| Document Number: |
AJ-099 |
| Author: |
Steller, Georg Wilhelm, 1709-1746 |
| Title: |
Steller's Journal of the Sea Voyage from Kamchatka to America and Return on the Second Expedition, 1741-1742 |
| Source: |
Golder, F.A. (editor). Bering's Voyages: An Account of the Efforts of the Russians to Determine the Relation of Asia and America. (New York: American Geographical Society, 1925). Volume 2. |
| Pages/Illustrations: |
322 / 19 |
| Citable URL: |
www.americanjourneys.org/aj-099/ |
Author Note
Born in Windsheim, Franconia, on March 10, 1709, Georg Wilhelm
Steller studied theology, medicine, and botany at university,
and graduated with high honors. Despite his academic success, he
could not find work in Germany and traveled as an army surgeon
to Russia. The Academy of Sciences sent him
to Kamchatka to join Bering’s voyage as a naturalist. On the
ship, he was disliked by Bering and his men, but was able to do
extensive work cataloging the flora and fauna of Alaska. When
the crew was stranded on an island in the Bering Straight, it
was Steller who saved many crewmembers by searching out the
plants and meat that saved them from scurvy.
On the return trip to Kamchatka, Stellar began drinking and
upon his return was hounded by the Russian government. In
November of 1746, despite ill health, he set off in a
snowstorm for the Russian city of Tyumen, and froze to death.
Expedition of 1741-1742
The stated purpose of the expedition was to determine if Asia
and America were joined by land. Russia was also interested in
extending Russian territory to include part of North America. In
1741, Bering reached Alaska, but the return trip proved ill
fated. Bering and half of the crew perished on what is now known
as Bering Island located roughly two hundred kilometers east of the
Kamchatka.
Document Note
Steller's extensive work as a naturalist on Bering’s second
voyage was almost lost when he died prematurely at the age of
thirty-seven. Instead,
a friend of his, naturalist P.S. Pallus, edited his journals
after his death and published them. As a result, we have first
hand accounts of species that were extinct before other
naturalists could describe them, such as Steller’s Sea-Cow, and
other naturalists such as Pallus and Linneas could build on his
pioneering work.
Other Internet and Reference Sources
For more information on this topic visit California Academy
of Sciences, Science Under Sail, “Russia’s Great Voyages”
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/science_under_sail/
biodiversity.html
The following link is to an essay previously published by the
Buffalo News, written by Gerry Rising:
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~insrisg/nature/nw99/steller.html. |
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