Zagoskin (1842-1844)
Zagoskin, Lavrentii Alekseevich (1808-1890). Lieutenant Zagoskin's Travels in Russian America, 1842-1844 [...]. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1967.
Zagoskin, a lieutenant in the Russian navy, led an expedition to Alaska from 1842 to 1844. Working at the time for the Russian American Company, he explored the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers to find suitable sites for setting up trading posts. Under the influence of I.G. Voznesensky, Zagoskin also profited from his stay in this region by amassing a valuable collection of artifacts, which is now in the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in Saint Petersburg.
The account of his voyage earned Zagoskin the distinction of being considered the most important Russian ethnographer of his time. In fact, besides containing valuable observations on geography, his account provides the first methodical descriptions of the economy, customs and ways of life of both the Inuit and the Athabaskan villages of southwestern Alaska.
Moreover, Zagoskin's work is illustrated with drawings by Voznesensky. Recognized as one of the greatest figures in the history of science in Russian America, the latter spent nearly ten years in Alaska, Siberia and California, from 1839 on, with the aim of assembling a collection of artifacts for the Russian Academy of Sciences. Strong on detail, Voznesensky's sketches and drawings are always exceptionally accurate.
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