Russian Mission

History

The first Russian-American Company fur trading post on the Yukon River was established here in 1837. The settlement was recorded as a Cup'ik village called "Ikogmiut," meaning "people of the point," in 1842 by the Imperial Russian Navy explorer Lavrenty Zagoskin. The first Russian Orthodox mission in Interior Alaska was established here in 1851 by the Aleut priest Jacob Netsvetov. The mission was called "Pokrovskaya Mission," and the village name was changed to Russian Mission around 1900. It was often confused with a village on the Kuskokwim that was also called "Russian Mission" (or "Little Russian Mission") but which was renamed Chuathbaluk in the 1960s. The city was incorporated in 1970.

Geography

Russian Mission is located at (61.785522, -161.334074). Russian Mission is located on the right (western) bank of the Yukon River in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, 25 miles southeast of Marshall. It lies 70 air miles northeast of Bethel and 376 miles west of Anchorage. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it (8.27%) is water. Russian Mission falls within the transitional climate zone, characterized by tundra interspersed with boreal forests, and weather patterns of long, cold winters and shorter, warm summers. Heavy northern winds often limit air access in the fall and winter. The Lower Yukon is ice-free from mid-June through October. Russian Mission has a subarctic climate (Koppen: Dfc) with mild summers and long, snowy winters with annual snowfall averaging .

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Russian Mission School
  Other · Russian Mission · 122 students · 13.6:1 ratio