THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS THEIR PEOPLE and NATURAL HISTORY, 1945

SMITHSONIAN

INSTITUTION

WAR BACKGROUND STUDIES
NUMBER TWENTY-ONE

THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS:
THEIR PEOPLE and NATURAL HISTORY
(With Keys

for the Identification of the Birds

and Plants)

By

HENRY

B.

COLLINS, JR.

AUSTIN H. CLARK

EGBERT

H.

WALKER

(Publication 3775)

CITY OF

WASHINGTON

PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

FEBRUARY

5,

1945


BALTIMORE, MB.,

U„ 8. A.


CONTENTS
Page

The Islands and Their People,

by Henry B. Collins, Jr

1

Introduction

1

Description

3

Geology

6

Discovery and early history

7

Ethnic relationships of the Aleuts

The Aleutian

17

land-bridge theory

19

Ethnology

Animal

20

Life of

the Aleutian Islands, by Austin H. Clark

31

General considerations

31

Birds

32

Mammals

48

Fishes

54

Sea invertebrates

58

Land invertebrates
Plants of the Aleutian Islands, by Egbert H. Walker

60
63

Introduction

63

Principal plant associations

64

Plants of special interest or usefulness

68

The marine

algae or seaweeds

70

Bibliography

72

Appendix A.

List of

mammals

B.

List

C.

Keys

D.

Systematic

E.

of

Keys

to

75

birds

77
81

the birds
list

to the

96

of plants

more common

110

plants

ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES
Page
1.

Kiska Volcano

1

2.

Upper, Aerial view of Unimak Island

4

Lower, Aerial view of

4

3.

Upper, U.

4

Lower, Village of Unalaska

4

4.

Upper, Aerial view of Cathedral Rocks, Unalaska Island

4

S.

Akun Head, Akun Island, Krenitzin group
Navy submarine docking at Dutch Harbor

Lower, Naval

air

transport

plane photographed against peaks of the

Islands of Four Mountains
5.

4

Upper, Mountain peaks of Kagamil and Uliaga Islands, Four Mountains

group
Lower, Mount Cleveland, Chuginadak Island, Four Mountains group ...
6.

Upper, Mount Cleveland, and Mount Herbert on Herbert Island
Lower,

Army

observation post overlooking

Kuluk Bay, Adak

4
4
20

Island ....
iii

20

ILLUSTRATIONS

IV

Page
20

7.

Upper, Kanaga Island, Andreanof group

8.

Upper, Landing of barges on Kiska, August 1943
Lower, Allied amphibious forces, shore of Kiska, August 1943
Upper, Landing on the beach at Kiska, August 1943

20

Lower, Unloading ammunition and supplies on Kiska beach, August 1943

20

Upper, Buldir Island

36

Lower, Aerial view of

9.

10.

Little Sitkin Island,

Rat Island group

20
20
20

Lower, Aerial view of Attu Island, showing Cape Wrangell and Massacre

Bay
11.

36

Upper, Village of Attu, Attu Island
Lower, Tent

city raised

36

by Seabees, Massacre Bay, Attu

36

12.

Upper, Camouflaged Japanese cook shack and

13.

Upper, Aleut

Lower, Semisubterranean Aleut house, or barabara

36

14.

Birds of the Aleutian Islands

52

15.

Left, Pelagic

tents,

Attu

Lower, American soldiers carrying a wounded comrade, Attu

woman weaving

cormorants on a

Left,

cliff

young

Right, Pelagic cormorant and
16.

a basket

Murres on Bogoslof Island

Right, Kittiwakes on

Whale

Island

17.

Upper, Castle Rock and sea lion herd, Bogoslof Island

18.

Upper, Sea

19.

20.

21.

36
36
36

52
52

52
52

52

Lower, Sea lions on Bogoslof Island

52

on the kelp beds, Ogliuga Island.
Lower, Blue whale on dock at Pacific American Whaling Company
station, Akutan Island
Upper, Blue foxes
Lower, American soldier off duty at trout stream on Kiska

68

otter

Upper, Sitka spruces on Amaknak Island

68

68
68

68

Lower, Blue lupine, Unalaska Island

68

Left, Cottongrass

68

Right, Narcissus

anemone

68

TEXT FIGURES
Page
1.

Map

2.

Aleut house and natives

of the Aleutian Islands

underground Aleut house

2

22
22

3.

Interior of

4.

Man

5.

Aleut hunter in skin-covered bidarka

28

6.

Bird sketches

40
46

and

woman

of Unalaska

7.

Bird sketches

8.

Explanation of principal terms used in keys to plants

24

131




THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS:
THEIR PEOPLE and NATURAL HISTORY
By

HENRY

B.

COLLINS,

AUSTIN

JR.,

(With

H. CLARK, and

EGBERT

H.

WALKER

Plates)

21

THE ISLANDS AND THEIR PEOPLE
By HENRY

COLLINS,

B.

Jr.

Bureau of American Ethnology

INTRODUCTION
The Aleutian

long curving arc from the Alaska

Islands, stretching in a

mainland almost to Kamchatka, are the northernmost of a
island chains, including the Kuriles,

and the Philippines,

islands

west.

that border the Pacific basin

of

series

the Japanese islands, the

Ryukyu

on the north and

These island chains and archipelagoes have several important

structural features in

common. They

are mainly of volcanic origin

and

contain numerous active or recently active volcanoes; they are zones of
intense earthquake
Pacific side

activity;

and they are paralleled on the outer or

by great oceanic troughs reaching depths of from 3,000

to

5,000 fathoms.

on the Aleutians, much has been

Since the war has focused attention

written of the almost constant rain, wind, and fog that

make

living so

unpleasant on these remote and cheerless islands. Allowing for some
exaggeration, the fact remains that the Aleutian weather deserves
reputation.

Temperatures are moderate and

around 33°

F. in winter

as zero.

and 50°

F. in

fairly

uniform,

its

summer, and never going

as

In the Aleutians, however, temperature alone means very

Here the cold winds from

Siberia

from Bering Sea meet the warm

bad

averaging

low

little.

and the ocean currents flowing down
masses and ocean currents moving

air

eastward across the Pacific, and their interaction produces winds of high
velocity,

dense fog,

rain, mist,

and snow.

JPlate

l

This striking photograph of cloud-capped Kiska Volcano was made by a U.

Navy photographer on
island,

August

(Official

U.

S.

the day of the initial Allied landing on

The volcano
15, 1943.
Navy photograph.)

rises

to

S.

that Aleutian

a height of almost 4,000 feet.

1


—

WAR BACKGROUND

2

STUDIES, NO. 21

Probably nowhere have military operations in

this

there were

no adequate surveys of many of the

especially

and none of the

geographic
the

for

latter

carried

the war began

islands. Detailed

and topographic information was lacking,
in the western part of the chain,

war been

When

out under greater difficulties than in the Aleutians.

were

islands

fortified.

Uncharted reefs and shoals, strong currents and tide

rips, the paucity

good harbors, and the unpredictable weather,

combined to make

dangerous and

navigation

difficult.

all

of

having to contend with

Aviators,

sudden storms and almost constant fog, faced even greater hazards. Under
these handicaps

it

has required a high degree of courage, determination,

men

and resourcefulness on the part of our
strong and well-entrenched

enemy

and drive out a

to defeat

force and to secure the island outposts

against further attack.

One might assume

that the desolate,

treeless,

storm-swept Aleutians

On the contrary,
When discovered by

would have been avoided by primitive man.

they were

densely populated in prehistoric times.

Bering in

1741, the native inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands are estimated to have

numbered from 20,000 to 25,000, more than the aboriginal Indian
population of the Ohio Valley, or of Florida, New York State, or New
England.
lions,

was

The

sea otters, birds,

this assured

large

birds,

fishes,

it

in

may

animal

life

—whales,

it

to live in so limited

life,

and

rich

sea

—and

it

possible for such a relatively

an

area.

Whatever other

possess, the Aleutian region, with

abundant marine

seals,

mollusks and other invertebrates

food supply that made

number of people

disadvantages

abounded

Aleutians

and varied

its

myriads of

cannot be de-

flora,

scribed as "lifeless."

The purpose of

this

paper

history, native inhabitants,
It will,

we

is

to describe briefly the physical features,

and fauna and

flora

of the Aleutian Islands.

hope, provide an opportunity for our servicemen stationed in

the Aleutians to identify the plants and animals around
learn something of the people

way between America and
American

Asia.

containing such

publications

scientists

who

At present

information,

have shown

there are
for

little interest

as yet unpublished,

to

no

readily available

with a few exceptions

in the Aleutians.

comprehensive description of the Aleutian fauna
is

them and

formerly lived on these islands mid-

—

and our knowledge of the

that

by O.

flora is

J.

The only
Murie

based almost

on the publications of the Swedish botanist Hulten and the
Japanese botanists Tatewaki and Kobayashi. The ethnological literature
entirely

is

fuller but

of print or

is

contained in scattered publications, most of which are out

difficult to obtain.




ST PAUL .lT

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PRI8ILOF ISLANDS
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Fig. 1.

W

—Map of the Aleutian

D

R

Islands.

E

A

Insert

shows position of the

Islands with relation to Alaska

and

Siberia.

The southern

Aleutians are in the same latitude as London.



—

THE ISLANDS AND THEIR PEOPLE

—COLLINS

3

The Aleutians have, of course, seen great changes within the past few
Some islands described here as sparsely populated or uninhabited
may now be naval or military bases. The Japanese occupation of
years.

Kiska and Attu opened a dramatic chapter in the history of the present

war and the Aleutians may be the scene of other important developments
before the war

is

However, military operations and changes brought

over.

by the war are not within the scope of the present paper, which aims

to

describe the islands as they were originally.

DESCRIPTION

The islands of the Aleutian chain form a continuation of the Alaska
Range of mountains extending 900 miles or more westward from the tip
of the Alaska Peninsula. They include 14 large and about 55 small islands
in addition to innumerable rocks

and

islets.

Though commonly thought

of as part of the Far North, the Aleutians are actually 800 to 1,000 miles

south of the Arctic Circle. Lying between the 51st and 55 th parallels,
they are in the same latitude as England, Ireland, Belgium, Holland,

northern France, and Germany.

The

climate

and the islands are

rather than boreal,

is

oceanic

ice-free

—wet

and open

and cool

to navigation

the year around.

Mok

of the islands,

particularly

the

larger

ones,

are

rugged and

mountainous. The shore lines are irregular and deeply indented, with

towering rocky

rising abruptly

cliffs

from the

sea.

In contrast to the pre-

vailing jagged coast lines and high relief of the larger islands,

the smaller ones are
flat

more

some of

regular in outline, with low and relatively

surfaces.

The
Near

Aleutians are divided into five main groups from west to east: the

Islands,

Islands

;

i.e.,

those nearest Kamchatka; the Rat Islands; Andreanof

Islands of Four Mountains

The Fox

Islands,

or.

;

and Fox

Islands.

eastern Aleutians, include the three large islands

Unimak, Unalaska, and Umnak, in addition to the six smaller islands of
Ugamak, Tigalda, Avatanak, Rootok, Akun, and
the Krenitzin group

—

Akutan.

Unimak, the easternmost and largest of all the Aleutians, is separated
from the Alaska Peninsula by the very narrow and shallow Isanotski
Strait (False Pass). At the center of the island the symmetrical, snowy
peak of Mount Shishaldin, the largest mountain in the Aleutian chain,
rises to a

height of 9,387

Moses, has been more or
the Russians in 1796.

On

feet.

less

This volcano, also

known

continuously active since

first

as

Smoking

reported by

the western end of the island are several other


WAR BACKGROUND

4

volcanic peaks, including

STUDIES, NO. 21

Mount Pogromni, 6,500

feet high.

elevations of 8,088 feet

and

active glaciers,

and 6,155

ice is also

On

feet.

To

the east

Round Top, with

of Shishaldin are Isanotski Peak, or Ragged Jack, and

the latter two there are

found on the flanks of Shishaldin.

When

the Russians arrived, there was a large Aleut population on Unimak, but

many years the island has been practically
Unimak Pass, between Unimak and the

for

deserted.

Krenitzin

Islands,

the

is

principal passage for vessels entering the Bering Sea.

Southeast of

Unimak

is

the Sanak group, including Sanak and Caton

number of islets, reefs, and rocks covering an area
Islands and

about 20 miles long and 10 miles wide. The reefs and shoals of the
Sanak Islands once abounded in sea otters, and Aleuts from hundreds of
miles away made annual voyages to this famed hunting ground.
Of the islands comprising the Krenitzin group, only the two largest,
a large

Akun and Akutan, have been permanently inhabited in recent years.
Akun is very irregular in shape, with deep indentations formed by Akun
Cove and Lost Harbor. On the north side of Lost Harbor is Akun
Peak, an extinct volcano 2,500 feet high. About a mile northeast of

Akun Peak

a ridge 1,800 feet high, near the base of which

is

abandoned sulfur mine with cable tramway leading

an

is

to a sulfur deposit

about 1,300 feet up the slope.

The

highest elevation in the Krenitzin group

is

Akutan Peak, a smok-

ing volcano 4,244 feet high, on Akutan Island.
operated

at

Akutan Harbor on the

Akutan Pass and Unalga

Pass,

A

whaling station

is

east side of the island.

between the islands of Akutan and

Unalaska, are the two other principal passes through the eastern Aleutians.
Unalaska, the second largest of the Aleutian Islands,
long,
It is

is

about 67 miles

irregular coast line extending in a northeast-southwest direction.

its

indented by

mountainous

many narrow bays, with abrupt shores rising to a rugged
The highest point is Mount Makushin, in the

interior.

northwestern part of the island, with an elevation of over 5,000

The
500

crater of
feet

Makushin Volcano

deep.

glaciers extend
feet.

A

little

The

is

about

greater part of the crater

through gaps in the rim

down

is

filled

with

A

ice,

and

to a height of about 2,500

southwest of the center, the floor of the crater

over an area of some 20 to 30 acres.

feet.

by 2 miles wide and 300 to

11/2

considerable

amount of

is

visible

sulfur

is

contained in this exposed area, where subterranean heat prevents ice

from accumulating.

The

is

village of Unalaska, or Iliuliuk as

it

was called by the Russians,

the commercial center of the Aleutians. Established by Solovief between


Plate

2

Upper: Aerial view of Unimak Island, taken from an altitude of 4,000 feet, looking west from
Cape Lazaref on the south coast. The mountain at right is Isanotski Peak (Ragged Jack). The
conical snow-covered peak at left is Shishaldin Volcano, the highest mountain in the Aleutian chain,
elevation 9,387 feet.

Lower: Aerial view of Akun Head, north end of Akun
from an elevation of 3,500 feet.
(Official

U.

S.

Island, Krenitzin group, looking southeast

Navy photographs.)

¥:


Plate
Upper: U.
photograph.)

S.

Navy submarine docking

at

3

Dutch Harbor, Unalaska.

(Official

U.

S.

Navy

Lower: The village of Unalaska (Iliuliuk) on Unalaska Island, established between 1764 and
Unalaska for many years has been the largest town and commercial center in the Aleutians.
(Photograph from Ewing Galloway.)

1770.


Plate 4
Upper: Aerial view of Cathedral Rocks, west side of Unalaska
Lower:

An R4D

naval air transport Douglas plane on the

the peaks of the Islands of

Island, looking east.

way

Four Mountains.
(Official

U.

S.

Navy photographs.)

to Kiska,

photographed against

Plate

5

Upper: Two of the mountain peaks of the Islands of Four Mountains.
Uliaga Island in the background.

Lower: Mount Cleveland, elevation 8,150
Mountains.
(Official

U.

S.

feet,

Kagamil

Island, with

on Chuginadak Island, one of the Islands of Four

Air Forces photographs.)


THE ISLANDS AND THEIR PEOPLE
1764 and

1770,

—COLLINS

5

was for many years the principal center of the
it was a supply center

it

Russian fur trade. Later, during the gold rush,
for ships

bound

Nome

for

and the Yukon. Before the war Unalaska had

a population of about 300, and was headquarters for the United States

Coast Guard vessels of the Bering Sea patrol.
a naval radio station

on adjacent Amaknak

Dutch Harbor, formerly

Island,

now an

is

important

naval and military base.

Southwest of Unalaska
Islands. It

is

is

Umnak,

the third largest of the Aleutian

approximately 70 miles long with a

maximum width

the

at

north of about 16 miles, the southwest end tapering to a long narrow

At about the

point.
conical,

center of the island near the western shore

snow-covered volcano,

miles away

is

Mount

a

is

Vsevidof, 7,236 feet high.

Five

another less symmetrical peak of about the same height.

In the eighteenth

Umnak, but now

century

there

were many large Aleut

there

villages

on

only the small settlement of Nikolski near the

is

south end of the island.

West of Umnak

the Islands of Four Mountains rise abruptly from

the sea. There are actually five islands

Kagamil, and Uliaga.

One

— Chuginadak,

of the peaks,

These desolate volcanic islands

Island, reaches a height of 8,150 feet.

have been uninhabited for many

years,

but they contain remains of old

and Aleut mummies have been found

villages,

Herbert, Carlisle,

Mount Cleveland on Chuginadak

in

burial

caves

on

Kagamil.

Beyond the

Islands of Four Mountains are four rather widely separated,

medium-sized islands

—Yunaska,

Amukta, Chagulak, and Seguam, with

from 2,800 to 4,300 feet.
Next, to the west, is the Andreanof group, which includes Atka, Amlia,
Great Sitkin, Adak, Kanaga, Tanaga, and a number of smaller islands.
elevations ranging

The group

is

named

for

Andrean Tolstykh, who explored the

islands in

1760-64. At that time they were densely populated, and Tolstykh wrote

an interesting description of the inhabitants.

(See Jochelson,

Atka, with a small native village and government school,

is

1933.)

the only island

of the group that has been permanently inhabited in recent years.
outline,

Atka

is

rather similar to Unalaska, the northeast half being

and mountainous and the southwest end long and narrow.
narrow island 40 miles long, extends in a

which

it is

the smaller islands of the Andreanof group,

the Aleutians, and

is

Amlia, a very

straight line east of Atka,

separated by a strait 1 to 11/2 miles wide.
is

In

wide

from

Amatignak, one of

the southernmost of

all

an important landmark for ships following the

Great Circle route across the North

Pacific.

WAR BACKGROUND

6

The Rat

Islands,

STUDIES, NO. 21

of which are

all

uninhabited,

Amchitka,

include

Semisopochnoi, Kiska, and five smaller islands called Little Sitkin, Rat,

Chugul, Davidof, and Khwostof.
relatively
is

low and

flat,

Amchitka

remarkable in that

is

it

is

the only large island in the Aleutian chain that

not mountainous.

The westernmost

of the Aleutians

forming the Near group

—

—

Attu,

Agattu, and the Semichis,

145 miles from Kiska, with only the

are

small Buldir Island in between.

GEOLOGY
As no
there
are

is

systematic geological studies have been
little

detailed information

composed for the most part of

andesites,

made

in the Aleutians,

on the rock formations. The
tuffs,

lavas,

and other igneous rocks thrust up above sea

action. In addition to these volcanic or basic rocks

level

islands

porphyries,

basalts,

by volcanic

which were extruded

above the surface, there are granites, diorites and other acidic rocks that

were injected or intruded into the

On

earlier volcanic formations.

the Alaska Peninsula the underlying formations include sedimentary

deposits of Jurassic and Cretaceous age, through

broken.

In the

Aleutians,

however,

there

is

which the volcanoes have
no evidence of

either

igneous or sedimentary rocks older than the Tertiary, the indications

being that the islands came into existence in early Tertiary time, probably during the Eocene.
Tertiary age
a

few

—occur

localities,

Sedimentary rocks

—sandstones

and shales of

sporadically in the Shumagins and Aleutians, and in

including Unga,

Umnak, Unalaska, Akutan, and Atka,

they have been found to contain fossil plants and invertebrates.

The volcanoes

that are so

prominent a feature of the Aleutian land-

scape continue in a remarkably regular curving line northeastward along

the Alaska Peninsula to the west side of

canoes are

still

active,

Cook

Inlet.

Many

others are extinct but retain their characteristic

conical form. Bogoslof, a small island 22 miles north of
tip

feet

of the vol-

Umnak,

is

the

of a great submerged volcano with a total height of more than 5,000

and a basal diameter of 8

a violent eruption in

1796.

miles.

Bogoslof rose from the sea in

Since then the topography of the island

has changed from time to time, partly due to erosion but principally

through eruptions that occurred in 1883,

1906,

1910,

and

Countless numbers of murres and other sea birds nest on the

1923-27.
cliffs

of

Rock at the southwest end of the island, and the black sandy
beach on the southeast is the breeding ground for a large colony of
Castle

sea lions.


THE ISLANDS AND THEIR PEOPLE
Though Alaska was not

subjected

—COLLINS

continental

to

mountain ranges supported

Pleistocene, the higher

the areas of local glaciation

glaciation

local glaciers.

the

in

One

was the Alaska Peninsula, and according

Capps the larger islands of the Aleutian chain

The lowlands and upland

caps.

7

had individual

also

valleys of the islands

of
to
ice

were completely

covered, only the tops of the higher ridges and mountains standing above
the

There has been

ice.

ice disappeared, the

ing of sea

relatively little erosion of the islands since the

only changes of any consequence being the weather-

the development of deep gulches and stream canyons,

cliffs,

and the building up of beaches,

and

bars,

by waves and currents.

spits

DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY
The northern

Pacific,

America, was the

with the lands bordering

its

shores in Asia and

of the habitable world to be explored

last great section

by Europeans. Though California had been known to the Spaniards for

200 years and European commerce with the East Indies had been long
established,

was not

it

until after the voyages of

Bering in the eighteenth

century that the vast expanse of the North Pacific was

world.

Geographers had speculated

or land and had

thought to

as to

made maps showing

between, or to connect, the continents of Asia and America.

lie

pushing steadily eastward across

Arctic

—

to the

fanciful islands and lands that were

During the seventeenth century Russian
upper Lena.

made known

whether the region was one of sea

A

few

Siberia.

traders and adventurers

By 1632

were

they had reached the

years later the other great rivers flowing into the

the Yana, Indigirka, and

the close of the century

Kolyma

—had been

Kamchatka had been

reached, and before

discovered.

These

unofficial

and unorganized land explorations of the Cossacks prepared the way for
the later voyages that were to settle the long-disputed question of the

geographical relationship of Asia and America.

The Russian Emperor

Peter the Great had followed the exploits of the

Cossacks with the greatest interest, and in 1718, wishing to
the nature and extent of the

new

dominion, he dispatched two naval
to sail north

and

east of

and America were
instructions in
to the

of

the Pacific with instructions

to determine

whether or not Asia

This attempt proving

December 1724

command

officers to

Kamchatka

united.

know more

lands that had been brought under his

for another expedition,

fruitless,

he issued

which he entrusted

of Fleet-Captain Vitus Bering, a Danish officer in the

Russian Navy.
After three years of preparation Bering sailed from Kamchatka on
July 14, 1728. Following the coast northward, he discovered

St.

Lawrence

WAR BACKGROUND

8

Island and entered the Strait that

STUDIES, NO. 21

now

bears his name, but because of the

dense fog saw neither the Diomede Islands nor the opposite coast of
Alaska. After passing East Cape, Siberia, and observing no further land

north of latitude 69° 18', he returned to Kamchatka.

Though he had not accomplished

Bering had

his primary objective,

charted the shores of Kamchatka, rounded the northeastern extremity of
first map of these regions based on actual
Through his efforts the main outlines of the geography of northeastern Asia had been determined. He had not, however,
seen the American Continent, and though he felt convinced it did not
connect with Asia, he had no conclusive proof to offer.

Asia, and brought back the

astronomical survey.

Returning to Russia

in

1730

and finding the Admiralty

take a second expedition which

would

officials

and received authority to under-

skeptical of his evidence, Bering sought

settle

beyond doubt the question

of the geographical relationship of Asia and America. Described at the
"the most gigantic geographic enterprise undertaken by any

time as

government

at

any time,"

which were

to

explore and chart the northern and eastern shores of

it

called

for the construction of five ships

and Japan and the opposite

Siberia

coasts

of America.

Hundreds of

marines, and laborers, with food and equipment for several years,

sailors,

were to be transported thousands of miles to eastern

and iron foundries, shipyards, and lighthouses were to

to be developed,

be built

—

all this in

oped resources, no

was

Sciences

—

taken. It

to send

its

ethnological,

biological,

regions

a vast region where there were no roads, no devel-

facilities

their libraries

assistants,

Mines were

Siberia.

of any kind.

In addition, the

Academy of

professors with their retinue of servants and

and

and

scientific

equipment, to make a complete

historical

survey

of

these

little-known

the most ambitious scientific project that had ever been under-

is

not surprising that 8 years were required in preparation, and

who was

that Bering,

held responsible for the whole enormous under-

should have been discouraged and disillusioned by the

taking,

vexatious delays and accidents, by the dissension

and by the inaction and

among

many

his subordinates,

inefficiency of the civil authorities

who were

supposed to help him.

On

June

4,

1741, the expedition sailed from Avacha Bay, Kamchatka.

There were two

and the

5"/.

vessels, the St. Peter,

under Captain-Commander Bering,

Paul, under Captain Alexei Chirikof.

For: the first

9 days the

ships sailed southeast following instructions to search for a great land
area

known

to the north

as

Gama

and

Land, which European geographers thought lay

east of

Japan up to the 47th degree of north

latitude.

THE ISLANDS AND THEIR PEOPLE

—COLLINS

9

Reaching latitude 46° and finding no land the course was changed to
E. by N. On June 20 the two ships became separated and never met again.

on July 15

Chirikof's ship, the St. Paul, continued eastward and

dis-

covered land, a small island off Prince of Wales Island, in southeast
Alaska. Following the coast northward to Chichagof Island,
sent a boat with 10

men

south of Cross Sound.

with

5

The

men who were

men, the

Chirikof
just

Strait,

boat never returned, nor did a second boat

sent

Europeans to

first

examine the shore of Lisianski

to

look for

to

set foot

The

it.

on Alaskan

soil,

of these

fate

15

remains a mystery.

Chirikof suspected, however, that they were captured or killed by the
Indians

some of

(Tlingits),

whom

were seen leaving

in canoes as the

Russians approached.

Another serious consequence of the

was now impossible

it

was decided

to

On

Umnak, and

September 9 the

south side of

Adak

Island.

loss

St.

of the two boats was that

to take

Kamchatka.

to return to

Peninsula, Afognak,
sighted.

make landings

On

on water. Because of

it

this

the return voyage the Kenai

the Islands of Four Mountains were

Paul anchored in a small bight on the

The following morning when

the fog cleared

seven Aleuts in skin boats came out toward the ship. They would not

come aboard though they accepted presents thrown out to them. Having
no boats to send ashore, Chirikof was especially anxious to have the
Aleuts bring drinking water to the ship. The Aleuts proved to be shrewd
traders, as the account in Chirikof's journal

We

shows:

gave them a small barrel in which to bring us water from the shore. They

understood what
that they

we

meant, but they would not take the barrel and showed us

had bladders for

purpose.

that

beach and returned with water.

When

they

a bladder and indicated that he wished to

Three of them paddled towards the
came alongside one of them held up
have a knife in payment. This was

given him, but instead of handing over the bladder, he passed

man, who
third

man,

When

also

demanded

who

equally insisted on a knife.

a knife.

they did, proves that their conscience

is

he got
This

it

it

to the second

he passed the bladder to the

act, as

well as some other things

not highly developed.

(Golder,

1922,

vol. 1, pp. 304-305.)

Continuing westward, they sighted no land until September 21, 1741,

when

the

5*/.

Paul sailed close by the eastern end of Agattu Island. The

Semichi Islands and the peaks of Attu were also sighted.

When

the

Avacha Bay, Kamchatka, on October 10, every
man on board was suffering from scurvy, and seven had already died.
When the two ships became separated June 20, Bering, on the St.
St.

Paul

Peter,

finally reached

made

a second futile attempt to locate the imaginary

Gama

Land,

then resumed an> E. by N. course and on July \6 sighted land, a high


WAR BACKGROUND

10

STUDIES, NO. 21

snow-covered mountain on the Alaska mainland which he named

On

Mount

Kayak Island and two
boats were sent ashore to explore the new land and take on water. Georg
Wilhelm Steller, the naturalist of the expedition, was thus afforded the
opportunity of making the first scientific observations in this part of the
St.

Elias.

New

the 20th the

St.

Peter anchored off

World.

After leaving Kayak Island and skirting Prince William Sound, Bering
sailed

SW.

On

along the east side of Kodiak Island.

August 3 another

view was had of the mainland, a high snow-covered volcano, Mount
Chiginagak, on the Alaska Peninsula.

Land was sighted again on August
taken ashore for rest and fresh
died soon after landing.
a

name now

memory

In his

a physician,

A

were

from

knew

named Shumagin,
was made here

tragic mistake

a brackish pool near the beach.

was unsuitable for

that the water

drinking and protested strongly against taking

would lead

Peter

St.

sick with scurvy

the island was

applied to the entire group.

who was

and on the 30th the

but one of them, Nikita Shumagin,

air,

in filling the barrels with water
Steller,

27,

men who were

anchored between two islands. Ten

warning that

it,

its

use

His objections were ignored,

to a rapid increase of scurvy.

but his prediction later proved true.

While anchored
first

off the

Shumagin

Islands,

Bering and his

men had

meeting with the Aleuts, an interesting account of which

is

their

given

in Steller's journal (Golder, 1922, vol. 2, pp. 90-105).

After leaving the Shumagins the

St.

Peter resumed her westward course

On

just to the south

but beyond sight of the Aleutian Islands.

25 Great

Adak, and Atka Islands in the Andreanof group were

Sitkin,

sighted. Terrific storms

were now encountered and for the next 2 weeks
1

the ship was driven back to the eastward and
situation
ill

was becoming increasingly

with scurvy.

self,

By

were on the

serious as

all

but foundered.

more and more men

The
fell

the end of October, 36 men, including Bering him-

sick

list,

it was only with
manage the ship.

7 had already died, and

greatest difficulty that the others

On

September

were able

to

October 23 the course was changed to

NW.,

the

carrying the ship

through the westernmost of the Aleutian Islands. Kiska was discovered

on the 25th, and named
the easternmost of the

Stephen and

St.

St.

Markiana.

Semichi

Abraham.

On

Islands

On November

thought to be Kamchatka. By

now

the 28th and 29th Buldir and

were sighted and named

St.

4 land was sighted which was

the situation

was desperate. The ship

was battered and weakened, the mainmast and rigging damaged beyond
repair. Only 6 barrels of bad water remained. Twelve men had died


THE ISLANDS AND THEIR PEOPLE
and of the remaining 65, only 3 were able

—COLLINS
on

to be

11

Though

deck.

Bering himself wished to continue on to Avacha Bay, the other

officers

voted to seek an anchorage where they might spend the winter.

With

the crew so weakened, the landing was extremely

difficult.

The

wind rose and the ship drifted dangerously near the shore, barely escaping
destruction

one anchor

as

getting the sick

men

another

after

to shore

more men

the 15th, during which interval 7

was driven

in

later

hold.

On

died.

Commander

Temporary

group.

island,

1741-42.

began to regain
recovered.

of

task

until

With good water and

their

strength,

was not

refuge

now

called Bering

shelters in the sand,

men

driftwood huts, were constructed, and here the

winter of

The

the 28th the ship

men found

his

had hoped, but an unknown

as they

Island, of the

to

by a heavy gale and wrecked on the beach.

The land on which Bering and
Kamchatka

failed

began on November 7 and continued

fresh

meat available they

and by Christmas most of them had

men

So advanced was the scurvy, however, that 14 more

on shore after November 15. Included among
mander Bering, who died December 8, 1741.
Like the Aleutians, Bering Island

low shrubs, herbaceous

plants,

and

passed the

is

these

completely devoid of

though

trees,

and moss are abundant.

grasses,

died

was Captain-Com-

The

fauna of the island was noteworthy in several respects and afforded
Steller the opportunity of discovering

viously

unknown

and describing a number of pre-

Blue foxes and sea

animals.

otters,

already familiar, occurred here in great numbers.

with which he was

These animals showed

not the slightest fear of man, and this was one of Steller's reasons for

believing that they were on an uninhabited island.

There were also

rookeries of fur seals and sea lions, animals that Steller
describe.

An

cow, or manatee, Hydrodamalis gigas.

and weighing up

where
sea

it

was the

This huge animal, 25 feet long

drifted in

and out with the

tide,

feeding on seaweeds.

outside the

Commander

it

has been extinct for
they

knew

many
at

were marooned on an

which

it

old ship and construct a smaller vessel from
task

was begun

after leaving

in April

Like

on Bering

years.

definitely that they

shipwrecked crew held a council

Steller's

Islands.

the great spectacled cormorant, another of Steller's discoveries

When

to

to 3 tons, frequented the shallow waters near shore,

cow has never been discovered

Island,

first

even more exciting discovery was the great northern sea

was decided

its

timbers.

island, the

to break

up the

This formidable

and completed in August, 1742. Thirteen days

Bering Island the surviving members of Bering's expedition

arrived safely in Kamchatka.