Russian Kozaks discovered Kamchatka in the mid-17th century, officially annexing it to Russia in 1697. However, for the next fifty years, there wasn't a settlement like Petropavlovsk on the peninsula. The are was populated by natives, however on the sandy spit by the water, there were only the huts of the Itelmen chief Niaika. Permanent Russian settlement on the deserted shore of Avacha Bay began only in 1740, when Russian navigator Ivan Elagin selected a small bay for the winter anchorage of Vitus Bering's Second Kamchatka Expedition. Bering, while still in St. Petersburg, had noted the convenient location of Avacha Bay for launching his expedition to the western shores of unknown America. He sent Elagin ahead to verify the suitability of the spot. Elagin surveyed, measured, and concluded that there was no better anchorage for ships. He then built the first structures of what would become Petropavlovsk with a small team of soldiers. Bering himself gave the name to the place when he arrived in the bay, prepared by Elagin, on October 17, 1740, aboard the packet boats "St. Peter" and "St. Paul." He named the bay in honor of the saints after whom the ships were named, calling it the Harbor of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The expedition settlement soon became known as Petropavlovsk Harbor or Petropavlovsk Port. At that time, the harbor served no purpose other than Bering's expedition. The sailors spent the winter there, and on June 4, 1741, they set sail. A small garrison under the command of Ensign Peter Levashov remained to guard the harbor and the expedition's remaining property. A year later, the crew of the "St. Paul" returned, spending the winter in the harbor. In spring, they took some of their belongings and departed for Okhotsk, then the main Russian port in the Far East. It wasn’t until August that sailors from Bering’s crew came back to Petropavlovsk Harbor on the rebuilt packet boat "St. Peter." They had discovered the western coast of America but were shipwrecked on the return journey. Bering’s men spent the winter in Petropavlovsk Harbor again, and in the summer of 1743, they also left for Okhotsk, once more leaving a small garrison to guard the buildings and property on the shores of Avacha Bay. The area then drifted into near-total oblivion for years. During Catherine the Great’s reign (1762 - 1796), the state’s attention was focused on the southern and western borders of the empire. The eastern outskirts lived their own lives, about which little was known in St. Petersburg. Interest in the Far East only revived after England and France began sending naval expeditions into the Pacific Ocean. In April 1779, English ships from James Cook’s expedition entered Petropavlovsk Harbor, followed by French vessels from La Pérouse's expedition in August 1787. This alarmed Catherine’s cabinet, prompting measures to strengthen the distant maritime borders. The garrison in Petropavlovsk Harbor was immediately reinforced after the English expedition. Following the French visit, an artillery redoubt further fortified Petropavlovsk Port. In 1787, another English ship under the command of Peters entered Petropavlovsk, and in 1790, a Swedish vessel named "Mercury" attempted to commence trade in the Pacific. These developments prompted the Russian government to re-evaluate Kamchatka's position, leading to directives to bolster Petropavlovsk Port’s defenses. Kamchatka truly became a military outpost under Paul I. A regiment of 800 men was stationed on the peninsula. Unfortunately, the arrival of soldiers brought diseases that significantly reduced the native population. Travelers of that era strongly recommended minimizing the military presence due to the adverse impact on the local people. In July 1804, the frigate "Nadezhda," commanded by I. F. Kruzenshtern, arrived in the harbor. Among the crew was Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff, a doctor of medicine from Copenhagen, who had been granted the title of Russian State Councilor. Langsdorff's main contribution was establishing Petropavlovsk as the administrative capital of Kamchatka. His handwritten notes about his stay on the peninsula were presented to Emperor Alexander I, leading to the formation of a committee that implemented necessary reforms on the peninsula. On April 9, 1812, the emperor approved the decree "On the Transformation of the Military and Civil Administration in Kamchatka and the Improvement of the Condition of the Inhabitants and the Region." Life in Petropavlovsk began to change from that point, but for the next two centuries, it remained a small village. Kamchatka's story has its own special—heroic—pages. For example, it’s about the victory of Russian soldiers and local militias led by the military governor of Kamchatka, Vasily Stepanovich Zavoyko, over the Anglo-French landing in August 1854. At that time, six military ships under foreign flags entered Avacha Bay, began bombarding the city with cannons, and landed troops. Petropavlovsk defenders repelled the enemy several times, with bayonet charges and fierce combat. Eventually, the combined Anglo-French force wavered. Gathering the remnants of their troops and burying their disgraced commander, Admiral Price, who had shot himself out of shame, the enemy squadron departed. It was a brilliant victory for Russian arms in the tough Crimean War of 1853-1856.