Additional Officer Role Play Characters

The following list of names includes real people who made visits to Colony Ross. Teacher or Parent Officers who are acting as a co-leader, photographer, rover or alternate may select a character from this list to role play. Remember all participants should be role-playing a character who was present at Colony Ross during the Russian era (1812-1842).

August Bernard Duhaut-Cilly – A Frenchman born in 1790. In 1824 as a French Naval Officer he took command of Heroes, the 370 ton vessel which he sailed to the Pacific Ocean. The ship arrived in California in October of 1826. In June of 1827, he arrived at Bodega Bay and was greeted by the Russian American Company manager, Pavel Shelikov. They proceeded by horse to Fort Ross, but found the Slavianka River (now known as the Russian River) to be too deep and had to cross with the use of baidarkas (Alaskan Native kayaks). He wrote descriptions of Fort Ross that are useful today. He also drew pictures of the colony and the surrounding area.

Eugene Duflot de Mofras – A French diplomat who came to the Ross Settlement to search out the coast. He was to see if a French post could be established. In May of 1840 he arrived in Monterey, California and visited General Vallejo in Sonoma. In September with Alexander Rotchev, the last manager of Ross, he traveled to Sutter’s Fort to visit with John Sutter. He continued his travels for several years, and when he returned to Paris he published a two-volume journal.

George Washington Ayres – A sea captain who sailed from Boston in 1802 on the ship Alexander, and again in 1806 on the ship Mercury. He contracted with the Russian American Company to hunt with the use of his ship and the labor of the Alaskan Natives. In January 1812, Ayres brought cargo to the new settlement Ross. Ayres brought several other cargo supplies to Ross until 1813, when his ship was seized by the Spaniards near Santa Barbara for illegal trading.