Fort Ross is a former Russian fortress on the west coast of the North America. In the XIX century, the fort was the center of the most southern Russian settlement in the United States, founded for fishing and fur trade. Today it is a national monument of the historic park in California. It was A. A. Baranov who took the decision about the creation of a fortress and Russian settlement in California. To find a place to settle, three or four expedition were taken in 1808 -1809 and 1811-1812 which were led by an employee of the Russian-American Company, commerce adviser Ivan Kuskov. Kuskov noticed a plateau, which was located 30 km north from the Gulf of Rumyantsev (now Bodega Bay). It was separated from the main territory by deep canyons and surrounded by woods and pastures. Here in spring 1812 Kuskov, 25 other Russian colonists and 90 aleuts founded the fortified settlement, called Ross on 30 August (11 September). Ten kilometers far from the fort there was a river called Slavyanka (now the Russian River). On the territory of Ross there were only eight buildings for soldiers and workers.There are 4 buildings inside the fortress now. The Rotchev house is the only original building preserved in Fort Ross until now. Other objects were reconstructed later. The fort is surrounded by high timber walls made of redwoods. All the time of its existence the colony was unprofitable for the Russian-American Company. By the middle of 1820s the local population of sea otter was strongly reduced. Local authorities did not want to take fishery in California waters. Agriculture in the coastal area was badly developed because of the climate, and the company didn’t move further into the North American Continent. Finally, in 1841 fortress Ross was sold for 42,857 silver rubles to the American businessman John Sutter, the founder of the settlement New Helvetia, who owned nearly 200 square kilometers of land in the surrounding area. Fort Ross grew and in 1838 its population reached 1000 people. The Russian-American Company was responsible for the Fort. In 1824 Kondraty Ryleev became the Head of the Office of the Russian-American Company. Russian America was a "garden" that provided half of Russia with fruit. Fruit garden of Ross was established already in 1814 by planting peach trees. In 1817 the grapes were planted. By 1841, according to documents made during the sale of the fort, the garden included 207 apple trees, 29 peach trees, 10 pear trees, 8 cherry trees and 10 quince trees. There were many chiefs in the fort. The first chief of the fortress was Ivan Stepanovich Kuskov. P¸tr Kostromitinov was the fourth chief of the fortress (1830-1838). The Russian-American company also tried to legitimize their possession in California with the help of the native Americans. In 1817 L. A. Hagemeister visited the colony of Russia and met with the leaders of neighboring Indian tribes. He expressed gratitude for the concession of land, gave them gifts and awarded with the medal "The Union of Russia". Shortly before the sale the only armed incident in its history happened at Fort Ross. In 1840 the Mexican General Vallejo sent a detachment to capture the duty from the American ship, which came into the Rumyantsev bay, without waiting for the Russian withdrawal. The Russians evicted the Mexicans soldiers very fast. The last Russian commandant of Fort Ross Alexander Rotchev recalled later: "What a fairy land, this California! I spent the best years of my life there, the memories about them are in my heart ..." In 2009 Arnold Schwarzenegger endangered the existence of Fort Ross. California Governor cut state expenditure, including the financing of natural and historical parks. The Monument of History of Russian America was left without funding. There are a lot of movies about the fort. Recently a new Russian film "Fort Ross. Looking for adventure." was made. The main character, Dmitry Craps, is going to America in order to discover the secrets of the legendary Russian fortress. The stamps were created to commemorate about Fort Ross. The postal stamp of the USSR depicted the fortress and its last commandant Rotchev.