Topic: The Russian and American Frontiers Along the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans

The frontiers of Imperial Russia and the United States encountered each other beginning in the 18^th century along the farthest reaches of the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans. This process began with the colonial expansion of Europe, which was well underway as the Russians pushed past the Urals by the late sixteenth century. The Spanish empire began pushing north into the American Southwest as Muscovite Russia stretched east into northern Asia. For the next three centuries the American frontier edged west and the Russian frontier east as traders searched for wealth and explorers searched for new lands. The earliest maps of Siberia and the West depict vast expanses, empty spaces, and mystery.

Russia and America sent numerous scientific expeditions to their distant frontiers and gradually developed an accurate picture of the extent and geography of their lands. The lands were difficult to master, sometimes exotic, but also inspirational and inviting to a variety of peoples. While scientific knowledge of the new lands slowly accumulated, traders streamed into Siberia and the American West in search of fur. The first Russians in Siberia exacted from and traded with the native peoples for fox, sable, beaver, marten, and squirrel pelts, all much in demand throughout Europe for hats and clothing. The first traders in the American West hoped to find jewels and precious metals. They were followed by men who were more successful in their search for buffalo, beaver, and sea otter. These frontiersmen also found diverse native cultures with which they traded, interacted, and fought.

The lands of Siberia and the American West were conquered by the millions of settlers who moved there to start new lives. The mass expansion into these lands was related to the demographic explosion of Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Millions of Europeans sailed west to America, millions of Americans moved west across the continent, and millions of Russians moved east, all at the same time. They settled along the rivers and the coasts and in the fertile river valleys and established farms on unfamiliar landscapes. Although the vast majority of Russians and Americans still lived in the metropolises, the frontier hinterlands were now claimed by unprecedented numbers of people who helped weave the frontier into the consciousness of their nations.

Diverse ethnic groups moved to these frontiers and came into contact with a range of native peoples. In both countries, some native peoples actively resisted colonization and others tried to cooperate with the newcomers. These frontiers were also vast fields for religious development. Churches sent missionaries to distant reaches and soon houses of worship crisscrossed the frontier. Other religious groups, like the Old Believers in Russia and the Mormons in America, fled to the frontier to escape persecution and hoped to find a promised land. Many other settlers were brought to the frontier by force. Many countries tried to populate distant frontiers by exiling criminals and “undesirables” there. Great Britain used Australia and America as penal colonies. The American government forced eastern Indian tribes to move to the lands beyond the Mississippi. The Russian crown–and the Soviet state–sent common criminals and political dissidents to Siberia. It was often an inhumane form of punishment, but very effective for populating inhospitable frontiers. Out of these different frontier movements and interactions, Siberians and Westerners created rich and diverse societies that were very different from the homelands of the settlers. They adopted native material cultures and lived in new ways, built new towns, and created new identities for themselves.