In the year 1784 a Russian merchant Grigory Shelekhov founded the first settlement of traders in the island of Kodiak. That was followed by the appearance of similar settlements on other islands of the northwestern coast of America. Shelekhov traders exported furs, walrus fangs and whalebones. For a long time the merchant tried to obtain a monopoly of the fur trade of the Russian settlements among America’s north-western coast but in vain. Success came after he met Nikolai Rezanov, a St.Petersburg dignitary at the time. Having married Shelekhov’s daughter Rezanov decided to help his father-in-law and in 1799 the Russian-American Company was granted dominion for 20 years over Aleutian islands and Alaska. On Shelekhov’s death Rezanov took over business and made himself the leading spirit of the company. His main concern was the provisioning of the Russian colonies with foodstuffs and other essentials. He proposed that the cargoes be delivered by sea – from St.Petersburg – across the world – to Alaska. The plan was approved by the emperor Alexander I and instigated the voyage of Ivan Kruzenstern on the first Russian circumnavigation of the globe.

As part of his other duties Rezanov had to go on a mission to Japan to sign a trade treaty. Though the six months he spent there brought no results, the trader did not waste time. He learned Japanese, compiled a dictionary of the Japanese Language and wrote an Introduction to the Japanese Language. Both books were sent to the president of the St.Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

On his arrival in the Russian colonies Rezanov found the people on the verge of starvation for lack of food. So he bought a ship loaded with food from an American skipper. But the provision did not last long. So he decided to sail to the Spanish settlements in California to trade his wares for food.  He knew that California’s ports were closed for foreign vessels and the offenders risked confiscation and imprisonment. But he had no choice. On February 25th 1806 Rezanov set for California on board the Juno ship. Guests from the north were received with distrust by San Francisco’s authorities. Nevertheless, the trader managed to get all he wanted due to his charm and personal skill in winning people over to his cause. During his stay there Rezanov, a widower by that time, became engaged to the elder daughter of the commandant of San Francisco the 16-year-old Concita de Arguello. The wedding, however, had to be postponed because of the opposition from Spanish missionaries who refused to bless the marriage of a Catholic woman with a man of a different religion. It was decided that on his return to Russia Rezanov would ask the emperor to appeal to the Pope to allow the marriage. And it was supposed that removing all the obstacles would take two years.

On May 11, 1806 the Juno set sail. The ship’s hold was full of breadstuffs and dried meats. Inspired by his success Rezanov was thinking about the future. In Alaska life was full of hardships whereas California abounded in fruits. And north of San Francisco there were derelict lands which, he thought, could be annexed to the Russian-American Company. But his dreams never came true. On his way to Russia Rezanov fell ill with fever and died.

After waiting for her fiancé for forty years Concita became a nun and spent the rest of her life in a convent becoming the first Dominican nun in California.