Allan Vorda

The story of the great Danish explorer, Vitus Bering, has been well-documented. What hasn’t been told in sufficient detail is the story of two natural scientists who were instrumental in not only the success of the expedition, but the documentation of the journey. In fact, it is how the lives of a German, Georg Wilhelm Steller, and a Russian, Stepan Krasheninnikov, came together at the peninsula of Kamchatka and then took separate journeys of exploration. From Kamchatka, Steller would accompany Bering on the ship St. Peter to discover Alaska as well as numerous new species of plants and animals. Steller’s knowledge of plants helped save many of the sailors from dying from scurvy. Krasheninnikov was disappointed to not be on the ship with Bering, but instead relegated to explore Kamchatka. It was there that he discovered over twenty new plants and encountered a tribe of native Kamchadals from whom he learned their bizarre customs and beliefs. Both of their lives ended way too soon, what but they accomplished was really extraordinary.