Steaming to the North: The First Summer Cruise of the US Revenue Cutter Bear, Alaska and Chukotka, Siberia, 1886 [Hardcover]

On a rugged frontier where the ocean was king, most laws came from those who ruled the seaand few ships policed the western Arctic like the revenue cutterBear. Commissioned into the organization that would eventually become the US Coast Guard, theBearpatrolled and charted the waters of Alaska and Siberia, bringing medical care, saving lives, and dealing out justice when needed. The ships crew and famous captain, the fiery Michael Healy, looked out for Natives and Americans alike in a time when Alaska was adjusting to its new status as a US territory.

Steaming to the Northfollows theBearfrom May to October 1886 as it takes its first summer cruise from San Francisco up to Point Barrow and back again. This is the first book to exhibit the photographs taken by 3rd Lt. Charles Kennedy of New Bedford, introducing rarely seen photos of the last sail-and-steam whaling ships, capturing early interactions of Natives with white whalemen and explorers, and showing lives otherwise lost to time. Essays follow the logbook of the cruise and allow readers to vividly ride alongside the crew on a history-making voyage.

Katherine C. Donahueis professor of anthropology at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire.David C. Switzer(19342012) was emeritus professor of history at Plymouth State University and coauthor ofUnderwater Dig: The Excavation of a Revolutionary War PrivateerandSnow Squall: The Last American Clipper Ship.

Acknowledgements
A Note on Terminology
Introduction
 
TheBear
Captain Michael A. Healy and the Officers and Crew of theBear
Unalaska
Sailing Whaleships
Steam Whaleships
TheBearat the Pribilof Islands
The Chukotka Peninsula, Siberia
St. Michael, Alaska
Kayaks at St. Michael
Umiaqs
Port Clarence
Kotzebue Sound
Point Hope
Cape Lisburne
Point La