Woronkofski Island

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Woronkofski Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, United States. It is separated from Wrangell Island to the east by Zimovia Strait, just west of the city of Wrangell; to the west it is separated from Zarembo Island by Stikine Strait, and to the south from Etolin Island by Chichagof Pass. Woronkofski Island has a land area of 59.382 km2 (22.9275 sq mi) and was unpopulated at the 2000 census. The city of Wrangell is exploring the possibility of utilizing Sunrise Lake on the island for hydroelectrical power and drinking water.

History

The first European to sight the island was James Johnstone, one of George Vancouver's officers during his 1791-95 expedition, in 1793. He only charted its north coast, not realizing it was an island. [1] The island was named for Lieutenant Woronkovski of the Imperial Russian Navy, who explored the south coast of the Alaska Peninsula in 1836; the name was published in 1848 on a Russian Hydrographic Department chart as "O(strov) Voronkovskiy". [2]

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Kuiu Island

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Zimovia Strait

Zimovia Strait is a narrow strait in the Alexander Archipelago in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is about 100 km (62 mi) long and bounded by Wrangell Island to the east and Woronkofski and Etolin Islands to the west. The strait is shown in an 1844 Russian chart, but the name was first published in 1853 on a Russian Hydrographic Department chart as "Proliv Zimov'ya".

Etolin Island

Etolin Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, United States at 56°05′52″N132°21′37″W. It is between Prince of Wales Island, to its west, and the Alaska mainland, to its east. It is southwest of Wrangell Island. It was first charted in 1793 by James Johnstone, one of George Vancouver's officers during his 1791-95 expedition. He only charted its southwest and east coasts, not realizing it was an island. It was originally named Duke of York Island but was renamed by the United States after the Alaska Purchase. It is named after Adolf Etolin, governor of the Russian American colonies from 1840 to 1845.

Zarembo Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, United States. It lies directly south of Mitkof Island and northwest of Etolin Island. To the northwest is Kupreanof Island and to the southwest is Prince of Wales Island. It has a land area of 183.14 square miles, making it the 34th largest island in the United States. It has no permanent resident population. It was first charted in 1793 by James Johnstone, one of George Vancouver's officers during his 1791-95 expedition. He only charted its north, west, and south coasts, not realizing it was an island. The island is named after Dionysius Zarembo, a Polish employee of the Russian American Company and explorer of Alaska. Usually known as Dionysius Zarembo, he was captain of the Russian-American Company ship Chichagof during the foundation of the Redoubt San Dionisio, named for his name-saint, a fortification at present-day Wrangell which was established to forestall encroachment on the Stikine region by the Hudson's Bay Company.

Wrangell Island

Wrangell Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle of southeastern Alaska. It is 48 kilometres long and 8 to 23 kilometres wide. It has a land area of 544.03 square kilometres, making it the 29th largest island in the United States. Wrangell is separated from the mainland by the narrow Blake Channel.

Duncan Canal (Alaska)

The Duncan Canal is a naturally occurring inland waterway in the Alexander Archipelago in Alaska, United States. It deeply penetrates Kupreanof Island, separating the Lindenberg Peninsula, on the southeast side of the island from the main island. It was first charted in 1793 by James Johnstone, one of George Vancouver's officers during his 1791-95 expedition. It was named after the English missionary William Duncan.

Fort Stikine was a fur trade post and fortification in what is now the Alaska Panhandle, at the site of the present-day of Wrangell, Alaska, United States. Originally built as the Redoubt San Dionisio or Redoubt Saint Dionysius in 1834, the site was transferred to the British-owned Hudson's Bay Company as part of a lease signed in the region in 1838, and renamed Fort Stikine when turned into a Hudson's Bay Company post in 1839. The post was closed and decommissioned by 1843 but the name remained for the large village of the Stikine people which had grown around it, becoming known as Shakesville in reference to its ruling Chief Shakes by the 1860s. With the Alaska Purchase of 1867, the fortification became occupied by the US Army and was renamed Fort Wrangel, a reference to Baron von Wrangel, who had been Governor of Russian America when the fort was founded. The site today is now part of the city of Wrangell.

The Stikine Strait is a strait in the Alexander Archipelago of Alaska, located between Zarembo Island to the west and Etolin and Woronkofski Islands just southwest of the City of Wrangell. The strait's name derives from that of the Stikine River, the outlet of which is just northeast of Wrangell. The strait is shown on an 1844 Russian chart, but the name was first published on Russian Admiralty charts in 1848 as Proliv Stakhinskiy or Stakhin Strait. Other spelling variants over time have been Frances Strait, Stachin Strait, Stachine Strait, Stackine Strait, Stahkeen Strait, Stahkin Strait, Stakeen Strait, Stakhinski Strait, Stickeen Strait, and Stikeen Strait

Cordova Bay

Cordova Bay is a bay in the Alexander Archipelago of southeast Alaska. It opens onto Dixon Entrance to the south, between Cape Muzon on Dall Island and Point Marsh. The name Puerto Cordova y Cordova was given by the Spanish explorer Lieutenant Don Jacinto Caamaño in 1792, in honor of Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova. The name was published by George Vancouver in 1798.

Woewodski Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of Southeast Alaska, United States. It is separated from Kupreanof Island to the west by Duncan Canal, and Mitkof Island to the east by the Wrangell Narrows. It is named after Captain Lieutenant Stepan Vasilivich Woewodski, who was chief director of the Russian American colonies from 1854 to 1859. The name first appears on a Russian Hydrographic Department chart of 1848 as "O(strov)va Voyevodskago". Earlier, in 1838, G. Lindenberg called part of the island "Medvezhiy". The first European to sight the island was James Johnstone, one of George Vancouver's officers during his 1791-95 expedition, in 1793. He circumnavigated it, proving its insular nature.

Ernest Sound

Ernest Sound is a strait in Southeast Alaska, U.S.A. It extends 48 kilometres (30 mi) southwest, from the mouth of Bradfield Canal to Clarence Strait, separating Wrangell and Etolin Islands from the mainland. It was first traversed and charted in 1793 by James Johnstone, one of George Vancouver's officers during his 1791-95 expedition. Vancouver later named it "Prince Ernest's Sound", after Prince Ernest, Duke of Cumberland.

The Narrows is a channel in Southeast Alaska, U.S.A. It is the shortest and narrowest stretch of waterway separating Wrangell Island from the mainland, connecting Blake Channel and Eastern Passage. It was named in 1917 by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. It was first traversed and charted in 1793 by James Johnstone, one of George Vancouver's officers during his 1791-95 expedition.

Eastern Passage is a channel in Southeast Alaska, U.S.A. It extends southeast 29 kilometres (18 mi) from the mouth of the Stikine River to The Narrows, separating the northeastern half of Wrangell Island from the mainland. It was named in 1877 by William Healy Dall of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. It was first traversed and charted in 1793 by James Johnstone, one of George Vancouver's officers during his 1791-95 expedition.

References

  1. Vancouver, George, and John Vancouver (1801). A voyage of discovery to the North Pacific ocean, and round the world. London: J. Stockdale.
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Woronkofski Island

Coordinates: 56°23′49″N132°28′52″W / 56.39694°N 132.48111°W / 56.39694; -132.48111