History

Russians began to colonize the Upper Ob region and the Altai foothills in the second half of the 17^th century. Development of the Altai proceeded more rapidly after construction of the Beloyarskaya (1717) and Bikatunskaya (1718) fortresses as a defense against the warlike nomadic Jungars.

The Northern War with Sweden prevented Russia from importing the copper necessary for manufacturing cannons, minting coins, and casting bells from that country and forced it to make do with its own resources. After the reforms of Peter the Great, Russia quickly entered the world scene, becoming one of the strongest European powers. It was at this time that Barnaul appeared, making it one of the oldest cities of Western Siberia. Altai had long been known as a metal-producing region, as evidenced by the so-called Chudskie mines. The father and son Stepan and Yakov Kostylev are considered the discoverers of the first ore deposits in Altai.

Besides rich ore deposits, Altai was also famous for its thick pine forests and large number of rivers providing everything necessary for establishing a mining and metallurgy industry. The first metallurgical works in Altai, the Kolyvano-Voskresensky plant, began operations on September 21, 1729. Then in 1730, envoys of the well-known Urals factory owner Akinfy Demidov prospecting for a suitable location for a new, larger plant chose a site at the mouth of the Barnaulka River. Altai was attractive to Demidov not only for copper, but also for silver. In a tower of his Nevyansky factory in the Urals, he secretly minted coins from Altai silver. The activities of Demidov and his stewards in Altai created a feudal mining industry based on the serf labor of bonded peasants and workers. Rumors of Demidov's silver-smelting activities reached St. Petersburg, and Empress Elizaveta Petrovna dispatched a commission headed by Brigadier Behr to Altai. The result was a decree issued on May 1, 1747, making Altai the personal property of the Russian tsars. Between the 18th century and the first half of the 19^th century, 1000 poods (an old Russian measure of weight equal to 16,38 kg) per year, or 90% of all Russian silver, was smelted in Altai. The Barnaul silver smelter was considered the largest facility, with 13 smelting furnaces that produced about 450 poods of silver per year. Thus, it is not by chance that Barnaul quickly grew from a small factory settlement into one of the largest "mining towns" in Siberia by 1771. The term "mining town" is appropriate, since the mining industry governed all aspects of life in Barnaul. The only two mining towns recorded in Russian history are Ekaterinburg and Barnaul. Shortly before the Revolution, a bridge was built over the Ob River, and a railway branch line was constructed, which led to the rapid growth of the young neighboring city of Novosibirsk.

The huge territory of the Altai Mountain District was formed by the second half of the 18^th century. It included Altai Territory, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo regions, and part of Tomsk and East Kazakhstan regions. In the first half of the 19^th century, Altai was Russia's largest silver producer, its second-largest copper producer, and its third-largest gold producer and had become the second industrial region in the eastern part of the country after the Urals. However, Altai preserved the remnants of feudalism to a greater extent than other parts of Siberia after the reforms of the 1860 and 1870s. As the region's main economic sector, the mining industry found itself in a crisis. The factories rapidly became unprofitable, and by the end of the century all of them had closed. Gold production was the most developed private industry in Altai. The largest companies were the Altai Gold Industry Enterprise (Altaiskoe zolotopromyshlennoe delo) and the South Altai Gold Industry Enterprise (Yuzhno-altaiskoe zolotopromyshlennoe delo). By the end of the century, 70 mines were in operation and gold production was 100 poods per year. The private processing sector included flour and grain mills, distilleries, andworkshops producing felt boots and sheepskin coats. The short black sheepskin coats made in Barnaul were famous throughout Russia.