Schäffer had Wadsworth arrested and appointed the pilot Voroll Madson, also an American, to commandIl'mena. In addition Native Hawaiians at Hanalei killed a Russian–American Aleut and burned the Russian distillery there.[10]
In January 1817 Schäffer received a letter from Governor Baranov, via the American shipCossack under Thomas Brown (once captain ofLydia before it becameIl'mena). Baranov demanded the return ofIl'mena andKad'iak along with all the capital that had been entrusted to Schäffer, essentially ending Schäffer's work in Hawaii. His last hope lay in the Russian Naval officer Kotzebue andRurik, therefore he sentIl'mena to Honolulu. But on 6 February 1817Il'mena returned to Kauai with the news thatRurik had departed. Kotzebue had learned from both Hawaiians, Americans, and others in Honolulu, about Schäffer's actions and decided not to provide Schäffer any support whatever. He sailed from Hawaii on 14 December 1816.[10]
Following this, opposition to Schäffer grew, although the details of how events played out are not entirely clear, but it probably involved Native Hawaiians and a number of American sea captains and merchants, such as Caleb Brintnell, Dixey Wildes, Isaac Whittemore, and William Heath Davis (father ofWilliam Heath Davis, Jr). On 8 May 1817, at Waimea, Schäffer was seized by Hawaiians and Americans, told that he and all other Russians must leave Kauai immediately, and forced to paddle out toKad'iak. He waited briefly in the harbor at Waimea, during which time Captain Wadsworth, still a prisoner onKad'iak, escaped to shore by jumping overboard. Schäffer and his men sailedKad'iak andIl'mena around the island to Hanalei, hoping to make a stand at Fort Alexander. But it was futile and Schäffer had no choice but to leave.[10]
TheKad'iak was unseaworthy for a voyage to Alaska, so Schäffer gave Captain George Young command ofIl'mena and sent him to Governor Baranov in Sitka.[10] Most of the RAC employees in Hawaii left aboardIl'mena. The brig left Hawaii in June and arrived at Sitka near the end of the month.[4] Schäffer himself took command ofKad'iak and sailed to Honolulu where negotiations with the American and Hawaiian opposition ensued. On 7 July 1817 Schäffer sailed for Europe aboard the American vesselPanther, under captain Isaiah Lewis.[10] Tarakanov and 60–100 RAC employees remained in Honolulu to look after the strickenKad’iak.[12] By January 1818 Tarakanov was back in Sitka. He had hired an American shipmaster to transport two Russians and 41 Aleuts from Oahu to Sitka, paying for their passage by hunting Californian sea otters on the way.[10] Other RAC employees were not able to leave until later in the spring of 1818. TheKad'iak itself remained as a wreck in Honolulu Harbor, still visible in November 1818 whenVasily Golovnin arrived onKamchatka.[12]
In the spring of 1819Il'mena sailed from Sitka to California, again bringing sea otter hunting parties.Il'mena stopped at San Nicolas Island to drop off a party of hunters, and Kyglaia was finally able to leave the island and return to RAC establishments, after being marooned there for over three years.[3]
Despite the massacre of most of the Nicoleño by Aleut hunters in 1814, Kyglaia reported that he and Atash’sha had been well treated by them, even saying that the Nicoleño were "happy of their arrival and their stay on the island". Kyglaia and Atash'sha arrived on the island in late 1815 and stayed until the spring of 1819, although Atash'sha died sometime in 1816. Kyglaia reported that two Spanish ships visited the island in the fall of 1818 and Spaniards came ashore, but the Nicoleño helped hide Kyglaia. The ships were likely not Spanish but rather theSanta Rosa andLa Argentina of the FrenchprivateerHippolyte Bouchard, who may have been flying Spanish flags as a ruse.[3]
In 1820Il'mena again sailed south from Sitka to California. On 19 June 1820Il'mena wrecked atPoint Arena on the coast of California, due to carelessness of Christopher Stevens, the vessel's American navigator. All the people and cargo on board were saved and taken to nearby Fort Ross.[13][1]