Muravyov was a liberal and Bakunin, as his relative, became a particular favourite. In the spring of 1859 Muravyov helped Bakunin with a job for Amur Development Agency which enabled him to move with his wife to
Irkutsk, the capital of
Eastern Siberia. This enabled Bakunin to be part of the circle involved in political discussions centred on Muravyov's colonial headquarters. Resenting the treatment of the colony by the Saint Petersburg bureaucracy, including its use as a dumping ground for malcontents, a proposal for a
United States of Siberia emerged, independent of Russia and federated into a new
United States of Siberia and America, following the example of the United States of America. The circle included Muravyov's young Chief of Staff Kukel, who
Peter Kropotkin related had the complete works of
Alexander Herzen; the civil governor Izvolsky, who allowed Bakunin to use his address for correspondence; and Muravyov's deputy and eventual successor, General
Alexander Dondukov-Korsakov.