Bering's Discovery

After several days of searching for Chirikov and his ship, Bering ordered the St. Peter to continue to the north. One day after the St. Paul did so, the St. Peter sighted Alaska for the first time. According to the ship's log, "At 12:30, we sighted snow-covered mountains and among them a high volcano." The Russians were seeing the peak known to some Alaska Natives as Waaseita-Shaa. Later, because the Russians first saw it on the Russian Orthodox Church feast day of Saint Elias, the mountain became known as Mount Saint Elias. Two days after sighting the mountain, the crew of the St. Peter saw Pinnacle Rock on Kayak Island.

On July 20, a party from the St. Peter went ashore on Kayak Island. The shore party reported finding a fireplace and human tracks. According to the ship's log for July 21, another shore party found an underground home but no people. In the hut, they discovered dried fish and bows and arrows. They took some things from the hut and left cloth, knives, tobacco, and pipes.

After only a few days on the North American coast, Bering set sail for Kamchatka. He was low on supplies, his men were beginning to suffer from scurvy, and he had to fight prevailing winds to return home.

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