Fort Russia, CA
Fort Ross (Russian: Форт-Росс, romanized: Fort-Ross, крепость Росс, krepost' Ross, Kashaya: Metini) is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America in what is now Sonoma County, California. Owned and operated by the Russian-American Company, it was the hub of the southernmost Russian settlements in North America from 1812 to 1841. Notably cosmopolitan, different ethnic groups settled in and around the fort: Native Californians, Native Alaskans, Russians, Finns, Swedes.[4] It has been the subject of archaeological investigation and is a California Historical Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, and on the National Register of Historic Places. It is part of California's Fort Ross State Historic Park.
Etymology
The present name of Fort Ross[5] appears first on a French chart published in 1842 by Eugène Duflot de Mofras, who visited California in 1840.[6] The name of the fort is said to derive from the Russian word rus or ros, the same root as the word "Russia" (Pоссия, Rossiya) (Fort Ross (Russian: Форт-Росс, Kashaya mé·ṭiʔni), originally Fortress Ross (pre-reformed Russian: Крѣпость Россъ, tr. Krepostʹ Ross).[7] According to William Bright, "Ross" is a poetic name for a Russian in the Russian language.[8]