Saint Matthew Island

Saint Matthew Island in Detail.

in Bering Sea, 162 mi. SW of Nome; St. Matthew Island.

according to the Reverend Coxe (1787, map facing p. 223) this island was discovered and named by Lieutenant Sind (Synd) in August 1766. map showed it as "I. Apost. Matthei" which is probably a translation from the Russian meaning "Island (of the) Apostle Matthew" probably implying the island was sighted on or near St. Matthew's day. September 23, 1778 and erroneously though "it was wholly unknown to the Russians; and therefore, considering it as a discovery of our own, I named it Gore's Island," for Lieutenant John Gore, Royal Navy (RN), of his party. it O(strov) Sv(yataya) Matvyya (Sarichev, 8126, map 3, Tebenkov, 1852, map 3) which has been translated into English in its present form.

In 1944 the coast guard, concerned with how the men stationed there would fare if they were cut off from resupply, introduced a herd of 29 reindeer to St. Matthew from Nunivak Island. The men left and the reindeer population exploded without predators to keep them in check. By 1963, there were 6,000. By 1966, a biologist observed only 42 remaining reindeer and the island was covered with thousands of skeletons.