Fort Ross, a historic Russian settlement and part of Fort Ross State Historic Park, lies on a small bight called Fort Ross Cove, south of Northwest Cape, about 24 miles (39 km) southeast of Gualala and 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Jenner, California. The name first appears as ‘Fortress Ross‘ on a French chart in 1842 and derives from ‘Rus,’ an ancient term for the Russian people. Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest humans inhabited Northwest Cape between 1000 BC and 500 AD, with more intensive use from around 1500 AD. Ethnographic and archaeological records reveal that indigenous peoples built large, relatively permanent inland villages in winter and occupied seasonal coastal camps in summer to exploit marine resources. Northwest Cape formed part of the prehistoric territory of the Kashaya Pomo, who called it Metini. The precise timing of their arrival is unknown, but linguistic studies suggest that the ancestral Kashaya migrated west along the Russian River from Clear Lake, possibly displacing earlier Yukian speaking inhabitants. In the early 19th century, Northwest Cape marked where Spanish and Russian colonial ambitions met along the Alta California coast, while British and American fur traders were also active in the Pacific Northwest. Russian personnel from the Alaskan colonies initially arrived aboard American ships. By 1803, American ship captains in the sea otter fur trade had proposed joint-venture hunting expeditions with the Russian-American Company. Reports of uncolonized coastal areas spurred the Russians to build a settlement north of the Spanish presidio and mission at San Francisco. In 1808, the Russian ships Kad’yak and Saint Nikolai were dispatched from Sitka to establish settlements in California. The first direct European–Kashaya contact likely occurred when a Russian‑American Company promyshlenniki, Timofei Tarakanov, encountered them between 1807 and 1811. In 1812, after exploring near Bodega Bay, the company selected a site 15 miles (24 km) north at the Kashaya Pomo village of Metini.

Fort Ross was established as a fur trading post by Ivan Kuskoff, accompanied by 95 Russians and 80 Aleuts from Sitka, Alaska. Constructed as a quadrangular stockade following standard Russian designs for Alaskan posts, it measured about 276 by 312 feet (84 by 95 m) and was completed in 1814. Redwood timbers formed the 12‑foot (3.7 m) high walls, while two two‑story blockhouses—one seven‑sided, the other eight‑sided—guarded opposite corners. Within the walls stood the commander’s house, officers’ quarters, a two‑story barracks for Russian staff, a chapel, three storehouses, and offices. Outside, 37 redwood huts housed Aleut and Kashaya natives, and a windmill, farm buildings, granaries, cattle yards, a tannery, and workshops for blacksmiths, coopers, bakers, and carpenters supported daily life. Russian‑American Company officials envisioned Fort Ross as a base for sea otter hunting and as a vital food supply for North Pacific colonies where agriculture was challenging. When California sea otters were extirpated, the Russians diversified into agriculture, shipbuilding, brick production, blacksmithing, and timber cutting. Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821 and secularized mission lands in 1833. Yet Fort Ross failed to meet expectations and became an economic liability by 1841. In 1840 the Russian‑American Company offered the property for sale to the Hudson’s Bay Company and the French and Mexican governments, but all offers were declined. In December 1841 the settlement—including the stockade and surrounding lands—was sold to Captain John Sutter, although Mexico did not recognize his claim. Within two years, Sutter salvaged all of value and relocated it to his Rancho New Helvetia on the Sacramento River. In 1845 Governor Pío Pico granted Rancho Muniz—a 17,761‑acre (7,188‑ha) parcel including Fort Ross—to Manuel Torres, who leased it to William Benitz and Ernest Rufus, owners of the adjoining Rancho German. In 1849, after California was ceded to the United States, they acquired the entire grant. The legacy of Fort Ross reflects Russia’s ambitious, though ultimately unsustainable, colonial venture.

Benitz and Rufus operated the property as a traditional ranch, raising livestock and crops, running a brewery, and opening the land to mining and timber cutting. The Kashaya provided cheap labor and continued to inhabit the small village of Metini. In 1867, Benitz sold the property to Charles Fairfax and James Dixon, owners of the Fairfax and Dixon Lumbering Company. They forced the Kashaya off the rancheria, prompting many families to move north to Haupt Ranch near Stewarts Point. After 1870, the Kashaya settled in three villages near Stewarts Point on land owned by Charles Haupt, a rancher who had married a Kashaya woman. By 1873, Dixon had logged most of the timber, and the southern half of Muniz Rancho was sold and became Rule Ranch in the hills above present-day Jenner. Other Fairfax-Dixon lands between Russian Gulch and Fort Ross were sold to dairymen, while about 2,500 acres (1,012 ha) including Fort Ross was purchased by George W. Call, who eventually owned 7,000 acres (2,833 ha). In addition to farming and ranching, Call transformed the old Fort Ross stockade into a small town. The commander’s house became the Fort Ross Hotel, and the official’s quarters served as a saloon, office, and outhouse, while a dance hall was fashioned from the warehouse. The blockhouses housed chickens and pigs, and sheds along the eastern wall became a blacksmith‘s shop, wagon shed, horse stalls, and a store. A dairy of 470 cows supplied butter in high demand in San Francisco. Between 1875 and 1899, Call Ranch produced and shipped an average of 20,000 pounds (9,072 kg) of butter annually from a small wharf. In 1903, the stockade was sold to the State Landmarks Club, and in 1906 the land was deeded to California. It is now part of Fort Ross State Park. Read more here and here. Explore more of Fort Ross and Northwest Cape here: