Lot
1102 
U.S.S. Mohican, imprint on 1869 cover to Waterbury, Conn., franked with 1867 3¢ Rose Grill (some minor perf. flaws) tied by geometric cancel with "San Francisco Aug. 16" cds alongside, cover with original enclosure on matching printed letterhead and datelined "Illionlionk, Ounalaska, July 22, 1869", written by sailor on board to his mother with fascinating contents which includes, We have stopped at this place to take in coal, and finding a little schooner here which will sail for San Francisco in a few days, I shall send you this letter by her…This place is a little Indian village on Ounalaska, one of the Aleutian Islands. It is of no consequence whatever, except as a stopping place for whalers and traders who have business in the Northern seas., the letter goes on to give a detailed description of the islands beauty (the full contents can be found on our website), Very Fine, Illustrated in Milgram.Milgram No. 915 Estimate $2,000 - 3,000.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EARLY COVERS FROM ALASKA AND A UNIQUE ITEM.
In 1869, the "U.S.S Mohican" carried an astronomical surveying party through Bering Strait into the arctic.
This letter was written in Iliuliuk (Bay), Unalaska which is located off Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Islands off mainland Alaska. On October 18, 1867, the United States purchased Alaska, which made Unalaska part of the U.S. territory.
The Aleut (Unangan) people have lived on Unalaska Island for thousands of years. The Unangan, who were the first to inhabit the island of Unalaska, named it "Ounalashka", meaning "near the peninsula".
Current Opening Bid: $1,000