Stepan Glotov
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Stephan Gavrilovich Glotov (Russian: Степа́н Гаврилович Гло́тов; c. 1729 in Yarensk, Russia – May 5, 1769 in Unimak Island)[1] was a Russian navigator, explorer, and fur trader. He was the first Russian captain to enter the waters of the eastern Aleutian Islands,[2] and was the European discoverer of Kodiak Island and several other Alaskan islands.[3]
Glotov's first recorded voyage was in 1746 aboard the vessel Ioann ("John"), belonging to the merchant Fyodor Kholodilov of Totma. This ship sailed from the Kamchatka Peninsula, hunting for sea otters and seals, and wintered on Bering Island. In the following spring, the Ioann went in search of the middle Aleutian Islands (the chain had fairly recently come to the awareness of the Russians), but were unsuccessful.
In 1758–1762, Glotov and Cossacks of the Nizhny Kamchatsky ostrog explored aboard the vessel Saint Julian. Aboard were the Cossack Ponomarev and the merchant Peter Shishkin. This expedition opened up the Aleutian Islands to the Russian fur trade.[4]
The Saint Julian set off from the mouth of the Kamchatka River on September 2, 1758 (September 15 New Style). After nine days Glotov arrived at the Komandorski Islands. After spending the winter on Medny Island, Glotov's expedition sailed east and discovered Umnak Island in the Aleutians, landing there on September 1, 1759. Aleuts immediately attacked his expedition, wounding Glotov and killing two of his men, but Glotov exercised restraint at this time.[5] Glotov and his men spent three winters at Umnak, amassing over a thousand pelts of fox fur (Glotov was the first to bring large amounts of fox fur back to Russia from Alaska) as well as many sea otter skins.[6] During this time (1759–1762), Glotov and his men discovered several islands of the Aleutian chain, including Unimak and Unalaska.
The Saint Julian returned to Kamchatka on August 31, 1762 (September 13 New Style). In his report, Glotov lists 29 islands and describes their wildlife.