Fort Ross, California
Fort Ross (Russian: Форт-Росс, romanized: Fort-Ross, крепость Росс, krepost' Ross) is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America in what is now Sonoma County, California. It was the hub of the southernmost Russian settlements in North America from 1812 to 1841. Notably, it was the first multi-ethnic community in northern California, with a combination of Native Californians, Native Alaskans, Russians, Finns, and Swedes.[4] It has been the subject of archaeological investigation and is a California Historical Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, and on the National Register of Historic Places. It is part of California's Fort Ross State Historic Park.
"Fort Ross" redirects here. For other uses, see Fort Ross (disambiguation).Etymology[edit]
The present name of Fort Ross[5] appears first on a French chart published in 1842 by Eugène Duflot de Mofras, who visited California in 1840.[6] The name of the fort is said to derive from the Russian word rus or ros, the same root as the word "Russia" (Pоссия, Rossiya) (Fort Ross (Russian: Форт-Росс, Kashaya mé·ṭiʔni), originally Fortress Ross (pre-reformed Russian: Крѣпость Россъ, tr. Krepostʹ Ross), ).[7] According to William Bright, "Ross" is a poetic name for a Russian in the Russian language.[8]
Fort Ross colony had five administrators:
Derived place names[edit]
Along with its status as a National Historic Landmark, the fort itself and the surrounding area are part of Fort Ross State Historic Park. Fort Ross also designates the small rural community that exists between the towns of Cazadero, Jenner, and Gualala, with the Fort Ross Elementary School at its center.[16]
Annual international conference on Russian–U.S. relations[edit]
Starting from 2012,[47] Fort Ross Conservancy has been hosting the Fort Ross Dialogue annual international conference on US–Russian Relations and Fort Ross Festival, co-sponsored by Transneft, Chevron and Sovcomflot. The first Russia-based meeting within the framework of the Dialogue was held in Pskov (Russian Federation) on 29 and 30 May 2017.[48] The first day of the Forum was marked by the panel discussion "Towards each other: Russian trailblazers and American pioneers: similarities and dissimilarities of Russian and US experience in arranging museum operations, financing structure, role of the state and private business in promoting cultural sites". On the second day, the forum participants representing business circles and the expert community of Russia and the U.S. reviewed the interaction potential between the two nations in energy industry at the panel discussion "The energy sector as an important element Russian and USA geopolitics".