Lynn Canal (Alaska)

Lynn Canal is an inlet (not an artificial canal) into the mainland of southeast Alaska. Lynn Canal runs about 90 miles (140 km) from the inlets of the Chilkat River south to Chatham Strait and Stephens Passage. At over 2,000 feet (610 m) in depth, Lynn Canal is 3rd the deepest fjord in North America (outside Greenland and Nunavut) after Jervis Inlet and Bute Inlet in British Columbia. The northern portion of the canal braids into the respective Chilkat, Chilkoot, and Taiya Inlets. The Tlingit are the indigenous people of the Lynn Canal's shores and waterways. The inlet was explored for the Royal Navy by Joseph Whidbey in 1794 and named by George Vancouver for his birthplace, King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. Lynn Canal was frequently visited by maritime fur traders from at least 1800. The Atahualpa visited in 1801 and its log mentions an earlier trading visit by an unidentified ship. In April 1811 the American maritime fur trader Samuel Hill, captain of Otter, battled the Chilkat Tlingit in the Chilkat Inlet of Lynn Canal. Two of Hill's crew were killed, including his second mate and journal keeper Richard Kemp, his boatswain. Six more were wounded. According to Captain Hill, the Tlingit suffered 40 killed, including 13 chiefs. Hill blamed both his first mate and the Tlingit, but he was notoriously violent and frequently attacked indigenous people unprovoked. For several years after the 1811 battle fewer trade ships visited. By 1821 it was again a regular trading site, with visits by ships such as the Mentor in 1821.