Dall Island
Encyclopedia
Dall Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago
off the southeast coast of Alaska
, just west of Prince of Wales Island
and north of Canadian waters. Its peak elevation is 2,443 feet (745 meters) above sea level. Its land area is 254.02 square miles (657.9 km²), making it the 28th largest island in the United States. Dall is used economically for fishing and limestone quarrying.
The 2000 census
recorded 20 persons living on the island. Alaska Natives are known to have inhabited coastal caves on the island two to three thousand years ago.
Dall Island was first called Quadra, after Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
, until 1879, when it was renamed in honor of naturalist William H. Dall.
Cape Muzon
, the southernmost point of the island, is the western terminus, known as Point A, of the A-B Line, which marks the marine boundary between the state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia
as defined by the Alaska Boundary Treaty
of 1903. This line is also the northern boundary of the waters known as the Dixon Entrance
.
Alexander Archipelago
The Alexander Archipelago is a long archipelago, or group of islands, of North America off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, which are the tops of the submerged coastal mountains that rise steeply from the Pacific Ocean. Deep channels and fjords separate the...
off the southeast coast of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, just west of Prince of Wales Island
Prince of Wales Island, Alaska
Prince of Wales Island is one of the islands of the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle. It is the fourth-largest island in the United States and the 97th-largest island in the world....
and north of Canadian waters. Its peak elevation is 2,443 feet (745 meters) above sea level. Its land area is 254.02 square miles (657.9 km²), making it the 28th largest island in the United States. Dall is used economically for fishing and limestone quarrying.
The 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
recorded 20 persons living on the island. Alaska Natives are known to have inhabited coastal caves on the island two to three thousand years ago.
Dall Island was first called Quadra, after Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra was a Spanish naval officer born in Lima, Peru. Assigned to the Pacific coast Spanish Naval Department base at San Blas, in the Viceroyalty of New Spain , this navigator explored the Northwest Coast of North America as far north as present day Alaska.Juan...
, until 1879, when it was renamed in honor of naturalist William H. Dall.
Cape Muzon
Cape Muzon
Cape Muzon is a cape located in the Alexander Archipelago of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the southernmost point of Dall Island and the headland marking the northwestern extremity of the Dixon Entrance...
, the southernmost point of the island, is the western terminus, known as Point A, of the A-B Line, which marks the marine boundary between the state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
as defined by the Alaska Boundary Treaty
Hay-Herbert Treaty
The Alaska boundary treaty, also known as the Hay–Herbert treaty, signed in 1903, is a treaty between Great Britain and United States that resolved a dispute on the location of the border between Alaska and Canada....
of 1903. This line is also the northern boundary of the waters known as the Dixon Entrance
Dixon Entrance
The Dixon Entrance is a strait about long and wide in the Pacific Ocean at the International Boundary between the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia in Canada. It was named by Joseph Banks for Captain George Dixon, a Royal Navy officer, fur trader, and explorer, who...
.