The History Of Three Saints Bay
Three Saints Bay, located just a short distance from the current village of Old Harbor, is where the first Russian colony landed in 1784, and named the bay after their flagship Three Saints. The expedition was led by Grigory Shelikhov. He ordered a mass murder of the Alutiiq men, women and children, who had gathered on Refuge Rock for safety. Refuge Rock was called by the Alutiiq as Awa’uq - to become numb. Those who survived were forced into hunting sea otters for Grigory Shelikhov, who started a company called ‘The Russian-American Magazin', later managed by Alexander Baranov. They settled there until an earthquake and tsunami destroyed their colony, and relocated to Pavlovskaia Gavan- Pauls Harbor, where Kodiak is today and built a house to sell their furs, which is now the home to the Baranov Museum.