Yenotayevka

Yenotayevka lies beside a branch of the lower Volga, northwest of Astrakhan. In 1742 the Astrakhan governor Vasily Tatishchev began construction of a fortress here to protect river and overland communications. Fires damaged it in 1748–1750, but it was rebuilt. Initially the garrison consisted of dragoons and Cossacks; from around 1760 baptized Kalmyks, Tatars and other settlers also arrived, although settlement remained slow. Civil administration was introduced in 1769, and Yenotayevsk became a district town in 1785. The fortress was abolished in 1810. Fishing and transport supported the small river community, which grew at the meeting of the Volga floodplain and dry steppe.