Grigory Shelikhov

Who was Grigory Shelikhov?

Grigory Ivanovich Shelekhov was a Russian seafarer and merchant born in Rylsk.

Shelekhov organized commercial trips of the merchant ships to the Kuril Islands and the Aleutian Islands starting from 1775. In 1783–1786, he led an expedition to the shores of Russian America, during which they founded the first permanent Russian settlements in North America. Shelekhov's voyage was done under the auspices of the so-called Shelekhov-Golikov company, the other owner of which was Ivan Larionovich Golikov. This company would later form the basis on which the Russian-American Company was founded 1799.

In 1784, Shelekhov arrived in Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island with two ships, the Three Hierarchs, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom and the St. Simon. The indigenous Koniaga, an Alutiiq nation of Alaska Natives, defended themselves from the Russian party and Shelekhov responded by massacring hundreds and taking hostages to threaten the safety of the other Native Americans.