a brief history of the Russian River

The first residents of the Russian River area were a Native American Indian tribe, the Kashaya, who called the region "Shabaiki" and lived a hunting and gathering lifestyle.  Their main settlement was on the costal bluffs, in the meadow now called Fort Ross.

In March of 1812, life changed radically when a large sailing ship arrived in the little cove below the Kashaya village.  Soon, some twenty-five Russians and eighty Alaskans had disembarked, set up a temporary camp, and began building houses and a sturdy stockade.  This was the beginning of the colony at Fort Ross.

The Russians had come to hunt the prolific sea otter population, to grow wheat and other crops for the settlements in Alaska and to trade with Spanish California.  In these endeavors, the hunting of otter pelts proved immensely profitable and became the predominant activity of the colony.

By 1820, the Russians had depleted the entire otter population and, by necessity, agriculture, to supply the Alaskan outposts, became the main occupation.  Try as they might, however, the colonists were never able to meet their agricultural goals.  Costal fog, gophers, mice and lack of interest from the men, who thought of themselves as trappers, doomed any effort to produce sufficient profits.

In 1839, the Russian-America Company signed an agreement for their Alaskan settlements to be supplied by the Hudson Bay Company's Washington and Oregon operations.  Soon afterward, they decided to abandon the Ross Colony.  First, they tried to sell it to the Mexican government but, when that failed, they reached an agreement with John Sutter's fort in the Sacramento Valley.  Within a few months, the Russians were gone.

Sutter gathered up all the arms, ammunition, hardware and other valuables, including herds of cattle, sheep and other animals, and moved them to Fort Sutter.  He then abandoned the Russian River area.

The next significant influence on the Russian River was the great California Gold Rush, which triggered explosive growth in San Francisco.  The demand for construction lumber, in particular, was huge and loggers were attracted to the hills and valleys of the area.  Trees as old as 2000 years were harvested.

Soon, the name "Stumptown" was given to one of the larger lumber camps along the river. 

In 1867, George E. Guerne, a young Swiss immigrant, arrived in Stumptown.  He purchased land and established a subdivision, which became Guernewood Park, and built and operated a saw mill in Stumptown.  Soon, the town was renamed Guerneville, after this most important citizen.

Another leading resident of the day was Colonel Armstrong, who owned forestland and a sawmill in the 1870's but fought hard to retain over 400 acres of virgin redwood forest for future generations.  His grove remains as Armstrong Woods State Park.

In the early 1870's, another immigrant, Francis Korbel, and his brothers, bought logging property near Guerneville.  After the lumber boom slowed, the Korbels turned their once forested land to agriculture.  By 1882, they started to produce wine and today, of course, Korbel ranks as the nations most widely recognized champagne producer.

After the introduction of the railroad into the Russian River Valley, in the late 1800's, thousands of San Franciscans flocked to the region each summer.  Soon, many of the famous bands started to provide dance music, at packed outdoor venues along the river.  Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey and other famous names were frequent performers during the Big Band era.  Hollywood stars were also frequent visitors.

The resort nature of the Russian River continued into the 1950's. 

As the 1960's began, with the introduction of inexpensive air travel and the construction of a national highway system, holiday makers began to abandon the Russian River.  The dance venues, resorts, restaurants and bars gradually closed.  Guerneville became a sleepy River town, with some appeal to the counter-culture youth of the era but without a significant economic base.

The next boom time did not begin until the late 1970's, when a new clientele discovered the Russian River. 

The gay and lesbian rights movement had been underway for several years, in San Francisco, and the burgeoning population there was growing more affluent, and looking for somewhere to party on the weekends.  The Russian River was the perfect get-away.

The story continues in "Memories," elsewhere on the  page . . .

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