1648 Russian Semeon Dezhnev sails through Bering Strait and lands in the Diomede Islands. Russians in Siberia are aware of trade between Alaska, Chukchi, and Asiatic Eskimos.

1732 Russians M.S. Gvozdev and Ivan Fedorov in the Sv. Gabriel venture north from the Kamchatka Peninsula. Expedition members go ashore on Little Diomede Island and later sight the North America mainland at Cape Prince of Wales and King Island. Contacts with Natives are recorded.

Pre/post-1700 On-going contact among inhabitants on both sides of Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea; contact also on-going among inhabitants of southeastern Alaska and north Pacific coast; pre-Russian contact population estimated at 12,000-15,000 Aleuts

1728 Vitus Bering sighted and named St. Lawrence Island and the Diomede Islands

1741 Bering and Chirikov voyages to northwestern North America; Alexei Chirikof first European to sight Alaska

Georg Wilhelm Steller on board Bering second expedition extensively recorded fauna and flora

Shumagin Islands site of first meeting between Europeans and Aleuts

Aleut population throughout Aleutians estimated at 16,000

Shumagin Islands sighted by Lt. Sven Waxell on Bering second expedition

1742 First scientific report on the North Pacific fur seal

1745 Russian fur hunters on vessel Sv. Evdokim landed on Agattu Island and were greeted by armed Aleut residents

1747 Sv. Edokim wintered on Attu; armed encounters occur with resident Aleuts, villagers killed

1750 Arctic foxes introduced to Attu from Bering Island by Andreian Tolstykh

Russian ship Sv. Petr wrecked in Near Islands group, crew rescued

1753 Sep. 2-3, Russian ship Sv. Iermiia wrecked at Adak Is.

1756 Petr Bashmakov sailed eastward, sighting 13 new islands

1758 Russian navigator Pankov landed on the Fox Islands

Russian fur trader Stephen Glotov was first European to visit and trade peacefully with Umnak and Unalaska Islanders

Andreian Tolstykh introduced sea otter nets to Attuans

1760 Russian merchant Andriian Tolstykh conducted first detailed census of Adak Island inhabitants Armed conflicts throughout Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Island occurred between Russians and Aleuts

1760-80 Height of Aleutian sea otter hunting

1762 Russian merchant vessels destroyed by Aleuts at Unalaska Island

Russian vessel Sv.Petr i Pavel wrecked at Shemya Is., most of the crew survived

1763 Kodiak Island sighted by Stephen Gloto

1764 Massacre of Russians on Umnak Island by Aleuts

1765 Armed conflict on Sedanka Island between Russians and Aleuts

Soloviek massacres of Aleuts in the Unalaska area

1767 Russian Afanasii Ocheredin and Aleuts of Umnak Island attack and destroy villages in the Islands of the Four Mountains in the Aleutians

St. Matthew Island sighted by Russian expedition under Lt. Synd

1768 Steller sea cow presumed extinct

1768 Russian Navy Captain Levashov winters at Unalaska, adopts two Aleut boys, and does watercolors showing Unangan/Eastern Aleuts tools and weapons, clothing, and houses

1770 Russian fur traders working for Pavel Lebedev-Lastochkin build a warehouse at Unalaska in the Aleutian Islands. Although not occupied permanently, the building indicates a sustained Russian presence in Alaska

1778 Captain James Cook and crew explored Bering Sea and Alaskan coastline, named the Barren Islands

1780 Unknown Japanese wreck at Rat Island. Rats escaping the wreck invaded the island; it has been known ever since as Rat Is.

1780s By this time all of the Aleutian Islands had been sighted and exploited for fur

1781 Shelikov-Golikov (Northeastern Company) organized

By this year, Aleut population estimated at 1,900

1784 First permanent Russian settlement established on Kodiak Island at Three Saints Bay

1785 Russian ship Sv. Evpl wrecked at Pankov harbor, Amlia Is., crew and cargo save

1786 Russian fur trader Gavriil Prilbylov finds the islands in the Bering Sea that bear his name. Russians took Unangan/Aleuts to the islands to hunt the Northern Fur Seals that breed there, and later moved families to the islands to live permanently

The last private fur-hunting vessel, the Ioann Rylskii, left Russian American waters for Kamchatka

1787 Russian merchant vessel discovered St. Paul

Pribylov brought to St. Paul 137 Aleuts who had been removed from Atka and Unalaska

Empress Catherine the Great orders crests to be placed on all islands which accepted Russian sovereignty

1788 Russians enslave Aleuts to hunt fur seals

1790 Appointed by Catherine the Great, Capt. Joseph Billings commanded A Secret Astronomical and Geographical Expedition throughout the Aleutian Islands

1790-92 Gavrila Andreevich Sarichev explored and surveyed the Aleutian Islands

1795 First Russian Orthodox clergy arrive in the Aleutian Islands

1796 Volcanic action resulting in Bogoslof Island

Orthodox Hieromonk Makarii leaves Unalaska with six Unangan/Aleuts for St. Petersburg to protest Russian treatment of Native people. The tsar met with the two Natives who reach St. Petersburg and Makarii, but nothing comes of the meeting. The three men die returning to Alaska

1741-98 Over 400,000 seals, 96,000 sea otters, 102,000 foxes taken in Russian American

1799 Russian American Company granted 20 year political authority and trade monopoly over Russian America

Tsar Paul I grants the Russian-American Company, formed by Shelikhov?s heirs and other Siberian entrepreneurs, sole trading rights in North America for 20 years. Baranov remains General Manager. The third and last charter, issued in 1844, classifies Native people as dependent (Unangan/Aleuts, Koniag), semi-dependent (Chugach), and independent (Tlingit).

1802-04 Gavril Ivanovich Davidov led scientific research voyage throughout Aleutians

1804 Led by Baranov, Russians and Unangan/Aleuts return to reoccupy Sitka. They are aided by a Russian navy ship Neva. After two weeks of fighting what some call the Battle of Sitka, the Tlingit leave the area. Tlingit oral accounts describe their survival march across Baranof Island. Tlingit return to live at Sitka in 1819 at the invitation of the Russians after Baranov?s departure.

1805 Russian American Company banned sealing on the Pribilof Islands

1806 Russian merchant vessel Eclipse, with a cargo of furs, wrecked on the Sanak Islands

1808 Pribilof Island sealing ban lifted

Flu epidemic decimates Aleuts

Unalaska's first Russian Orthodox church constructed

1812 The Russian-American Company establishes Fort Ross, north of today?s San Francisco. Russians, Unangan/Aleut and Alutiiq settle there to hunt sea otters, grow food for Alaska settlements, and establish Russian sovereignty. The company sells the post in 1841.

1816 Otto von Kotzebue captain brig Rurik sailed throughout Bering Sea

1820 Yunaska Island on fire

1821 Russian Orthodox church built on St. Paul

Russian tsar issued a ukase, which claimed Russian sovereignty from 51E north latitude to Bering Strait and prohibited foreign vessels from trading, whaling or fishing within 115 miles of shore.

1823 Sanak residents relocate to Belkofski/Russians settle Aleuts at Belkofski to harvest sea otters

1824 Ivan Veniaminov, Russian Orthodox missionary, arrives in the Aleutian Islands. Assisted by Ivan Pankov, a Tigalda Island leader, Veniaminov learns the Unangan/Eastern Aleut language, develops an alphabet, and records information about the people and their customs. The two write a Unangan/Aleut catechism, the first book written in an Alaska Native language. Veniaminov moves to Sitka in 1834 and does similar work with the Tlingit. There he starts an all-colonial school to educate Natives and Creoles and obtains Russian-American Company support for it. Veniaminov leaves Alaska in 1845. As head of the church in Moscow, he continues support of the Alaska mission after Russia sells Alaska to the U.S.

1825 Attu chapel in existence by this date

By this time, Aleuts were present on only 16 islands and their total population was less than 2,000

1824-34 Ivan Veniaminof recorded extensive notes on Unalashka district

American and British sea otter trade ceased

1831 Russian ship Sivutch wrecked E. of Wall Bay, Atka Is., ship lost but crew and cargo saved

1843 First bowhead whales taken in north Pacific waters

1844-54 Russian Hydrographic Department issued charts of northwestern North America, Bering Sea and the Arctic

1846 Two hundred ninety-two whalers from New England sailed for the north Pacific

1848 By this date chapel built on Amchitka

1849 Amchitka Island abandoned after 2,500 years of occupation

1851 First of six whaling ships outfitted by the company SUOMI, was sent out

1855 U.S. Navy North Pacific Exploring Expedition

1861 Third Charter of the Russian American Company ran out

1862 Mass drowning off Ilak

1863/4 Flu epidemic hits Atkha (Atka) and Amlia area

1864 San Francisco based Ice Company offered to purchase from the Tsar the 20 year Russian American charter

1865 June 22-28: last shots of American Civil War fired in the Bering Sea by Confederate vessel Shenandoah on New England whaling boats

1867 Russian America sold by Russia to the United States; Congress proposed it be called Alaska, a derivative from the Aleut term Alaxaxaq "for land east of the Aleutians"

Vessels and property of Russian-American Company purchased by American interests

1868 Three American vessels landed in the Pribilofs seeking to trade food, alcohol and clothing for fur seal skins. 365,000 fur sealskins taken in this one year

1869 Pribilof Islands Reservation, encompassing Walrus and Otter Islands, established by proclamation to protect fur-bearing animals, making it the oldest wildlife reservation in the United States

1870 The U.S. Government awards the Alaska Commercial Company a lease to exclusively harvest fur seals on the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea. The lease requires the company to hire local people and provide food, housing, and education for them.

1871 July 10th, junk Jinko Maru wrecked at Atka Is.

September - fleet of 32 New Bedford whaling ships trapped in Chukchi Sea ice; crews eventually rescued by other whalers, the ships were crushed

1871-72 William Healy Dall surveyed Aleutian Islands and recorded bird numbers reduction from foxes

1872-73 Henry Wood Elliott conducted Pribilof Islands bird and marine mammal reports

1878 Lucien M. Turner noted scarcity of birds due to fox and human activities; effects upon Aleutian Canada geese by foxes

Western Fur & Trading Company established a fur storage and trading port at Akutan

1880s American trapping established in the Aleutian Islands

1881 Samuel Applegate, US Signal Corps meteorologist, mapped area using schooner Nellie Juan

Only two Aleut settlements remain in western and central Aleutians, at Atkha (Atka) and Chichagof harbor

1884 Ivan Petroff recorded historical research and travel throughout Aleutian Islands

Semidi Propagation Company founded

1886 U.S. Treasury revenue cutter ordered to seize all domestic and foreign craft caught hunting Alaskan fur seals

1890 Samuel Applegate prepared census of Aleut population and resources for Third Alaska District

1891 Last walrus shot on Walrus Island

1892 Afognak Island proclaimed a Fish Cultural Reserve and Forest Reserve by President Harrison

1893 Fish Commission steamer Albatross transported Treasury Department agents to investigate fur seal herds of Pribilof Islands and Bering Sea

1894 May 11th, whaling bark James Allen struck a rock at E. end of Amlia Is. and sank, 15 crew saved, 25 lost

Long Island stocked with foxes

1896 Sept.7th, schooner Hueneme struck a rock near Scotch Cap, Unimak Is. during S.E. squalls and immediately started to break up. Crew rescued but ship and cargo lost

Cattle introduced to Simeonof Island by O.W. Carlson

1897 Will Duffield conducted topographical survey of Pribilof Islands and their seal rookeries

Ogliuga, Samalga Islands stocked with foxes

Feeding of foxes began in Pribilof Islands; old trapping methods ceases

1898 U.S. Geological Survey began extensive exploration and mapping of Alaska

Sidewheel steamer Eliza Anderson wrecked at Unalaska Is.

1898 Sand Point was founded

1899 Harriman Expedition: 9,000 mile journey along Alaskas coastline

1900 Alaskas first game law created which protected eggs of wild fowl

1901 Feb. 20th, schooner Iliamna wrecked at Kagalaska Is., crew saved

1902 Legal provisions created to set closed and open hunting seasons, bag limits and restrictions

December 6th, 27 ton schooner J.B. Ward wrecked on Unimak Is.

1903 National Wildlife Refuge System began with Pelican Island in Florida

1906 Armed conflict between Pribilof Island Aleuts and fur seal hunting schooners

1906-11 Reign of Terror: efforts by Pribilof Islanders to hold off fur sealing pirate vessels

1907 Sept.30th, schooner Glen stranded at E. Anchor Cove, Unimak Is.

Oct. 6th, schooner St. Paul wrecked on W. side of Chowiet Is.

1908 Jan. 8th, schooner John F. Miller wrecked at E. Anchor Cove while attempting to salvage Glen, 10 lives lost

Legal authority given to territorial governor to issue hunting, guiding and export licenses and permits for scientific collection

1909 Feb. 27th--St. Matthew Island, Hall Island and Pinnacle Island established as the Bering Sea Reservation by President Theodore Roosevelt

Feb. 27th--Tuxedni Reservation established by President Roosevelt, encompassing Chisik and Egg Islands

Feb. 27th--Saint Lazaria Reservation established by President Roosevelt

Feb. 27th Walrus and Otter Islands proclaimed Pribilof Bird Reservation

March 2--President Theodore Roosevelts Executive Order established the Bogoslof Reservation, containing the volcanic islets of the Bogoslof islands

Apr. 30th, American square rigged ship Columbia wrecked at Unimak Bay, Unimak Is

1909-10 Waldemar Joechelson led Aleut-Kamchatka anthropological expedition under Imperial Russian geographical Society

1909-53 Active cod fishing base stations maintained in the Shumagin Island and Sanak Island

1910 End of North American Commercial Company lease and beginning of U.S. government control of Pribilofs

Act to Protect the Seal Fisheries of Alaska approved

1911 International Fur Seal Treaty banned pelagic sealing in the North Pacific

Arthur Cleveland Bent conducted extensive Aleutian Islands bird work

Alaska Whaling Company built whaling station on Akutan

Semichi Island stocked with foxes

King Cove was established

 

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1912 Alaska becomes a territory of the United States

Jan, 11th--President Tafts Executive Order established Forrester Island Reservation, encompassing Forrester, Lowrie and Wolf Rocks islands

Jan. 11th--Hazy Islands Reservation established by President Taft

Dec. 7--Chamisso Island Reservation established by President Taft

President Tafts Executive Order barred foreign vessel visitation of Kiska Island

1913 March 3rd--Aleutian Islands Reservation established by President Taft, encompassing all islands of the Aleutian chain, including Unimak and Sanak islands, and extending to Attu Island

Federal Migratory Bird Law fixed closed hunting seasons on migratory birds

Reindeer stocked on Unalaska and Umnak

1914 First canvas bidarka cover made on Pribilofs

Sagchudak, Unalga Island stocked with foxes

Sept. 20th, U.S. Revenue cutter Tahoma wrecked on an uncharted reef 31 miles off Buldir Island. Vessel broke up the following day, all crew survived by taking to the lifeboats

Sulphur was discovered on west end of Akun Island; tramway built which was destroyed in 1921 or 1922

1916 Kavalga, Unak, Tagalak, West Unalga, Salt, Ananiuliak Island stocked with foxes

1917 May 14th, the 1,898 ton ship St. Francis stranded at Middle Point, Unimak Is. after missing a tack. All 281 crew and cannery workers saved

July 13th, Japanese steamship Kotohiro Maru wrecked on S.E. end of Amchitka Is., crew survived, ship became a total loss

1918 Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act signed by the United States and Great Britain (upon Canada s behalf) addressed migratory birds of both countries

Tanaklak, Little Kiska, Yunaska, Poa Island stocked with foxes

Chankliut Island planted mice for fox feed

1919 May 13th, 307 ton three masted schooner Premier wrecked at Unimak Is.

Nohatamie Island stocked with foxes

1920 Nohatamie Island stocked with ground squirrels to be used for fox food

1920-25 Donald Stevenson assigned as Aleutian Islands Reservation warden

1921 Amchitka, Keegale, Tangik Island stocked with foxes

Pelt tax and license fee required for Territorial game privileges

1922 Ilak, Kagalaska, Chugul, Igitkin, Rat, Semisopochnoi, Tanaga, Umak, Little Tanaga, Vsevidof, Aiktak, Kaligagan stocked with foxes

1923 Eight out of ten islands in the Aleutian Islands Reserve leased for fox farming; Chowiet and Simeonof Islands not leased

1924 Citizen Act collectively naturalized all Alaskan native peoples

Sheep were landed on Unalaska and Unimak and grazing permit issued

1925 Alaska Game Law established to protect game, fur-bearing animals and birds through administration of Alaska Game Commission

Eastern Aleutians patrolled by Alaska Game Commission vessel M/V Seal

Amchitka Island resettled

Olaus Murie conducted biological reconnaissance of Amak Island

1928 May 22-23, the 2,163 ton steel sailing ship Star of Falkland wrecked at Akun Head, Unimak Pass. All but one of the crew was saved, ship became a total loss

Akun deleted from refuge to encourage development

August 19th, the three masted schooner Maweema wrecked on St. George Is.

1929 Fur farming lease applied for on Amak Island

Commercial herring fishing began out of Unalaska

Migratory Bird Conservation Act authorized purchase or rental of lands suitable for bird refuges

1929-31 Misao Tatenaki and Yoshio Kokayaski conducted botanical investigations from Attu to Unalaska; speculation existed about their true motives

???? Kanaga Ranching Company - Bowman

1930s Homer Jewel was Aleutian Islands game warden

1930 President Hoover added Amak Island, Sea Lion Rocks and an unnamed island to Aleutian Islands Reservation

1931 June 17th--Semidi Islands Wild Life Refuge established by President Hoover

1932 Sept. 27th, freighter Nevada wrecked on Amatignak Island, three out of 37 crew survived

Eric Hulten and W.J. Egerdam conducted extensive flora studies and noted recovering western Aleutians sea otter populations

Ushagat Island planted with breeding fox pairs

1934 Indian Reorganization Act

Nov., M/V Brown Bear patrolled Aleutian Islands for Alaska Game Commission

Six US Navy minesweepers assigned to augment the US Coast and Geodetic Survey fleet in an extensive charting expedition in the Aleutian Islands

Aleut Timeline Page Two

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