Unalaska (; ) is a volcanic island in the Fox Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in the US state of Alaska located at . The island has a land area of . It measures long and wide. The city of Unalaska, Alaska, covers part of the island and all of neighboring Amaknak Island where the Port of Dutch Harbor is located. The population of the island excluding Amaknak as of the 2000 census was 1,759 residents.
Unalaska is the second-largest island in the Fox Islands group and the Aleutian Islands. The coastline of Unalaska is markedly different in appearance than other major Aleutian Islands, with numerous inlets and peninsulas. The irregular coastline is broken by three long deep bays, Beaver Inlet, Unalaska Bay, and Makushin Bay, as well as by numerous smaller bays and coves. Unalaska's terrain is rugged and covered with mountains, and during the greater part of the year, the higher elevations are covered with snow.US Coast Pilot 9, Chapter 7, Aleutian Islands The highest point on Unalaska is the active Makushin Volcano.
Etymology Several theories about the etymology of "Unalaska" exist; the most likely is that the name derives from the Russian word , an adaptation of the Aleut word for "near the mainland", .
History
The Aleut (Unangan) people have lived on the island for at least 10,000 years. The island was first seen by westerners in 1741 by Vitus Bering. By 1759, at least 3,000 Aleuts lived on Unalaska island. A Russian settlement was constructed in 1759, but four years later it was destroyed by the Aleuts, together with four merchant ships. The attacks claimed the lives of 162 Russian settlers. The survivors managed to hold their own until 1764, when they were rescued by the Russians. This event triggered bloody reprisals against the natives which took the lives of about 5,000 Aleuts. By 1787, many Aleut seal hunters were enslaved by the Russian American Company and forced to harvest seal fur. By 1840, only 200 to 400 Aleuts still lived on the island.
In October 1778, English explorer James Cook visited the island for three weeks on his third voyage, and spelled it Oonalashka in his journal.Encyclopædia Britannica Third Edition, 1797 Volume 13 article Oonalashka, and Volume 5 article Cook, James.
The 1788 expedition of Esteban José Martínez and Gonzalo López de Haro explored the coast of Alaska as far as Unalaska Island, marking the farthest west the Spanish ever explored in the region.
The Russian ship Rurik led by Otto von Kotzebue visited Unalaska twice, in 1815 and 1816. During the second visit, the French-German naturalist Adelbert von Chamisso collaborated with natives to create three-dimensional models of different whale species, in order to transfer and conserve indigenous knowledge about whales. He published drawings along with Aleut species names of the painted driftwood models, which are preserved in Berlin.
In Moscow on May 31, 1988, President Ronald Reagan mentioned the meeting of Americans and Russians on this island in the 19th century as an example of early US-Russian friendship.
On December 8, 2004, the Malaysian cargo ship MV Selendang Ayu ran aground off Unalaska Island, causing a large oil spill.
On October 25, 1977, an extremely intense extratropical system struck the area. A pressure of was recorded at Dutch Harbor, which is the lowest non-tropical pressure ever recorded in the United States until December 31, 2020, when another system struck the islands with a pressure of .
References
External links
Community of Unalaska Unalaska information Unalaska Island: Blocks 1016 thru 1018, Census Tract 1 and Blocks 2002 thru 2028, Block 2031, Census Tract 2, Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska United States Census Bureau Unalaska Community Broadcasting Xpda.com: photos of Unalaska Island