On the morning of October 18, 1867, USS Ossipee arrived at Sitka with Russian Commissioner Captain Alexis Pestchouroff and American Commissioner General Lovell Rousseau on board. That afternoon, 250 American soldiers, 80 Russian soldiers, Russian-American Company Chief Manager Prince Maksutov and his wife, and a group of locals assembled at the flagstaff in front of the governor's residence (on what has come to be known as "Baranof (Baronov) Castle Hill" to witness the lowering of the flag of Russia and the raising of the U.S. flag in its place.