Russian to American Druzhinin, the commander of the Russian ship
Zakharii I Elisaveta, is credited with discovering the deep-water harbor now known as Dutch Harbor. Dutch Harbor is located within the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, more precisely on
Amaknak Island in the
Fox Islands. A mile-long spit extending from the northeast end of Amaknak Island makes Dutch Harbor a natural port, protecting ships from the waves and currents of the
Bering Sea, although winds off the Bering Sea have tossed shipments from decks of ships. Dutch Harbor is close to some of the richest fishing in the world, and it is ice-free. The native people are known as
Aleut. When the
Russians arrived, they exploited the Aleut by taxing them in fur pelts. The
Russian-American Company operated from 1799 through the mid-1800s. It used Dutch Harbor in the transport of goods, mainly seal and sea otter fur. In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States. Fur was the main export in Alaska after the United States took control. Hutchinson, Kohl, & Company of
San Francisco took over the assets of the Russian America Company in 1867, but it sold out in 1868, to the
Alaska Commercial Company. A decline in the sea otter population slowed trade in 1895. The year 1897 brought a crowd of potential
prospectors looking to get rich from the Alaska gold rush.
World War II World War II brought the U.S. Army and Navy, and their supplies, to Dutch Harbor at the
Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and Fort Mears, U.S. Army. The first army troops arrived in June 1941 and the navy air base was finished in September 1941. During the war, Dutch Harbor was also used to house refugees evacuated from other
Aleutian Islands.
U.S. Army troops and civilian workers alike spent time at "Blackies", the only bar in the area. This establishment had cheap beer and 50-cent shots of whiskey, but no stools or chairs as they "splintered too easily in the event of a fight". Other entertainment included a brothel named "Pleasure Island", but this was closed in 1941 and later replaced by part of the
U.S. Navy submarine base. The 500-man mess hall doubled as a theater. The tickets for the military were 15 cents and 35 cents for civilian workers. By May 1943, a peak of 10,151 sailors and 9,976 soldiers were stationed at the base.
Post-World War II In 1947, the last units of the U.S. Navy left Dutch Harbor, and the base was decommissioned. In 1952, the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stored 232 surplus buildings on 448 acres of land of the
Fort Mears Military Reservation. During the mid-1980s, the U.S. government finally funded the cleanup of the derelict fort, and the area was turned over for commercial use. The U.S. Navy also scrapped its
air base on Dutch Harbor. The ship
Kuroshima wrecked in 1997 when it broke away from its anchorage in the Dutch Harbor area. ==Current events==