Boris Tarasov

A Russian American Company fur trader, Boris Tarasov was in charge of the sea otter hunting crew taken to San Nicolas Island on the ship Forester in 1815. He and his crew hunted sea otters on San Nicolas, Santa Rosa and Catalina Islands before paddling to San Pedro. The group was captured by the Spanish and sent to Santa Barbara and Monterey. Tarasov was then sent to Mexico, but he escaped in 1819.

DATE OF BIRTH: Unknown
PLACE OF BIRTH: Russia
DATE OF DEATH: Unknown
PLACE OF BURIAL: Unknown


References
Gibson, James R. and Alexei A. Istomin with the assistance of Valery A. Tishkov. Russian California 1806­–1860: A History in Documents, Vol. 1. London: Ashgate (2014): 406–08.

Istomin, Alexei A., James R. Gibson, and Valery A. Tishkov. Russia in California: Russian Documents on Fort Ross and Russian-Californian Relations in 1803–1850. Moscow: Nauka, 2005: 318–19.

Mathes, W. Michael, Glenn J. Farris, and Lyn Kalani. The Russian-Mexican Frontier: Mexican Documents Regarding the Russian Establishment in California, 1808–1842. Jenner, California: Fort Ross Interpretive Association, 2008: 145.

Morris, Susan L., Glenn J. Farris, Steven J. Schwartz, Irina V. L. Wender, and Boris Dralyuk. “Murder, Massacre, and Mayhem on the California Coast, 1814–1815: Newly Translated Russian Documents Reveal Company Concern Over Violent Clashes.” Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 34, 1 (2014): 86–88, 93–94, 96.

Ogden, Adele. The California Sea Otter Trade: 1784–1848. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1941: 62–63.

Last updated: November 17, 2018