Word that the native people of the Aleutians had dared to take the

initiative against the Russians spread among the fur hunters and

eventually led to the final domination of the natives. A leader named

Solovief heard of the death of his fellow Russian hunters at the hands of

the Aleuts the preceding year and set out to teach the natives their place

once and for all. He first put his own camp and men in order and

discipline. Without strict adherence to the rules he set, there could be no

success in revenging his people.

The natives attacked Solovief and his men and were driven back

with heavy losses. One hundred Aleuts were killed; their boats were

smashed. Then Solovief joined forces with several other companies of

promyshlenniks until a substantial, though ragtag, force of arms and men

resembled a small army. A blood-thirsty scourge of the islands ensued.

Isolated settlements were destroyed and burned to ashes. Families were

routed and killed. Tools, boats, and food were ruined. Elimination, not

subjugation, of the native became the primary goal of the attacks.

Finally, Solovief led his forces to a fortified Aleut village of 300 and

proceeded to attack the natives in full strength. Bows and arrows were no

defense against the firearms of the Russians. No doubt about the outcome

existed, even among the natives. The Russians filled bladders with

gunpowder and blew up the log foundations of the village walls and

houses. The natives had no chance and were quickly routed and

slaughtered by the promyshlenniks. Perhaps as many as 3,000 Aleuts were

killed during all the Solovief scourges. The exact number of deaths

cannot be known, but the unrelenting savagery of the traders was clear.

Solovief once experimented with the power of his musket by tying twelve

natives together, one behind the other. He fired the rifle at point-blank

range to learn that the bullet stopped with the ninth man. The Aleuts

never attacked the fur hunters again.

The crude reign of Solovief in 1766 ended the free life of the Aleut

people. No longer could the native people live in their own land without

paying tribute in money, skins, work, and lives to the strangers from

across the sea. Their skill as hunters was exploited beyond reasonable

compensation.