Becharof Lake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Becharof Lake |
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from space
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 Becharof Lake
Location in Alaska
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| Location | Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska |
| Coordinates | 57°57′08″N 156°22′36″W / 57.95222°N 156.37667°W |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 37 mi (60 km) |
| Surface area | 453 sq mi (1,170 km2) |
| Surface elevation | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
Becharof Lake is a very large lake on the Alaska Peninsula. It is about 37 miles (60 km) long. You can find it about 23 miles (37 km) southeast of a town called Egegik. The lake is part of the Aleutian Range mountains.
Becharof Lake is the second largest lake in Alaska. Only Iliamna Lake is bigger. It is also one of the largest lakes in the United States. It ranks eighth in terms of how much water it holds. It is also the fourteenth largest by its surface area.
History of Becharof Lake
Becharof Lake is named after a Russian explorer. His name was Dmitry Bocharov. He was a navigator in the Russian Navy. In 1788, he explored the area around Kodiak, Alaska. He came back to Alaska in 1791.
In the spring of 1791, a man named Alexander Andreyevich Baranov gave Bocharov a special job. Baranov was in charge of a trading company in Russian America. He told Bocharov to explore the northwest coast of the Alaska Peninsula. Bocharov's goal was to find a way to carry boats and goods across the land. This is called a portage.
Bocharov and about 20 to 30 men used two open boats. These boats were about 30 feet (9 meters) long. They were covered with walrus skin. They sailed and paddled from Unalaska Island. They went along the northwest coast of the Alaska Peninsula. They reached Bristol Bay through Egegik Bay.
While looking for a portage, Bocharov traveled up the Egegik River. This led him to a big lake inland. This lake is now called Becharof Lake. He explored the lake all the way to its eastern end in the summer of 1791. After finding a portage from the lake to the North Pacific Ocean, he went back to Kodiak. He then told Baranov what he had found.
Later, in 1852, the Russian Hydrological Department published a map. On this map, the lake was called "Oz(ero) Ugashek."
In 1867, the Alaska Purchase happened. This is when the United States bought Alaska from the Russian Empire. In 1868, a scientist named William Healey Dall officially named the lake. He worked for the Smithsonian Institution. He named it Becharof Lake, using an American spelling of Bocharov's name.
See also
- In Spanish: Lago Becharof para niños
