Cordova Bay is bordered on the west by Dall Island, Long Island, Tlevak Strait, and Sukkwan Island, and on the east by Prince of Wales Island. Cordova Bay extends north and west from its mouth to Lime Point, where it connects with Hetta Inlet. The Coast Survey lists the length as about 19 nautical miles (22 mi; 35 km) from a point between the SE corner of Long Island and Dewey Rocks to Lime Point and an average width of about 3 nautical miles (3.5 mi; 5.6 km) from Ship Islands to Lime Point. Hetta Inlet extends a further 15 nautical miles (17 mi; 28 km) north, and then turns east for about 3 nautical miles (3.5 mi; 5.6 km). Gould Island almost closes the inlet shortly after it turns east, above this point the inlet is accessible only to small craft. Portage Bay is the portion of the inlet above Gould Island; a portage road (Sulzer Portage) connects it with Cholmondelay Sound.
Cordova Bay lies between Prince of Wales Island on the east and Dall Island, Long Island, and Sukkwan Islands on the west. US Coast Survey chart detail. Click through to the Commons page to view annotations including village sites.Cordova Bay photographed from earth orbit, looking toward the sunrise, a bit north of east. Water appears bright due to sunglint. Dall Island, Long Island, and most of Sukkwan island are visible as dark areas in the middle of the picture, while the land near the top of the picture is Prince of Wales Island. The small island at lower left is Forrester Island. NASA image.
The Coast Survey does not consider Tlevak Strait (between Sukkwan Island and Dall Island), Hetta Inlet, or Kaigani Strait (between Long Island and Dall Island) to be parts of Cordova Bay, but the Geographic Dictionary of Alaska (1906) included the latter two, and also Sukkwan Strait (north of Sukkwan Island), as parts of the bay. In 2006, the US Supreme Court ruled against a petition by Alaska that would have declared all these waters, including Tlevak Strait, parts of a juridical Cordova Bay. If this petition had been successful it would have put all these waters under state control, rather than the current mix of state and federal jurisdiction.
Cordova Bay and Tlevak Strait provide a sheltered route to Bucareli Bay and other points on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. The Coast Guard has estimated that 150 commercial fishing vessels use this route each week during the summer.
The shores of Cordova Bay are a mix of federal land belonging to the Tongass National Forest, private land (mostly owned by Alaska Native Corporations), and a small amount of state-owned land. Much of the eastern shore of the bay is part of the South Prince of Wales Wilderness within the National Forest. The shoreline of the northeast part of the bay, around and between Hetta and Klakas inlets, is steep and rocky. South of Hunter Bay, the Prince of Wales shoreline is more gentle, rising to low rolling hills dotted with lakes. The other three large islands have a mixture of mountainous terrain and hills, with low-lying land at some places along the shore.
The small city of Hydaburg is situated on the north shore of Sukkwan Strait. It is connected to the Prince-of-Wales road system and provides the only public road access to the bay. It has a harbor and a seaplane base.
Hydaburg was formed in 1911 by consolidation of the three Haida villages on Cordova Bay. These villages were Howkan on the west coast of Long Island, Sukkwan at the northern end of Sukkwan Island, and Klinkwan on Prince of Wales Island at the mouth of Hunter Bay. Mining, saltery, and cannery villages on Hetta Inlet, now all abandoned, were Copper City, Hetta, Coppermount, and Sulzer. There were also canneries on Hunter Bay and on Rose Inlet (off of Tlevek Strait).
Alaska Department of Commerce, Division of community and regional affairs. Alaska Community Database.
Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Prince of Wales Island Area Plan Amendment (Inclusion of the Southwest Prince of Wales Island Area) Maps 4-7 show land ownership around Cordova Bay.
Baker, Marcus (1906) "Geographic dictionary of Alaska, ed 2" United States Geological Survey Bulletin 299
Office of Coast Survey, NOAA (2010) Chapter 6 - Coast Pilot 8 - Edition 32 West Coast of Prince of Wales Island
Le Cornu, Adrian (1996) "Haida" in Frederick E. Hoxie, ed. Encyclopedia of North American Indians pp 227–228. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ISBN0-395-66921-9, ISBN978-0-395-66921-1
Rey-Tejerina, Arsenio. Cordova in Alaska Section Other places named Cordova A lecture given at the Cordova Museum in summer of 1990, the bicentennial of the naming of the community. Reprinted at Explore North.
United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Identification System. Feature Detail Report for: Cordova Bay
546 US_(2006) Alaska v United States 128 Original. Report of the Special Master March 2004
US Coast and Geodetic Survey (1917) United States coast pilot: Alaska. Dixon Entrance to Yakutat Bay, Part 1 Cordova Bay p 95 ff.
US Forest Service interactive Prince of Wales Recreation Map Brown areas are private land, light green is national forest, dark green is wilderness.
van den Brink, J.H. (1974) The Haida Indians: cultural change mainly between 1876-1970 Brill Archive. pp 226–228.
US Geological Survey 1908 report including mining (mostly copper) at several sites on Hetta Inlet.
Bufvers, John (1967) History of Mines and prospects, Ketchikan district, prior to 1952 State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines and Minerals. (John Bufvers was a miner and prospector in Alaska 1913–1938. The manuscript was written in 1952 and was published by the Alaska DNR for its historical and mineralogical value. The Hetta Inlet mines are covered on pp 22–25)
[1] Biographical sketch of William Sulzer, developer of the Jumbo copper mine and namesake of the former village of Sulzer, on Hetta Inlet.
Coppermount, photograph showing boats and smelter and/or cannery. (Description on the Alaska Digital Archives website says this is a cannery, but University of Washington site says it is a smelter. The center building looks a lot like another photograph showing the Coppermount smelter and tramway File:Coppermount.JPG; the other buildings are not identified. The smelter operated 1900–1907. The Hetta Packing Company opened a cannery at Coppermount in 1921.
File:Hetta Lake Hatchery.JPG
Klinkwan 1892
Sukkwan
Sulzer, 1910
South Prince of Wales Wilderness
October 23, 2023
cordova, alexander, archipelago, southeast, alaska, opens, onto, dixon, entrance, south, between, cape, muzon, dall, island, point, marsh, group, small, islets, just, prince, wales, island, name, puerto, cordova, cordova, given, spanish, explorer, lieutenant, . Cordova Bay is a bay in the Alexander Archipelago of southeast Alaska It opens onto Dixon Entrance to the south between Cape Muzon on Dall Island and Point Marsh a group of small islets just off Prince of Wales Island The name Puerto Cordova y Cordova was given by the Spanish explorer Lieutenant Don Jacinto Caamano in 1792 in honor of Admiral Luis de Cordova y Cordova The name was published by George Vancouver in 1798 Cordova Bay is at the southern end of the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska PanhandleCordova Bay is bordered on the west by Dall Island Long Island Tlevak Strait and Sukkwan Island and on the east by Prince of Wales Island Cordova Bay extends north and west from its mouth to Lime Point where it connects with Hetta Inlet The Coast Survey lists the length as about 19 nautical miles 22 mi 35 km from a point between the SE corner of Long Island and Dewey Rocks to Lime Point and an average width of about 3 nautical miles 3 5 mi 5 6 km from Ship Islands to Lime Point Hetta Inlet extends a further 15 nautical miles 17 mi 28 km north and then turns east for about 3 nautical miles 3 5 mi 5 6 km Gould Island almost closes the inlet shortly after it turns east above this point the inlet is accessible only to small craft Portage Bay is the portion of the inlet above Gould Island a portage road Sulzer Portage connects it with Cholmondelay Sound Cordova Bay lies between Prince of Wales Island on the east and Dall Island Long Island and Sukkwan Islands on the west US Coast Survey chart detail Click through to the Commons page to view annotations including village sites Cordova Bay photographed from earth orbit looking toward the sunrise a bit north of east Water appears bright due to sunglint Dall Island Long Island and most of Sukkwan island are visible as dark areas in the middle of the picture while the land near the top of the picture is Prince of Wales Island The small island at lower left is Forrester Island NASA image The Coast Survey does not consider Tlevak Strait between Sukkwan Island and Dall Island Hetta Inlet or Kaigani Strait between Long Island and Dall Island to be parts of Cordova Bay but the Geographic Dictionary of Alaska 1906 included the latter two and also Sukkwan Strait north of Sukkwan Island as parts of the bay In 2006 the US Supreme Court ruled against a petition by Alaska that would have declared all these waters including Tlevak Strait parts of a juridical Cordova Bay If this petition had been successful it would have put all these waters under state control rather than the current mix of state and federal jurisdiction Cordova Bay and Tlevak Strait provide a sheltered route to Bucareli Bay and other points on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island The Coast Guard has estimated that 150 commercial fishing vessels use this route each week during the summer The shores of Cordova Bay are a mix of federal land belonging to the Tongass National Forest private land mostly owned by Alaska Native Corporations and a small amount of state owned land Much of the eastern shore of the bay is part of the South Prince of Wales Wilderness within the National Forest The shoreline of the northeast part of the bay around and between Hetta and Klakas inlets is steep and rocky South of Hunter Bay the Prince of Wales shoreline is more gentle rising to low rolling hills dotted with lakes The other three large islands have a mixture of mountainous terrain and hills with low lying land at some places along the shore The small city of Hydaburg is situated on the north shore of Sukkwan Strait It is connected to the Prince of Wales road system and provides the only public road access to the bay It has a harbor and a seaplane base Hydaburg was formed in 1911 by consolidation of the three Haida villages on Cordova Bay These villages were Howkan on the west coast of Long Island Sukkwan at the northern end of Sukkwan Island and Klinkwan on Prince of Wales Island at the mouth of Hunter Bay Mining saltery and cannery villages on Hetta Inlet now all abandoned were Copper City Hetta Coppermount and Sulzer There were also canneries on Hunter Bay and on Rose Inlet off of Tlevek Strait See also EditOrca Bay Alaska a branch of Prince William Sound formerly called Cordova Bay 54 51 03 N 132 33 59 W 54 85083 N 132 56639 W 54 85083 132 56639References EditAlaska Department of Commerce Division of community and regional affairs Alaska Community Database Hydaburg Alaska Department of Natural Resources Prince of Wales Island Area Plan Amendment Inclusion of the Southwest Prince of Wales Island Area Maps 4 7 show land ownership around Cordova Bay Baker Marcus 1906 Geographic dictionary of Alaska ed 2 United States Geological Survey Bulletin 299 Office of Coast Survey NOAA 2010 Chapter 6 Coast Pilot 8 Edition 32 West Coast of Prince of Wales Island Le Cornu Adrian 1996 Haida in Frederick E Hoxie ed Encyclopedia of North American Indians pp 227 228 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ISBN 0 395 66921 9 ISBN 978 0 395 66921 1 Rey Tejerina Arsenio Cordova in Alaska Section Other places named Cordova A lecture given at the Cordova Museum in summer of 1990 the bicentennial of the naming of the community Reprinted at Explore North United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Identification System Feature Detail Report for Cordova Bay 546 US 2006 Alaska v United States 128 Original Decree entered January 23 2006 Report of the Special Master March 2004 US Coast and Geodetic Survey 1917 United States coast pilot Alaska Dixon Entrance to Yakutat Bay Part 1 Cordova Bay p 95 ff US Forest Service interactive Prince of Wales Recreation Map Brown areas are private land light green is national forest dark green is wilderness van den Brink J H 1974 The Haida Indians cultural change mainly between 1876 1970 Brill Archive pp 226 228 External links EditAerial panorama of Cordova Bay permanent dead link US Geological Survey 1908 report including mining mostly copper at several sites on Hetta Inlet Bufvers John 1967 History of Mines and prospects Ketchikan district prior to 1952 State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Mines and Minerals John Bufvers was a miner and prospector in Alaska 1913 1938 The manuscript was written in 1952 and was published by the Alaska DNR for its historical and mineralogical value The Hetta Inlet mines are covered on pp 22 25 1 Biographical sketch of William Sulzer developer of the Jumbo copper mine and namesake of the former village of Sulzer on Hetta Inlet Coppermount photograph showing boats and smelter and or cannery Description on the Alaska Digital Archives website says this is a cannery but University of Washington site 2 says it is a smelter The center building looks a lot like another photograph showing the Coppermount smelter and tramway File Coppermount JPG the other buildings are not identified The smelter operated 1900 1907 The Hetta Packing Company opened a cannery at Coppermount in 1921 File Hetta Lake Hatchery JPG Klinkwan 1892 Sukkwan Sulzer 1910 South Prince of Wales Wilderness Cordova Bay B C Canada Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cordova Bay amp oldid 1177456556, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
