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* Established by Alexander Baranof, a Siberian dry-goods salesman, manager of the Russian American Co., chartered in 1799 by Russia's Emperor Paul. Ordered to promote discovery, commerce and agriculture and to propagate Christianity, Baranof virtually ruled Alaska for 20-odd years. Through his trading company, which was to Alaska what Hudson's Bay Co. was to Canada, Baranof ably enhanced Russia's claim to the territory by organizing the country, setting up trade relations with England, the U.S. and Spain, and turning Sitka itself into a glittering, sophisticated Russian colony.