2008 Alaska Park Science Symposium
October 14, 2008
Plover Bay, Provideniya Raion, Russia: A Potential Component of the Beringian Heritage International Park
Bob Gal1
1Western Arctic National Parklands, National Park Service, 24 W 5th Avenue, Anchorage, AK, 99501, USA, Phone 907-644-3621, Bob_Gal@nps.gov
The H.M.S. Plover, commanded by Thomas E. L. Moore departed Plymouth, England on January 30, 1848 for the Bering Sea as part of the relief expedition for Sir John Franklin. On October 17, 1848 the Plover anchored in the lee of a spit at the entrance of a safe harbor on the Russian shore. The spit and its roadstead were named Plover Bay and the larger harbor was named Providence Bay (Provideniya Bay). Giving up hope of reaching Kotzebue Sound by October 26th, the Plover was moved to the northeastern arm of the bay which was named Emma Bay (now Komsomolskaya Bay). Moore anchored the Plover for the winter of 1848-49 four miles distant from the small Chukchi village of “Woorel” on October 25th and constructed a cook/laundry house on shore. This marked the first successful overwintering of a vessel in the Bering Sea region.
Throughout the 1860s and 1870s, Provideniya Bay and Plover Bay were used by the whaling fleet for overwintering and mid-summer refitting. After being stove-in by the ice, the whaler Oreole limped in to Plover Bay and was abandoned there. In 1899 the Harriman Expedition put in to Plover Bay and photographed the Native people and their encampments on the spit.
High resolution aerial photography of the Plover Bay spit reveals a multitude of features, archaeological and historic, of many time periods. W. H. Hooper, who overwintered on the Plover in 1848-49, published his ethnographic observations which were based on his extensive sled travels. Doubtless ship’s logs and oral traditions exist that will further enlighten us about Plover Bay. Emma- Komsomolskaya Bay was the main supply point for all of Chukotka during World War II and during the Cold War the major military base for Chukotka was established on its shore. Ethnographic, archaeological and historical themes supported by the cultural resources of the Plover Bay area illustrate Beringian links long after the land bridge was submerged.
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