Excerpt from letter written July 15, 1818, by I.A Kuskov to Leontii Hagemeister, the Chief Manager of the Russian American Company in Sitka, Russian Alaska.
Dear Sir Leontii Andreevich;
Per your instruction No. 24 dated January 28, 1818 from Sitka, as is my duty to explain the incident concerning the fur trader Iakov Babin, which took place on San Nicolas Island. Upon his arrival in 1814 with the ship Il'mena from Sitka, fur trader Babin was to stay with the Tarakanov hunting party. However, Tarakanov ordered him to stay behind on San Nicolas Island with some canoes, while the rest of the Tarakanov party went to stay on San Clemente Island…
Entire letter in Russian. Reprinted with permission from the Russian State Library, Moscow.
English translation by Irina Vladi L. Wender.
Last updated: May 31, 2023