Archaeologists Say Oregon Cabin Likely Built by Russian Traders!

I love history so my jaw dropped when I read about a cabin on the Oregon Coast that experts believe was built in the late 1700s or early 1800s before Lewis & Clark arrived! By whom? They think Russian trappers who tried to set up a farm.

Oregon was a hotly disputed territory for centuries. Some believe Sir Francis Drake (Queen Elizabeth's favorite pirate) landed on the Oregon coast in the late 1500s. The Spanish claimed it as part of their California territory and attempted to map it all the way up the coast to Alaska. The Russians began trapping pelts in Alaska in the early 1700s and claimed the Washington and Oregon coasts. The British claimed Oregon as part of its frontier. And America claimed it as part of the Louisiana Purchase.

Instead of establishing friendly, mutually-beneficial relationships with Native Americans (as the French and British did), or attempting to "civilize" them as the Spanish did, the Russians mostly got fur and food from native peoples by bullying them. This obviously made their efforts less successful. Some attempts were made to establish colonies, and have Russians supply the food and pelts to the ships from Siberia.

The cabin found in Oregon is so expertly made, it's believed to be the work of a master craftsman from Europe. Who like that would have tried to start a farm in Oregon in the late 1700s? Russians, most likely.

The cabin is sturdy it has survived to this day and was even transported from its original location.