Due to business reverses that had left Baranov nearly bankrupt, he was lured to Russian America by opportunities offered by Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov, a merchant and developer who had established a settlement on Kodiak Island to enhance the growing Russian maritime fur trade there. Baranov accepted a five-year contract starting in the fall of 1790 to be the chief manager of the Shelikhov-Golikov Company, and to establish and manage additional trading posts in the Kodiak Island region.Brown, S.R., 2009, Merchant Kings, New York: St. Martin's Press,
