“ ‘There Are No Roads Between Autumn and Snow' in Tomsk Province”: Roads; Means of Transport, and Features of Travel in Siberia in the Second Half of the 19th Century

The article examines the condition of roads in Siberia in the second half of the 19th century, identifies the related characteristics of the Siberian land vehicles and skills of coachmen obtained in the harsh climatic conditions, with enormous distances between stations and the need to spend long hours in transit. The sources for this article are travel notes and memoirs written at the end of trips. The work of the German geographer and ethnographer R. Andre, travel notes of the American J. Kennan deserve special attention. Among the works of domestic authors who passed through Siberia in the middle or at the end of the 19th century, the notes of the writer A.P. Chekhov, and of the merchants I. Zavalishin and N. Chukmaldin deserve attention. Documents of the State Archive of Tomsk Oblast (GATO), which contain information about the state of communication routes in Tomsk Province, are attracted for a more complete picture. Thus, the documents of the Fund “Tomsk Provincial Administration (1823-1916)” allow, in particular, tracking the passing travelers' reaction to the unsatisfactory condition of roads in Tomsk Province at the end of the 19th century. This article aims to summarize the facts that relate to the state of Siberian roads, land vehicles, skills of Siberian coachmen, as well as to identify the features of travel in Siberia in the second half of the 19th century. In the course of the study, the authors come to the following conclusions. The condition of roads generally did not satisfy people traveling through Siberian provinces. This was especially true during the off-season when the roads were heavily flooded and washed away by rain or meltwater. Our compatriots' negative comments on Siberian roads in general merge into the common chorus of complaints by foreign travelers. Although there were exceptions when both Russian travelers and foreigners praised the state of the roads in some provinces of Siberia, which was reflected in the archives and travel notes. In winter, the moving speed increased because the snow-covered roads were easier to move along on a sled. However, during severe frosts, there was a great risk of freezing on the road. Because of the harsher climate and the need to stay on the road longer than in the European part of Russia, it was necessary to use vehicles with design features that made them more stable in Siberia. The preparations of the coachmen and the coachmen's preparation of their horses for a long journey influenced its successful outcome. Coachmen had large energy expenditure and were to have endurance. Siberian coachmen maintained a high moving speed with the help of their horses. This fact surprised both Russians coming from the European part of Russia and, especially, foreigners.

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