Glacier Bay

National Park & Preserve Alaska

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History & Culture

The Muir Glacier filled the entire eastern arm of Glacier Bay in 1893.

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Long before the present national park, the Huna Tlingit people lived in Glacier Bay. Among the evidence of their traditional activities are trees that were stripped of their bark for a variety of uses. You can read more about these trees, which are still growing around the lagoon in Bartlett Cove, by clicking on the picture.

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Read more about the European exploration, early tourism development, homesteading and other activities in and near what is now Glacier Bay National Park.

Cooper's History of Glacier Bay National Monument

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Pioneer ecologist William S. Cooper of the University of Minnesota conducted studies of plant succession beginning in 1916, and was instrumental in the move to have the area protected. Here you can read Dr. Cooper’s first-person account of his intensive lobbying effort, which met many obstacles but was ultimately successful. Cooper also details his losing fight to prohibit mining in the newly created national monument.

Troubled Waters: A history of commercial fishing in Glacier Bay Alaska

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Navigating
Troubled Waters
NEW! A History of Commercial Fishing
in Glacier Bay, Alaska

Jim Mackovjak's 170 page analysis of the history of fishing in Glacier Bay. Learn about the early canneries, and development of the industry, followed by establishment of the park and ultimately the end of commercial fishing and compensation to those who made a living off of the sea.