Unalaska & Dutch Harbor
Our company, Area M Consulting, was awarded the bid to do archaeological monitoring for a GCI fiber-optic cable project that is bringing high speed internet to rural communities throughout the Alaska Peninsula, Aleutian Islands, and Kodiak Island. The first portion of the project was for the community of Unalaska. The Island of Unalaska has been inhabited for at least 9,000 years by the Unangan people.
Around the Town
I had been to Unalaska a few times before Area M Consulting got the bid to do the archaeological monitoring, but I had always been there in the summer. The project worked year round, so I was able to visit Unalaska and Dutch Harbor during different times of year. Flying into Unalaska can be challenging, with notoriously bad weather, and at the time there was only one company that flew out there commercially (I believe there are now two). Summer is still the most reliable, but I was surprised with how beautiful Unalaska was during the winter. Although a storm did come through and it blew over 120 mph, pushing conex containers around, it was a pretty good storm and i was glad I was cozy in my hotel room. The vegetation is not lush and green during the fall, winter and spring, like it is during the summer, but the bad weather during these seasons made you appreciate the nice days that much more. The first gallery has photos of scenery around Unalaska, and some of the people I got to travel with, including my daughter!
The Area M crew visiting the Ballyhoo WWII site.
The fleet of the Deadliest Catch tv show recording some footage.
The fleet of the Deadliest Catch tv show recording some footage.
Area M employee conducting archaeological monitoring.
FV Nirvana has seen better days.
Whale skull on top of WWII pillbox as a fisherman memorial.
Eagles and pots.
Whale skull on top of WWII pillbox as a fisherman memorial.
Crab pots.
View of Dutch Harbor from Ballyhoo Mountain.
Light reflecting off thin ice at night.
Light reflecting off thin ice at night.
View of Dutch Harbor from Ballyhoo Mountain.
Fireweed and wild flowers in Unalaska.
Bald Eagle on dead trees, the trees were brought to Unalska by the Russians in the early 1800s.
Watch out for eagles if you're walking.
Unalaska and Dutch Harbor.
View from a drive around Unalaska Island.
My daughter having a good time cruising around.
Road to Summer Bay.
My daughter throwing rocks.
WWII Quonset hut near Summer Bay.
Eagles at low tide near Summer Bay.
Cemetery with mountains in the background.
View of Unalaska and the Russian Orthodox Church.
Coast Guard vessel.
My daughter sitting at a bench enjoying the view.
Road to Summer Bay.
My daughter playing at Summer Bay.
People fishing at Summer Bay.
Playing in the sand.
Full rainbow after a storm.
Sunset view from the Norwegian Rat Bar.
Sunset view from the Norwegian Rat Bar.
FV Time Bandit.
Rainbow with WWII pillbox.
Aerial image of WWII bunker.
Aerial image of WWII bunker.
Switchbacks down to Summer Bay.
Boat Harbor.
Russian Orthodox Church
The history of Russian colonization and the exploitation and enslavement of the Unangan people in pursuit of sea otter furs was violent. I won’t go into a history lesson here, but some argue that the Russian Orthodox Church helped curb the violence once they established a presence in Alaska. Others (myself included), believe that after committing genocide, it is fairly easy to promise the survivors that the violence would end if they converted to Russian Orthodoxy. Regardless, there is a lasting legacy of Russian Orthodoxy in Alaska, with many practitioners today. I would also say that the Russian Orthodox Church has done many things to help the communities in Alaska. The history of Religion is often a study in both peace and violence and more nuanced than I am going to get into here. I was lucky enough to be allowed to take visit the Holy Ascension Russian Orthodox Church in Unalaska, which was constructed in the late 1800s.
WWII
WWII was probably the most impactful event in modern history in the Aleutians. Unalaska currently has a population of about 5,000 people. During WWII the native population was interned in Southeastern Alaska as over 60,000 military personnel were stationed here. Infrastructure supporting the war effort was built in an incredible short period of time. Buildings, forts, pillboxes, defense guns, were all built in a short few years. During WWII, Dutch Harbor was bombed as part of the Aleutian invasion by the Japanese. The Japanese only invaded islands at the end of the Aleutian Chain, and some scholars believe the Aleutian campaign may have been a distraction to move US forces away from the south Pacific and the looming battle of Midway. However, if Alaska was taken by the Japanese, it would have allowed them a foothold in North America where they could conduct attacks on the Pacific Northwest and the Bremerton Shipyards in the Puget Sound. Regardless of the reason, the war in the North Pacific had a huge impact on the region.
Warning sign at Ballyhoo Mountatin.
Bunker looking out Unalaska Bay.
The area is a National Historic Area.
Bunker at wintertime.
Quonset hut at Summer Bay.
Wildlife
Some of the most fun I had in Unalaska was driving around town and looking at the eagles. People come from all over the world to view the Eagles of Unalaska, there are more eagles here than I’ve ever seen in one place. There is even a funny story about Eagles nesting at the post office and dive-bombing people who try to pick up their mail. The eagles couldn’t be moved because they are Federally protected, so people just had to cover their heads and run into and out of the post office. Below are some of my favorite eagle photos from Unalaska and Dutch Harbor. There were so many eagles, sometimes I didn’t even have to leave the hotel room, a couple of these pictures I just opened my window and photographed the eagles in my pajamas. Below the gallery is also a video of the most whales I have ever seen at once. I was traveling for a different work project and the whales were feeding in Unalaska Bay, I was in a skiff on my way back to town when we were surprised by a pod of whales that came up all around the skiff.
