Lavrenty Alekseyevich Zagoskin was a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n naval officer and explorer 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...

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Zagoskin was born in 1808 in the Russian district of Penza

Penza

-Honors:A minor planet, 3189 Penza, discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1978, is named after the city.-Notable residents:...

 in a village named Nikolayevka. Even though Nikolayevka

Nikolayevka, Russia

Nikolayevka is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia:Urban localities*Nikolayevka, Nikolayevsky District, Ulyanovsk Oblast, an urban-type settlement in Nikolayevsky District of Ulyanovsk OblastRural localities...

 was not near the ocean, Zagoskin would eventually train for the Russian Navy and served as a naval officer in the Baltic and Caspian seas. He would subsequently receive training in mineralogy, zoology, botany, and entomology from Russian scientist I.G. Voznesensky

In 1799, Russia formed the Russian America Company and gave it monopolistic powers over the region now known as Alaska as part of their colonization effort. Early Russian explorers like Vitus Bering

Vitus Bering

Vitus Jonassen Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering (also, less correNavy]], a captain-komandor known among the Russian sailors as Ivan Ivanovich. He is noted for being the first European to discover Alaska and its Aleutian Islands...

, Mikhail Gvozdev

Mikhail Gvozdev

Mikhail Spiridonovich Gvozdev was a Russian military geodesist and a commander of the expedition to northern Alaska in 1732, when Alaskan shore was for the first time sited by Russians....

, and Georg Steller provided knowledge of the coastal region, however by the 1840s very little was known about the interior of the colony. Such knowledge was desired in the hopes of expanding the commercial opportunities for the Russian America Company. Zagoskin was given a two year assignment to conduct reconnaissance of the region to help determine the most profitable and convenient sites for forts and trading posts in the region - an assignment he was well suited for given his background and in fact a mission he had proposed.

In 1842 and 1843, he traveled extensively on the Yukon

Yukon River

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...

, Kuskokwim

Kuskokwim River

The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth largest river in the United States by average discharge volume at its mouth and seventeenth largest by basin drainage area.The river provides the principal drainage for an area of the...

, Innoko

Innoko River

The Innoko River is a river in western Alaska. It flows north from its origin south of Cloudy Mountain in the Kuskoswim Mountains and then flows southwest to its end at the Yukon River, across from Holy Cross, Alaska....

 and Koyukuk River

Koyukuk River

The Koyukuk River is a principal tributary of the Yukon River, approximately 500 mi long, in northern Alaska in the United States.It drains an area north of the Yukon on the southern side of the Brooks Range...

s all told traveling over 3300 miles. His journals included details about the native people, their customs, language, and environment in the region all noted with remarkable accuracy.

Zagoskin received national Academy of Science award for his work. To this day, his writing is recognized for its accuracy, quality and insight and is often referenced by local residents, historians, anthropologists, and geographers.

Settlements visited by Zagoskin:

• Upper Kalskag, Alaska
  Upper Kalskag, Alaska
  Upper Kalskag is a city in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 230.-Geography:Upper Kalskag is located at ....
  
  
• Golovin, Alaska
  Golovin, Alaska
  Golovin is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 144.-Geography:Golovin is located at ....
  
  
• Shaktoolik, Alaska
  Shaktoolik, Alaska
  Shaktoolik is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 230. Shaktoolik is one of a number of Alaskan communities threatened by erosion and related global warming effects. The community has been relocated twice.-History:According to the Alaska Dept...
  
  
• Selawik, Alaska
  Selawik, Alaska
  Selawik is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 772.Selawik comes from "siilvik" which means "place of sheefish" in Inupiaq.-Geography:Selawik is located at ....
  
  
• Crow Village, Alaska
  Crow Village, Alaska
  Crow Village is an unincorporated village on the Kuskokwim River in the U.S. state of Alaska. There are currently six residents. As of the 2010 census, it will become a Census Designated Place .- Geography :...
  
  
• Georgetown, Alaska
  Georgetown, Alaska
  Georgetown is an unincorporated Alaska Native village located in the Bethel Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska. The population as of the 2000 census was 3.- Geography :...
  
  
• Kwigiumpainukamiut, Alaska
  Kwigiumpainukamiut, Alaska
  Kwigiumpainukamiut is a ghost town in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States located between Chuathbaluk and Napaimute, directly across the river from Kolmakoff Island. It is a clearing about 200 yards long. In the early spring, it is covered with tan-colored grass and is easier to see.-Further...
  
  

Zagoskin died in Ryazan

Ryazan

Ryazan is a city and the administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Oka River southeast of Moscow. Population: The strategic bomber base Dyagilevo is just west of the city, and the air base of Alexandrovo is to the southeast as is the Ryazan Turlatovo Airport...

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