Unalaska/Dutch Harbor History
 
“Crossroads of the Aleutians," Unalaska has witnessed sweeping change in nine-thousand years of human history.

The Unangan people were the first to inhabit the island of Unalaska which they named “Ounalashka” meaning ‘Near the Peninsula’. They developed an intricate and complex society long before the first contact with Russian fur traders who documented their existence. Artifacts, stories, and re-creations of their rich culture can be viewed and studied at the Museum of the Aleutians with many artifacts dating back almost 9,000 years.

 The Russian influence is best viewed by touring the Holy Ascension Russian Orthodox Cathedral, one of the oldest cruciform-style Russian churches in the country. The Cathedral is a National Historic Landmark and houses one of Alaska's largest and richest collections of Russian artifacts, religious icons and art pieces, some having been donated to the church directly from Catherine the Great.

Dutch Harbor is also known to War veterans and history buffs as the only land in North America, besides Pearl Harbor, that was bombed by Japanese zeros during World War II. Evidence of the Armed Forces' bunkers, Quonset huts, and barracks are still visible today, dotting the green hills of Unalaska and Amaknak Islands. Tour the many remnants and remembrances of military presence throughout the island as well as at the WWII Historical Center. The sites and the Historic Center are part of the WWII National Historic Area opened by the National Park Service in 2002.

For more information concerning Unalaska/Dutch Harbor History, please visit Museum of the Aleutians: www.aleutians.org or (907) 581-5150 Aleutian WWII National Historic Area: www.nps.gov/aleu/ or call the Ounalashka Corporation (907) 581-1276

If you are seeking more in-depth information without an actual voyage to the island, there have been a variety of narrative and scholarly books written on the history of the Unangan people, the Russian occupation and WWII in the Aleutians. The following is a recommended reading list on the history of the Aleutians:

Alaska Geographic: Russian America by Alaska Geographic Society, 1999.

Alaska Geographic: Unalaska/ Dutch Harbor by Alaska Northwest books, L.J. Campbell, and Alaska Geographic Society, 1991.

Cuttlefish: Stories of Aleutian Culture and History by the students of Unalaska City School 1977-1979. Museum of the Aleutians,

Center of the Storm: the Bombing of Dutch Habor and the Experience of Patrol Wing Four in the Aleutians, Summer 1942 by Jeff Dickrell. Museum of the Aleutians

The Forgotten War: A Pictorial History of World War II in Alaska and Northwestern Canada (volumes 1-4) by Stan Cohen. Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1988.

Moments Rightly Placed, An Aleutian Memoir by Ray Hudson. Epicenter Press, 1998.

Umnak, the People Remember by Tyler M. Schlung. Museum of the Aleutians,

World War II in the Aleutians. U.S. Department of the Interior. National Park Service Alaska Regional Office, 1992.


 Historical Timeline
 
1759 August 1: First Russian party under Stepan Glotov spends three years trading on Umnak and Unalaska.
 
1763-1766 Conflict between Russian fur hunters and Unalaska Natives in which Aleuts destroy four Russian ships and kill 175 hunters. Solov'ev returns to Unalaska and directs massacre of many Aleuts.
 
1769 Captain M.D. Levashov winters in Unalaska at "Captains Bay."
 
1772-1775 Permanent Russian settlement established at Unalaska by Solov'ev.
 
1778 October: Captain Cook visits English Bay.
 
1788 August 5: Spain claims Unalaska and names it "Puerto de Dona Marie Luisa Teresa."
 
1795 The monk Macarius baptizes many residents of Unalaska Island.
 
1796-1799 The Russian-American Company is established. Unalaska becomes a major station.
 
1805 First Sitka spruce are planted on Amaknak Island.
 
1808 Chapel built at Iliuliuk.
 
1824-1834 Veniaminov lives at Unalaska. On March 25, 1824, he opens school. During 1825-1826, he builds and consecrates Church of the Holy Ascension. In the Autumn of 1830, he develops an alphabet for Aleut, and from 1830 to 1840, he translates material with the assistance of Ivan Pankov, chief of Akun, and publishes first books in Aleut.
 
1824 July: Innokenty Shaisnikoff born. He serves as priest at Unalaska for 35 years until his death on 1883; he travels extensively, records scientific observations, and translates material into Aleut.
 
1836-1840 Measles, chicken-pox, and whooping-cough epidemics reduce population.
 
1867 October 18: Alaska purchased by the United States.
 
1867 September 6: U.S. Revenue Cutter Lincoln makes first official visit to Unalaska during which the first ascent of Makushin volcano is made.
 
1868 January 4: Alaska Commercial Company establishes itself here.
 
1870 June: Unalaska has first deputy collector of customs.
 
1872 William Dall discovers evidence of earlier settlements in archaeological digs.
 
1873 August: Small wharf is constructed.
 
1882 The Bishop's House was built by the Alaska Commercial Company for Bishop Nester. He is buried in the Russian Orthodox churchyard. Through the next 59 years, 17 priests lived in this house.
 
1885 Government school operates for one year.
 
1886 April 19: Aleut hunters petition President Cleveland for improvement in sea-otter hunting conditions.
 
1887 Vasili Shaisnikoff elected chief of village.
 
1889 June: J.A. Tuck arrives to open what in 1890 becomes the Jesse Lee Home.
 
1890-1920's Blue fox farming undertaken by Unalaskans.
 
1896 Tuck leaves Unalaska and the mission is directed by Agnes Sowle who marries Dr. Albert Newhall. Dr. Newhall directs the Home until it's transfer to Seward.
 
1899-1905 Nome gold rush brings many ships through Dutch Harbor where the North American Commercial Company has a coaling station.
 
1900 Epidemic causes the death of one-third of the population.
 
1912 August 24: Sea-otter hunting stopped by law.
 
1919 June: Worldwide flu epidemic strikes island.
 
1930's Herring industry thrives.
 
1932 B.I.A. hospital built.
 
1937 October 22: Death of Alexis M. Yatchmeneff, chief of Unalaska for 41 years.
 
1940 August: Navy appropriates Dutch Harbor.
 
1941 August 18: Unalaska petitions to incorporate as first-class city.
 
1942 June 3-4: Japanese forces bomb Dutch Harbor and Unalaska. In July, the Aleut people are removed to Southeast Alaska until their return in April 1945.
 
1946 First Reeve Aleutian Airways flight to Dutch Harbor.
 
1950's King Crab industry begins.
 
1971 January: Government sale of Dutch Harbor stopped by civil lawsuit on behalf of Anfesia Shapsnikoff, Nick Peterson, and Henry Swanson.
 
1973 July 4: The Ounalashka Corporation is formed.
 
1978 Unalaska/Dutch Harbor is the #1 fishing port in the nation due to King Crab fishing.
 
1980 World-class container crane erected at American President Lines. Port becomes International shipping center.
 
1982 King Crab stocks crash.
 
1982-1985 Unalaska becomes staging area for exploratory oil drilling in Bering Sea.
 
1986 Fishing fleet begins conversion to bottom fishing.
 
1989 Most fisheries production in the 200 miles zone is Americanized. Unalaska/Dutch Harbor becomes Alaska's Factory Trawler base. Local shore plants process approximately 2 million pounds of product per day.

 

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