In 1847, when Alaska was still part of the Russian Empire, trade was thriving, and Russian ships often sailed north. On one such vessel served 24-year-old officer Sergey Lisitsin. He diligently stood watch, but after his shift, he often abused alcohol. One day, after overindulging, he spoke insolently to the captain, for which he was placed under arrest. However, Lisitsin did not calm down and incited the guard sailors to mutiny. Ultimately, the commander ordered him to be tied up, blindfolded, and dropped off on a deserted shore of the Sea of Okhotsk.

When Lisitsin freed himself from his bonds and removed the blindfold, he saw a ship disappearing on the horizon. The captain had left him a suitcase with clothes, three pairs of boots, a fur coat, pistols, a sabre, a dagger, sugar, tea, a pocket watch, a knife, a pood of crackers, flasks of vodka, a shaving kit, flint, and matches. All around were only snowdrifts and a desolate forest. Within a week, Lisitsin built himself a small house, stocked firewood, and even constructed a stove. At first, he survived on berries, then made a fishing rod and diversified his diet with fish.

The officer tried to conserve ammunition, hunting hares and small game with a homemade bow and sling with stones. Such frugality saved his life: once, while warming himself in the house, wolves burst in, and he shot them at point-blank range. Another time, he encountered a bear in the forest, and its warm pelt became indispensable in the cold.

Thus, Lisitsin spent seven months. Every day he went to the shore hoping to see a ship that would rescue him, but to no avail. One day he discovered fishermen unconscious on the shore and a wrecked ship. The holds contained construction tools, seeds, rifles, cows, and sheep, as well as a ship's cannon. Together they sowed a field, renovated the bathhouse, and learned to make sour cream, butter, and cheese. The shore of the Sea of Okhotsk transformed into a peasant settlement.