Editing Nanwalek, Alaska (section)

==Early history==
A [[Russia]]n [[fortress]] called Aleksandrovsk, the first Russian post on mainland Alaska, was established at the present site of Nanwalek by men of [[Grigorii Shelikhov]]’s company in 1786, while Shelikhov himself was still on [[Kodiak Island]].<ref>Grinëv 2018, p. 155.</ref>

In 1793, men from the company of the rivalling [[Pavel Lebedev-Lastochkin]], who had in the meantime established themselves around the modern city of [[Kenai]], attacked with 60 men the Aleksandrovsk fortress, accompanied by [[Dena'ina]] warriors. Lebedev-Lastochkin’s men organized various provocations and beat the local Natives, took from them furs that would have been sent to Shelikhov’s men in Kodiak, but ultimately they could not capture the fort.<ref>Grinëv 2018, p. 186–87.</ref>

In the summer of 1794, the fortress was moved to a new, higher place, since the old structures had rotted and had begun to collapse as a result of high tides. At this time, the head of the fortress was V. I. Malakhov.<ref>Grinëv 2018, p. 190, 193.</ref> This seems to indicate that the first fortress had been located on the Nanwalek spit.

In 1798, when the Dena'ina Indians rose against the men of Lebedev-Lastochkin’s company in [[Kenai]], [[Tyonek]] and [[Old Iliamna]], the timely arrival of a detachment from Aleksandrovsk, led by V. I. Malakhov, saved the Kenai colony from total destruction. The Tyonek and Iliamna colonies, however, were destroyed.<ref>Grinëv 2018, p. 215.</ref>

By 1818, the fortress in Nanwalek was closed down, and possibly the colony since then existed as an odinochka, or ‘one man post’, although this is not certain. The fortress was transferred at this time to [[Nushagak, Alaska|Nushagak]], where it was known as the Novo-Aleksandrovskii fortress (‘New Aleksandrovskii fortress’).<ref>Tikhmenev, Piotr Aleksandrovich: ''A History of the Russian American Company'', p. 180. Transl. Richard A. Pierce & Alton S. Donnelly. University of Washington Press, Seattle.</ref>