Russian Occupation of St. Matthew and Hall Islands, Bering Sea Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

Summary

St. Matthew and Hall islands are located in the Bering Sea, far from the Alaskan mainland. First discovered by the Russians between 1764 and 1766, little attempt was made to occupy or utilize these islands until 1809 when a fur hunting expedition was sent to St. Matthew to over-winter. In 2012, the USF&WS sent an archaeologist to attempt to locate the site of this earlier Russian hunting camp with archaeological investigations focused on the testing of an earlier identified cabin site on St. Matthew Island and an attempt to locate the site of cabin remains on Hall Island, noted in 1920. This paper summarizes the findings of the 2012 archaeological investigation as they relate to the earlier Russian use of these islands.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Miners, Loggers, Farmers, and Hunters: Investigating Labor in North American History   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 24