USA > Alaska > Geographic dictionary of Alaska > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
LUTKE, 1827-28.
One of the important authorities used in preparing this dictionary is Capt. Feodor Petrovich Lutke, who, in command of the Russian corvette Seniarine and accompanied by Capt. Mikhail Nikolaievich Staniukovich in command of the sloop Moller, made a voyage round the world in 1826-1829.
An account of the voyage was published in Russian in 1834-1836, in 3 octavo volumes, a folio atlas, and another volume called Nautical part. It appeared at the same time in French. The nautical part is a rare book. The two copies of it in the Library of Congress, one in French, the other in Russian, are the only ones known to the writer. This Partie nautique contains hydrographic and geographic information as to Bering sea, Alaska peninsula, etc., derived not merely from Lutke's own work but also from various Russian sources previously unpub- lished. Pressing public duties delayed the preparation and publica- tion of this work, and finally it appeared in a crude form far from satisfactory to its author. Despite its defects, however, the work is of first importance in dealing with the evolution of our geographic knowledge of Alaska. An index to this book was prepared by Mr. Dall and published by the Coast Survey in 1883 in the Coast Pilot of Alaska.
Lutke and Staniukovich sailed from Cronstadt on September 1, 1826, and, rounding Cape Horn, arrived at Sitka on June 24, 1827. Here Lutke remained till July 31 and then sailed to Unalaska, arriving on August 22. After a stay of eight days in Unalaska he cruised north- ward and westward in Bering sea to the Pribilof islands, St. Matthew, the Commander islands, and to Petropavlovsk. From here he cruised southward and returned to Petropavlovsk on June 9, 1828. After a stay of sixteen days he cruised and surveyed along the Siberian coast to St. Lawrence bay in Bering strait and returned on September 4, 1828, to Petropavlovsk. He took final leave of this place on Novem- ber 9, 1828, and, rounding the Cape of Good Hope, returned home, arriving at Cronstadt on September 6, 1829.
39
AUTHORITIES.
BAKER.
MALASPINA, 1791.
Capt. Alessandro Malaspina, an Italian navigator in the service of Spain, in command of the Descubierta and accompanied by Bustamente in the Atrerida, arrived on the Alaskan coast on June 2, 1791, near Sitka and surveyed along the coast to Prince William sound, looking for the Northwest passage reported by Maldonado. The journals of the voyage were long suppressed. A sketch of the voyage was puh- lished in the Introduction to Galiano's Relacion del viage hecho por los goletas Sutil y Mexicana, etc. ; de orden del rey, 8º, Madrid, 1802; yet, strange to say. the name of Malaspina, whose work is highly praised, can not be found in the book. On his return to Spain, the infamous Godoy, known as the Prince of the Peace, confined him in a dungeon at Corunna and there kept him till the peace of Amiens in 1802, when, at the express desire of Napoleon, he was liberated. An account of his work was published in Salva (Miguel) y Baranda (Pedro Sainz de), Coleccion de documentos ineditos, etc., 8º, Madrid, 1849, Vol. XV, pp. 268-320.
MANSFIELD, 1889-1891.
Lieut. Commander Henry B. Mansfield, U. S. N., succeeded Thomas as commander of the Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer Patterson in the spring of 1889 and remained in command until succeeded by Moore on February 2, 1892: thus he made surveys in Alexander archipelago during the seasons of 1889, 1890, and 1891. In 1889, April 27 to September 29, his work was chiefly or wholly in Frederick sound, where surveys were made of Cleveland passage, Steamboat bay, Eliza harbor, Gambier bay, Mole harbor, Windfall harbor, Holkham bay, etc. The season's work of 1890 began at Port Simpson on April 28 and ended at Juneau on September 17. During this season 14 harbor and large-scale charts were made, chiefly in and about Lynn canal. This included Barlow cove, William Henry harbor, Pyramid harbor, Portage cove, Gastineau channel, Juneau harbor, etc. Work during the season of 1891 began on April 30 at Burroughs bay and ended on September 18 at Thorne arm. The surveys of this season were chiefly or wholly in the waters surrounding Revillagigedo island, southeastern Alaska. For an account of his work see Coast and Geodetic Survey Reports, 1890, pp. 75-77; 1891. pp. 78-81; 1892, pp. 82-83; also Coast Survey charts 8075, 8170, 8216, 8218, 8224, 8235, and 8302.
MAURELLE AND QUADRA, 1775-1779. .
Spanish exploration on the northwest coast of America north of California began in 1774. In that year Perez and Martinez reached and anchored in Nootka sound, Vancouver island.
In 1775, by command of the Mexican Viceroy Bucareli, there was despatched the royal galiot Sonora, under command of Don Juan Fran-
40
GEOGRAPHIC DICTIONARY OF ALASKA.
[BULL. 187.
cisco de la Bodega y Quadra, to make explorations north of California. With Quadra went the pilot Francisco Antonio Maurelle. On this voyage they discovered, named, and in part surveyed Bucareli bay. Four years later a second voyage was undertaken by the Spaniards. Quadra, in command of La Princesa, and Don Ignacio Arteaga, in command of La Favorita, with Maurelle as pilot, sailed from San Blas, Mexico, on February 11, 1779, and cruised northward as far as the mouth of Copper river, whence they returned to San Blas, arriving on November 21, 1779. In this voyage they revisited Bucareli bay and made additional surveys there. The published results of these voy- ages, so far as this dictionary is concerned, relate chiefly to Bucareli bay.
A copy of their map was secured by La Perouse and published in 1798, in the atlas accompanying his Voyage, plate 26. Also Daines Barrington, in his Miscellanies, 4º, London, 1781, published Mau- relle's journal, yet without the map. The Spaniards were secretive about their explorations, avoided publication, and thus have left little impress on the geography of the region they visited. For references to publications touching this work see Grewingk, pp. 392-393. .
MEADE, 1868-69.
Commander (afterward Rear Admiral) Richard Worsam Meade, U. S. N., cruised through Alexander archipelago in the winter of 1868-69 in the U. S. S. Saginaw and made reconnaissance sketches of various places there. An account of this cruise was published by the Navy Department on July 26, 1869, as Hydrographic Notice No. 13 of 1869, a pamphlet of 29 pages. The map results were incorporated on United States Hydrographic chart No. 225, a chart of rough and crude appearance, but which has been very useful in making this dictionary.
MEARES AND DOUGLAS, 1788-89.
Capt. John Meares, in January, 1788, in connection with several British merchants resident in India, bought and fitted out two vessels, the Felice and the Iphigenia. Meares commanded the Felice and Capt. William Douglas the Iphigenia. The two ships sailed together from Typa, near Macao, China, on January 22, 1788, cruised around the Philippines, and, parting company, Meares reached Nootka on May 13, 1788, and Douglas arrived in Cook inlet on June 16, 1788. From Cook inlet Douglas voyaged east and south and joined Meares at Nootka on August 27, 1788. Meares cruised and traded about Van- couver island and what is now Washington, and later both officers sailed to the Hawaiian islands. They returned and again traded on the northwest coast of America and then sailed to China.
For an account of their voyage and its results see Meares (John), Voyages in 1788-1789 from China to Northwest America, 4º, London, 1790.
41
AUTHORITIES.
BAKER.]
MEARES AND TIPPING, 1786-87.
Capt. John Meares, in the Nootka, sailed from Bengal, India, on March 2, 1786, on a trading voyage to Malacca and northwest America. About the same time sailed also Lieut. William Tipping,. R. N., in command of the Sea Otter. The two vessels were owned by the same company of merchants and were to cooperate. Meares made the land at Atka, in the Aleutian islands, on August 1, 1786, anchored there, and met both Russians and natives. He then cruised eastward through the Aleutian islands to Unalaska, the Shumagins, Kodiak, Cook inlet, and Prince William sound, where the Sea Otter had preceded him and departed with a cargo of peltries. Meares thereupon decided to winter in Prince William sound. He spent a very uncomfortable winter, many of his crew dying of seurvy. On May 17, 1787, he was visited by Capt. George Dixon, another English trader, just arrived in Prince William sound. Of Meares ship's company 23 had died during the winter, and on June 21, 1787, he sailed away with his company reduced to 24. Ten days later he was at Sitka and sailed thence for the Hawaiian islands and thence to China, arriving on October 20, 1787. Nothing was ever heard of Lieutenant Tipping in the Sea Otter after he left Prince William sound.
For an account of these voyages see Meares (John), Voyages in 1788-1789 from China to Northwest America, 4-, London, 1790, pp. i-xl.
MENDENHALL, 1898-1900.
Mr. Walter Curran Mendenhall, geologist of the United States Geological Survey, was attached to a military exploring expedition under the command of Capt. E. F. Glenn, known as Military Expedi- tion No. 3, which in the summer of 1898 explored east of Cook inlet and thence northeastward up the Matanuska and across to the Tanana river. Mendenhall's results are published in the Twentieth Annual Report of the Geological Survey, Part VII, pp. 265-340.
In 1900 Mendenhall was attached, as geologist, to a party in charge of W. J. Peters, working in the eastern part of Seward peninsula. His report is now in proof and will soon appear as a special publication of the United States Geological Survey.
MOORE (E. K.), 1895-1898.
Lieut. Commander Edwin K. Moore, U. S. N., succeeded W. I. Moore in command of the Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer Patterson on March 15, 1895, and remained in command until recalled in the spring of 1898 to participate in the Spanish war. Thus he had three survey- ing seasons in Alaska, all in Alexander archipelago; the first from May 13 to October, 1895, spent chiefly in Chatham and Peril straits; the second from August S to October 6, 1896, in Peril strait; and the
42
GEOGRAPHIC DICTIONARY OF ALASKA.
[BULL. 187.
last from April 30 to October 9, 1897, chiefly in and to the north of Sitka sound.
For an account of his work see Coast and Geodetic Survey Reports, 1895, pp. 50-52; 1896, pp. 43-45; 1897, pp. 39-40; 1898, pp. 49-50; also Coast Survey charts 8170, 8281, 8283.
MOORE (W. I.), 1892-1895.
Lieut. William I. Moore, U. S. N., succeeded Mansfield in command of the Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer Patterson on February 2, 1892, and remained in command till March 15, 1895, when he was relieved by Lieut. Commander E. K. Moore, U. S. N. During the season of 1892, which began at Vixen bay, in Boca de Quadra, on May 12 and ended at Security bay on September 19, surveys were made in Dixon entrance, Boca de Quadra, Clarence strait, Revillagigedo channel, and Keku strait. In this season's work Lieut. W. P. Ray, U. S. N., commanding the MeArthur, cooperated.
The season's work of 1893 began at Port Simpson on May 3 and ended at Sitka on September 1. A survey was made of Sitka harbor and approaches, and the ship was used for transporting boundary parties.
The season of 1894 began on May 27 and ended on August 14, dur- ing which surveys were made chiefly in Chatham strait, between Peril strait and Icy strait.
For an account of his work see Coast and Geodetic Survey Reports, 1893, Part I, pp. 54-56; 1894, Part I, pp. 50-51; 1895, pp. 50-51; also Coast Survey charts 8075, 8214, 8240, 8283.
MOSER, 1897-98.
Lieut. Commander Jefferson Franklin Moser, U. S. N., commanded the Fish Commission steamer Albatross during her cruises in Alaska in 1897 and 1898. Moser, in the cruise of 1897, collected hydrographic notes and made sketches of harbors and anchorages here and there. These notes and maps were published by the Coast and Geodetic Sur- vey in 1899 as Bulletins 37 and 38. Moser's report for 1897-98 was published in 1899 in Fish Commission Bulletin for 1898, pp. 1-178; this was also issued separately.
MURASHEF, 1839-40.
Sub-Lient. Mikhail Murashef sailed with Tebenkof in the Russian American Company's ship Elena from Cronstadt on August 5, 1835, and, rounding Cape Horn, arrived at Sitka on April 16, 1836. The ship was kept in the colonies. Murashef made surveys, apparently very good ones, along the strait separating Afognak and Kodiak in 1839-40. The results are shown on Russian Hydrographic chart No. 1425, published in 1849.
43
AUTHORITIES.
BAKER.
MURDOCH, 1881-1883.
John Murdoch was a member of Ray's party at Point Barrow, 1881-1883, as naturalist and observer. The natural history in Ray's report (pp. 89-200) was written by him. Murdoch also studied the Eskimo, acquired some knowledge of their language, and published, in 1892, Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition, in the Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1887-88, pp. 1-441.
NELSON, 1877-1881.
Mr. Edward William Nelson was stationed for about four years (June 1877 to 1881) at St. Michael, Norton sound, in the employment of the United States Signal Service, and as a collector for the Smith- sonian Institution. During that period he made sledge journeys in the vicinity, and one, especially noteworthy, of about 1,200 miles through the Yukon delta. This journey, made in December, 1878, and January, 1879, yielded considerable geographic knowledge of the region traversed. The map results were incorporated in the maps of the Tenth Census, and a special map with a description of the journey was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society for 1882, Vol. IV, pp. 660 to 670.
NICHOLS, 1881-1883.
Lieut. Commander Henry E. Nichols, U. S. N., in command of the Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer Hassler, made surveys in Alex- ander archipelago during three seasons, 1881-1883. In 1881 he made surveys in Kaigani and Wrangell straits and magnetic observations at various places. In 1882, from July 6 to November 20, his work was in and about Revillagigedo channel and northward to Wrangell. In 1883, from May 16 to October 13, he surveyed several harbors just north of Dixon entrance. He was relieved of his command by Lieut. Commander A. S. Snow on March 6, 1884.
In 1888-1890 he again served in the Coast Survey and wrote a revised edition of the Alaska Coast Pilot, which was published in 1891.
For an account of his work see Coast and Geodetic Survey Reports. 1882, pp. 52-53; 1883, pp. 59-60; 1884, pp. 70-71; also Coast Survey charts 707, 709, 710, 713, 8072, 8074.
NORTH PACIFIC EXPLORING EXPEDITION, 1854-55.
Exploration and surveys were made in the North Pacific, Aleutian islands, Bering sea, and on the Siberian coast by United States naval officers in 1854 and 1855. The expedition was under the command of Capt. Cadwalader Ringgold, U. S. N. Owing to ill health he gave up the command to Capt. John Rodgers, who commanded the U. S. S. Vincennes, while Lieuts. William Gibson and Beverly Kennon were on
44
GEOGRAPHIC DICTIONARY OF ALASKA.
[BULL. 187.
the U. S. schooner Fenimore Cooper. The expedition is referred to as the North Pacific Exploring Expedition and also as the Ringgold and Rodgers Exploring Expedition. The resulting maps were published by the United States Hydrographic Office, but the journals exist only in manuscript and no general account or report, so far as the writer knows. has ever been published. See United States Hydrographic Office charts 8, 54, 55, 60, and 68.
PENDER, 1868.
Staff Commander David Pender, R. N., made a survey of Portland canal and vicinity in 1868. This was a survey along the boundary of the then newly purchased Alaska. The resulting map was published as a fly leaf attached to British Admiralty chart 2431.
PETERS AND BROOKS, 1898-99.
In the summer of 1898 a party of the United States Geological Survey in charge of Mr. William John Peters, topographer, with whom went Mr. Alfred Hulse Brooks as geologist, made a reconnais- sance of parts of the White and Tanana river basins. A report on this work was made by Mr. Brooks and published in the Twentieth Annual Report of the Geological Survey, Part VII, pp. 425-494.
In 1899 Peters and Brooks continued their explorations, going from the head of Lynn canal northwestward and northward to Eagle, on the Yukon. The report on this work was written by Brooks and published in the Twenty-first Annual Report of the Geological Survey, Part II, pp. 331-391.
PETROF, 1880.
Ivan Petrof was special agent of the Tenth Census (1880) for Alaska and prepared a Report on the Population, Industries, and Resources of the territory, which forms 189 pages of Volume VIII of the Tenth Census of the United States, published in 1884. This report and two general maps of Alaska issued by the Census Office, one dated 1880, the other 1882, have been most useful and helpful in making this dic- tionary. The references to Petrof are chiefly to these two maps. References to Bancroft's History of Alaska are usually credited to Petrof, who wrote that work.
A preliminary report on che population, industries, and resources of Alaska was published early in 1881 as House of Representative Ex. Doc. No. 40, Forty-sixth Congress, third session. In this report is a general map of Alaska showing Petrof's route of travel in his census work. He was at Kodiak, the Shumagins, Sannak, Belkofski, Una- laska, Unimak, Atka, Pribilof islands, and St. Michael, and traveled in western Alaska from St. Michael to Kodiak, including journeys for considerable distances up the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers.
45
BAKER.]
AUTHORITIES.
PORTLOCK AND DIXON, 1786-87.
The King George's Sound Company, organized as a commercial partnership in May, 1785, fitted out two vessels for trading on the northwest coast of America and China. One of these, the King George, was placed under the command of Capt. Nathaniel Portloek, the other, the Queen Charlotte, under the command of Capt. George Dixon. Both of these officers had served under Cook in his voyage on the Alaskan coast in 1778. The vessels departed from England on September 16, 1785, rounded Cape Horn, touched at the Hawaiian islands, and on July 16, 1786, arrived in Cook inlet. Leaving this anchorage, the two vessels cruised eastward and southward along the coast as far as Nootka and went thence to the Hawaiian islands, arriving on December 1, 1786. Here both remained until March 15, 1787, and then sailed together for Prince William sound, arriving on April 25, and remaining there till July 31, when the ships parted company and Portlock ernised east to the vicinity of Sitka and thence via the Hawaiian islands and China back to England. He made a few additions to the geographie knowl- edge of the then almost unknown Alaska coast, sketched a few harbors, and named a few places. Both Portlock and Dixon wrote accounts of their voyages, which were published at London in 1789. Portlock's is entitled A Voyage Round the World, etc., 4º, London, 1789.
PRIBILOF, 1786.
Gerassim Gavrilovich Pribilof, master in the Russian Navy, was the son of one of the sailors who accompanied Bering in 1741. He entered the service of the Lebedef-Lastochkin company in 1778. In 1786 he sought for and discovered in Bering sea the breeding place of the fur seals, the group of islands that now bear his name. He died in Sitka in March, 1796. It does not appear that he published anything.
PROSPECTORS AND MINERS.
Ever since the purchase of Alaska, in 1867, prospectors and miners have visited it and gone from time to time here and there. Within the last four or five years there have been several gold excitements and grand rushes to the territory. These prospectors and miners rushing in have named many features, though rarely in print. Subsequently government explorers and surveyors have obtained these names from prospectors' stakes or by word of mouth and have published them. In this dictionary such names are, as far as practicable or known, accredited to the prospectors and miners.
RAY, 1881-1883.
Early in the eighties the leading nations of the world undertook simultaneous exploration of the North Polar regions. The plan was for each participating nation to establish as far north as practicable a
46
GEOGRAPHIC DICTIONARY OF ALASKA.
[BULL. 187.
station for meteorologie and magnetic observations and to maintain it for three years. In this work the United States participated by estab- lishing two stations, one under Gen. Adolphus Washington Greely, U. S. A., at Lady Franklin bay, the other under Capt. Patrick Henry Ray, U. S. A., at Point Barrow, Alaska. With Ray, as observers, assistants, etc., were, among others, John Murdoch, Middleton Smith, Edward Perry Herendeen, and Sergie Smolianinof, a Russian, who is called in the records A. C. Dark. Smolianinof died in Washington on February 11, 1901.
The party sailed from San Francisco on July 18, 1881, on the schooner Golden Fleece and reached Point Barrow on September 8. Here a permanent station was established and maintained till August 27, 1883. On the 29th the party sailed away on the schooner Leo, reached San Francisco on October 7, and was disbanded on the 15th. Between March 28 and April 7, 1883, Ray made a sledge journey into the interior, and he published a map resulting from this exploration. Ray's report with accompanying papers was published in 1885 as House of Representatives Ex. Doc. No. 44, Forty-eighth Congress, second session.
RAYMOND, 1869.
Capt. (now Lieut. Col.) Charles Walker Raymond, United States Engineers, was in 1869 directed to go to Fort Yukon and determine its geographic position. At that time there was doubt in some minds whether Fort Yukon was in British or American territory. Raymond went up the river in the summer of 1869, found that the fort was in American territory, and made a report on the work assigned him, entitled Report of a Reconnaissance of the Yukon River, Alaska Territory, July to September, 1869. This was published in 1871 as Senate Ex. Doc. No. 12, Forty-second Congress, first session. The map of the river accompanying this report is the one cited in this dictionary. The map was also issued separately.
REID, 1890-1892.
Prof. Harry Fielding Reid, formerly of the Case School of Applied Sciences at Cleveland, Ohio, and now of Johns Hopkins University, visited Muir glacier in the summer of 1890 and made a study of it and the surrounding region. He returned to it again in 1892 and made further studies there. An account of the work of 1890, accompanied by sketch maps, was published in the National Geographic Magazine in 1892, Vol. IV, pp. 19-84. Later studies were published in 1896 in the Sixteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, Part I, pp. 415-461. The map results are incorporated in map No. 3095 of the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
47
AUTHORITIES.
BAKER.]
ROHN, 1899.
In the summer of 1899 Mr. Oscar Rohn, who was attached to a military exploring expedition under the command of Capt. W. F. Abercrombie, had charge of a detachment which explored the region south and east of Mount Wrangell. A preliminary report on this work was submitted to the War Department and a later and fuller report to the Geological Survey. The last is published in the Twenty-first Annual Report of the Geological Survey. Part II, pp. 393-440.
RUSSELL, 1889-1891.
Prof. Israel Cook Russell, then of the United States Geological Survey, visited the Yukon valley in 1889 and the Mount St. Elias region in 1890. In the latter year he explored Malaspina glacier and Yakutat bay under the auspices of the National Geographic Society and the United States Geological Survey. This work he continued in 1891. For an account of the work of 1890, see National Geographic Magazine, Vol. III, pp. 53-203; and for that of 1891 see Thirteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, Part II, pp. 1-91.
RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY, 1799-1867.
The Russian American Company was chartered on June 8, 1799, for twenty years. On September 23, 1821, its charter was renewed for twenty years. In 1844 it was again renewed for twenty years. to date from January 1, 1842. The unchartered company after 1862 continued, on sufferance, till the purchase of Alaska by the United States, in 1867. Much geographic information was gathered and published by officers of the company. Information cited in this dictionary is credited to such officers when known, but otherwise to the company. The prin- cipal reference to the company's results are to a map of Baranof island contained in its report for 1849.
RUSSIANS.
In this dictionary there are a considerable number of names ac- credited to the Russians without being more specific. This was unavoidable because more specific information was lacking. The names so accredited come chiefly from charts issued by the Russian Hydrographic Department. Between 1844 and 1854 a dozen (more or less) charts of northwest America, Bering sea, and the Arctic were issued as parts of a Pacific ocean series and subsequently given new numbers.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.