The Bible states that “Whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.” Don’t we often wonder who may have been responsible for the naming of the towns, villages, islands, navigable waters that we come in contact with daily in Alaska? Some of them appear to be of native origin while others are associated with the scientists, explorers, hunters, and colonizers of the great territory.
How did they get their designation? What are the processes necessary to have them printed on a chart or on a map? Names just don’t assign themselves. They are given by some person, but before they are official they must be sent to a government agency called the U. S. Board of Geographic Names, which is under the Department of Interior, for consideration. That board either accepts or rejects the suggested names. Alaskan names like all others of the United States come under that requirement.
Many nations have had a share in the task of identifying the various parts of Alaska. Among them are Russia, England, France, Spain, and the United States. The Russian influence combined with that of the native is probably the most pronounced of all. When Vitus Bering first navigated the waters of the Bering Sea, the shores of Alaska were known to but few white men and there was nothing on the charts of that time to indicate that Alaska existed. In 1725 he began outlining the shores of the then existing maps. Here and there lines were drawn to indicate the outstanding points and indentations seen, and names were assigned to them after his hunters, his officers, and his explorers. This continued in Russian America until the United States took over the country.
When the Russians first arrived, they found native names almost everywhere. Many of these were entered on the Russian surveys, and they can still be found having been retained by the board although in some cases the real names have disappeared and only corruptions of them remain. The various native tribes were responsible for the original designations. The native names can be divided into three general classes:
- Those of the Indian tribes of the interior and of southeastern Alaska.
- Those of the Eskimos of the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea.
- Those of the Aleuts of the Aleutian Islands and of the Alaska Peninsula as far east as Kodiak.
Between 1774 and 1800 the Spaniards appeared on the scene. Their work was all coastwise and extended from Prince William Sound south to Dixon Entrance. English names were first observed in 1778 when Cook arrived in the country. For a period of 80 years following Cook’s voyage English naval vessels and traders visited the country. Dixon, Meares, Portlock, and Vancouver are probably the most important ones in the southern section while noted arctic explorers were Captain Beechy in 1826-27 and Sir Edward Belcher in 1836-42. Beechy and Belcher not only explored but surveyed the arctic coast line. They gave the outstanding points their respective names. Their charts are still in use in the navigation to the northward from Bering Strait to Point Barrow.
The French had a number of expeditions to Alaska, but the ill-fated one of La Perouse in 1786 in the southeastern section was the only one that left any trace of ever having been here.
American names are seen all over the territory. Some of these were assigned prior to the purchase of the country. The American whaling fleet which first entered the Bering Strait in 1848 has some to its credit, while the North Pacific Exploring Expedition of 1855 left a few traces of its visit. After 1867 many official surveying expeditions entered the country and they added much to the Alaskan nomenclature. The Coast Survey was probably outstanding in this along the coast while the Geological Survey predominated in the interior. Others of interest may be mentioned, such us the Army, the Navy, the Revenue Cutter Service (now the Coast Guard), missionaries, traders, miners, etc. They all had a hand in spreading names over the area.
Among the Navy and Coast Guard officers most prominent in Alaskan explorations are the following names.
Rear Admiral L. A. Beardslee, U.S.N., U.S.S. Jamestown, 1879-80.
Rear Admiral W. E. Reynolds, U.S.R.C.S., who served on the U.S.R.C. Corwin. He landed at Wrangell Island and took possession of it in the name of the United States.
Captain E. P. Bertholf, U.S.R.C.S., U.S.R.C. Bear, and his surveys in the Arctic.
Lieut. J. C. Cantwell, U.S.R.C.S., who spent many years in Alaska. He explored the Kobuk and Noatak Rivers in 1884 and 1885. He had command of the cutter Nunivak on duty in the Yukon River from the summer of 1899 to 1901. He explored the Yukon and Koyukuk Rivers. The Cantwell River, a tributary of the Tanana River, was named after him.
Rear Admiral J. B. Coghlan, U.S.N., U.S.S. Adams, 1884.
Captain C. L. Hooper, U.S.R.C.S., who spent 25 years in the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean.
Lieut. D. H. Jarvis, U.S.R.C.S., famous for his overland trip in 1897-98 for the relief of the whalers off Barrow and his many trips on the Bear.
Second Lieut. S. B. McLenegan, U.S. R.C.S., who surveyed the Noatak River for a distance of 250 miles in 1885.
Captain C. Ringgold, U.S.N., Bering Sea and Siberian Survey in 1854-55.
Captain J. Rogers, U.S.N., in command of the U.S.S. Vincennes, and Lieut. William Gibson on the U. S. schooner Fenimore Cooper, Bering Sea and Siberian Surveys, 1855.
Lieut. Comdr. A. S. Snow, U.S.N., in the Alaskan Survey, 1886.
Lieut. Comdr. C. H. Stockton, U.S.N., in the Alaskan survey in 1889.
Lieut. George M. Stoney, U.S.N., was detailed in 1883 to carry presents to the natives of St. Lawrence Bay, Siberia, who had been especially kind to the shipwrecked officers and men of the relief ship Rogers, of whom Stoney had been one. He took passage from San Francisco in the cutter Corwin, Captain M. A. Healy in command. After delivering the presents he was landed in Kotzebue Sound where he made numerous surveys and explorations.
Rear Admiral R. W. Meade, U.S.N., in command of the U.S.S. Saginaw in 1868—69 surveying and maintaining order in the waters of the Alexander Archipelago.
Lieut. Comdr. J. F. Moser, U.S.N., in command of the U.S.S. Albatross in 1897—98 surveying and exploring the Bristol Bay areas.
Captain M. J. Healy, U.S.R.C.S., in command of the Bear and of the Corwin for many years.
Alaska covers a large area, being about one-fifth the size of the United States. As in any state in the union every little comer, nook, point, and stream is recognized and so there are thousands of more or less important landmarks through out the country. A few of these will be picked at random and their derivations traced to show how interesting they are and how far-reaching the early endeavors of the other countries of the world were.
The name Alaska is believed to be a corruption of some native word, the meaning of which is uncertain. The records indicate that in 1762 Bechevin, a Russian fur trader, wintered in Isanotski Strait, a body of water at the western end of the Alaskan Peninsula. He called the land to the eastward of him Alaksu or Alakshak. Krenitzen, another Russian, in 1768 spent the winter at the same place and he referred to the country to the eastward as Alaxa. Cook in 1788 wrote as follows: “I have already observed that the American continent is here called by the Russians, as well as by the islanders, Alaschka, which name, though it properly belongs only to the country adjoining to Oonemak (Unimak), is used by them when speaking of the American continent in general, which they know perfectly well is to be a great land.” In some of his other reports Cook refers to it as Alashka.
An island in the limelight today is Annette Island. It was called Annette by W. H. Dali, a scientist in the Coast Survey, in 1879 after his wife Annette Whitney Dali. By an act of Congress dated March 3, 1891, this island was set aside for use by the Tsimpshean Indians. On it is located Metlakatla and it is the site of a large Army airport, now under construction.
California Rock, a menacing shoal in Tongass Narrows, was so named by the Coast Survey in 1885 after the steamer California struck on it. Behm Canal, a beautiful body of water well known to all southeasterners, was named so by Vancouver in 1793 after Major Magnus von Behm, commandant of Kamchatka in 1779. There is no indication why Behm should have had the honor.
Revillagigedo Island, unpronounceable to many, was also an early bird, being named in 1793 by Vancouver after Don Juan Vicente de Guenus Pachero de Pidillo, Count of Revilla Gigedo and Viceroy of Mexico, 1789-94.
Metlakatla was named after a group of Tsimpshean Indians.
Gravina Island was so called by the Spaniard Don Jacinto Caamano in 1790.
Juneau has an interesting derivation. In 1880 two prospectors, Harris and Juneau, found some minerals on the site of the present town and located there. They named their camp Harrisburg and the district Juneau. At the same time some naval officers were reconnoitering in the vicinity and proceeded to call the camp Rockwell after Commander C. H. Rockwell, U. S. Navy. Thus, there was a confusion of names and the residents held a meeting to settle the problem once and for all. They adopted the name of Juneau.
Chilkoot Inlet was so called after a tribe of Indians which had a village near by.
Skowl Arm, also known as Skowl Bay, was so called after an Indian chief of that name living there at the time.
Skagway, famous in the gold rush days, was named by the Canadian Board of Geographical Names. Krause Brothers in 1882 wrote it Schkogue, Nichols in 1891, Shkogway. The native name is said to mean “Home of the North Wind.”
Diomede Islands, a group of three islands causing much discussion today, were first discovered by Vitus Bering on August 16, 1728, and named by him for the Holy Martyr Diomede, August 16 being St. Diomede’s day in the Russian Church calendar.
Unalaska, another name prominent in military affairs today, was discovered by the Russians in 1760. Cook in 1778 called it Oonalashka. Sarichef in 1790 wrote it Unalashka, while Petrof says Agunalashka was the original Aleut name. Father Veniaminof who lived there between 1820 and 1830 said the natives at that time called it A’u-an Alasksha.
Mt. St. Elias (18,024 feet high), a most beautiful sight from offshore in crossing the Gulf of Alaska, was discovered by Bering in 1741 on St. Elias’ day, July 27, and so named by him.
Ernest Sound was named by Vancouver in 1793 “after his Royal Highness Prince Ernest.”
Cleveland Peninsula was so called by the Coast Survey in 1886 honoring President Grover Cleveland.
Battery Islets in the southern part of Wrangell Narrows were named by a Russian named Lindenberg in 1838.
Point Barrow, the northernmost point of Alaska, was so designated by Beechy in September, 1826, after Sir John Barrow. The Eskimo name was Nuwuk or Noo- wook, meaning point.
Beechy Point on the arctic coast east °f Point Barrow was named by Sir John Franklin, English explorer, in 1826 for his friend, Captain Frederic William Beechy, R.N.
Bazan on the west coast of Dali Island was originally visited by Caamano, a lieutenant on the Spanish gunboat Aranzoza, which was sent out by Count de Revilla Gigedo, Viceroy of Mexico, on an exploration trip in 1792. He called the port Puerto del Baylio Bazan.
But a few of the many names have been listed to show the close relationship of the old world with the new. We call Alaska a new country and yet the Europeans visited this country many years before the United States was born. It is fascinating to follow up the genealogy of Alaskan nomenclature. Its sources are found in the history of the nations of the world, in the ethnological studies of the vast territory, and in the imagination of man. It makes a good game to guess how, what, when, where, and who was responsible for such a diversified group of appellations.