Who is Alaska open? Opening of Alaska

Alaska is a peninsula that is characterized by a cold climate. Summer is very short, but there are quite warm days. Winter periods are characterized by very severe frosts. But this does not frighten the Aleuts and Eskimos, who lived for a long time on this land, as well as the Indians of the Apataski tribe , Haid and Tinklit. Alaska is an insanely beautiful place. There are transparent lakes with cold water, long rivers, snow-capped mountains of amazing beauty, boundless fields and tundra. It was such landscapes that opened before the first explorers, who moved decisively to the interior of the peninsula. So who is Alaska open?

Main version

There is a basic version about the discovery of Alaska and about who first stepped on it, but there are other numerous options. However, there are no confirmations to other versions.

So who is Alaska open? Vitus Bering Jonassen is a famous sailor, officer of the Russian fleet, who was born on August 12, 1681 in Denmark, but always a soul in Russia. It is he who is considered the discoverer of Alaska. In 1741, the famous seafarer discovered and recorded on the map a peninsula located in North America. This place was given the name of Alaska. It is worth noting that for thirteen years before he could not see the peninsula because of a strong fog. Bering did not bring much joy to this discovery. Qingda very soon brought the discoverer to the grave. It happened on December 19, 1741, on the islands that he discovered, which were subsequently named after him.

Since they discovered Alaska as far back as 1741, today three maps are known to historians. They were made in the sixties of the 16th century. Maps show all the details and details of the coast of Alaska, as well as the Bering Strait, which was formerly called Anian.

The first expeditions

Answering the question about who is open Alaska, it should be noted that in 1648 the expedition headed by Semen Dezhnev and Fedor Popov set off on his journey from the mouth of the Kolyma. They sailed through the Bering Strait. However, whether they visited Alaska or not - it is not known.

About the study of lands adjacent to America, also pondered Peter the Great. This happened in the year of his death (1725). He wrote instructions to Vitus Bering with the task to swim to Kamchatka, build several ships, swim along the strait in the direction to the North, and find the place where Kamchatka is closing up with the American coast. In addition, the navigator was to draw a map of the area. But, unfortunately, the first expedition was unsuccessful. Because of the strong fogs, Bering could not see anything.

Speaking about who is open Alaska, it is also worth noting that another expedition led by geodesist Mikhail Gvozdev and navigator assistant Ivan Fedorov swam in this direction on the ship "Saint Gabriel" in 1732. On August 21, the seafarers approached the western part of Alaska. On modern maps it is the cape of Prince of Wales. But they were prevented from setting foot on the shore by strong waves.

The second attempt to study the land

A year later, the Russian government instructed Bering to go to the second Kamchatka expedition. In 1734 he arrived in Yakutsk, where he spent many years preparing supplies for the future campaign and was discussing with local bureaucrats, because without them they could not do without. At that time in Russia, in order to start something, it was necessary for all important people to pay a bribe. But Bering, a man who lived for so long in the country, has not learned this. Or just did not want to.

Only in 1740, on two packet ships under the direction of Commander Alexei Chirikov, the expedition sailed from Okhotsk to Avachinskaya Bay, where she spent the winter. The discovery of Alaska by the Russians would not have happened, had not Bering sought the mythical land of Gam. Here is such a confluence of circumstances.

What attracted the peninsula?

What does the history of Alaska contain? June 4, 1742 two ships headed toward America. But again the fog, together with a strong storm, complicated the situation. And on June 20 the ships dispersed in different directions and were lost. After this, they continued to sail one by one. Many people think that from this expedition the botanist Georg Steller stepped on the land of Alaska. And one day later, on June 16, 1741, the lands of the peninsula were also seen from St. Peter's. Returning from this research expedition to Russia, the people on the ship told the sea beavers that live in the coastal waters of Alaska - sea otters. Their fur is very good quality. Then it was considered the most expensive material in the world. It was he who contributed to the fact that the history of Alaska became known to many of those who wanted to get rich.

Also on the peninsula was discovered gold. After this discovery, a gold rush began. It lasted from 1896 to 1897. It was at this time that gold was also found on the Klondike, on the Canadian territory of the Yukon. Hoping to get rich quickly, thousands of prospectors went to the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

The disappearance of several seafarers

The first to reach the coast of the peninsula swam with the packet boat "St. Paul" under the direction of Chirikov. But because of the shallow water, the discovery of Alaska did not take place. The captain sent one boat with those who wished, but they disappeared without a trace. After a little thought, he came to the conclusion that the boat was simply damaged. Accordingly, another boat was sent. As part of the group sent a master-caulker. But, unfortunately, this group also disappeared without a trace. In total, Chirikov lost five people. Being in complete perplexity and uncertainty, the officers of "St. Paul" at the meeting came to a decision to return home.

After a short time it turned out that the missing men were taken prisoner by local residents. They were alive. Many of them even married foreigners. Later they were even given the opportunity to become Spaniards by taking citizenship, but the sailors proved proud to say that they were Russian.

Failures haunted seafarers everywhere

The ship "Saint Peter" reached Alaska on June 6, but the afflicted Bering could not get ashore because of his illness. And the way back was very difficult. The sailors died one by one from scurvy. Storm brought the vessel to the bay of one of the islands, where they came to the conclusion that it was necessary to stay the winter. Here their commander died (December 6).

Winter sailors from what was left of St. Peter's ship built a new ship. But out of 75 people only 35 remained alive. Many died during the voyage, and some during wintering. Therefore, only 35 people reached the coast of Kamchatka.

So who first came to the peninsula?

But in the West they are sure that the discovery of Alaska happened under the guidance of Steller. There is an opinion that it was he who first saw the islands of incredible beauty and snow-capped mountains. After that he had a desire to continue his research directly on the peninsula. But the captain of the ship V. Bering planned quite different. He ordered us to go back. Steller was dissatisfied with this decision and insisted that Bering give him at least a few hours to inspect the island of Kayak, where the ship had to stop to replenish the water.

New versions

There is also such a version that the Europeans discovered Alaska. They visited the state on August 21 in 1732. It is about the composition of the boat "Saint Gabriel" under the guidance of the geodesist M. S Gvozdev and the under-navigator I. Fedotov in the expedition of A. F. Shestakov and D. I. Pavlutsky. The voyage lasted from 1729 to 1735. In addition, there is also information about the arrival of Russian people in America in the XVII century.

There is another version of the scientists, which says that the discoverers of Alaska were Siberian hunters - the progenitors of most native American Indians, who went northward in the Ice Age, hunting for mammoths. The ancient inhabitants moved to the American continent through the Bering Strait. In those days it looked like a big ice bridge, which was located between two continents. When the warming has come, the water level in the world's oceans has significantly increased, flooding the bridge. Siberia and Russian Alaska were separated by the Bering Sea.

A lot of excavation and research on the peninsula gave their result: the scientists found many objects that the man used to run his farm about 12 thousand years ago, several centuries before the Ice Age ended. From this it follows that the Eskimo nationalities appeared even six thousand years before our era.

What was happening in Alaska?

The next two centuries the Russian Alaska acted as a site for fur mining. The settlements were built, and in many places the unusual churches that were created by the Aleuts and Indians under the command of Russian missionaries are still preserved. In the future, the shores of Alaska were visited by sailors from Spain, France, and Britain. But only Russian people sailed to the peninsula in order to obtain fur, which was subsequently delivered in very large quantities to Europe. After a certain period of time, the number of animals with valuable fur became much smaller. By the 1820s Russians hardly ever came to the coast of Alaska.

How was the peninsula sold?

Above, the main hypotheses about how Alaska was discovered were laid out. The history of its sale should also be briefly highlighted. The Russian government was afraid that the peninsula would be captured either by Britain or America. In addition, it was not possible to completely protect their possessions from this. This is the first reason that caused the sale of the island. The second reason was that it was necessary to support the development of a large territory with the help of money. But the government decided to give all attention to the Far East, and not to Alaska. Therefore, it was decided to sell the peninsula. In 1867, Alaska was sold. The state officially became part of America on October 18.

It should be noted that the money for it never reached Russia. The main amount of money in the form of gold was loaded on a ship that sank for unknown reasons after a failed attempt to capture by the conspirators. However, this did not affect the final result of the transaction. The peninsula became part of the United States. Alaska no longer belonged to Russia.