First Discovery

While Bering was in St. Petersburg facing criticism for the lack of achievement in his first expedition, another Russian first discovered Alaska. In the summer of 1732, a Cossack named Mikhail Gvozdev sailed northward from Kamchatka through the Bering Strait and found the Diomede Islands. They were met with a hail of arrows shot by Yupiks on the second island. 

The next day, they anchored off the American coast at Cape Prince of Wales. Soon after, Gvozdev sighted King Island, where an Alaskan Native approached the ship in a kayak. Following that meeting, Gvozdev returned to Kamchatka. His voyage represents the first Russian contact with the American mainland and Alaska Native people. However, Gvozdev's journey remained relatively unknown.

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