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Two Stone Balls, picked up at the foot of Mount St. Elias on the North West coast of America

Object Status:

Unlocated

Accession Date:

November 15, 1812

Primary Source Reference:

Peale Museum Accessions Book, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 63

Additional Source Text:

"Said to be made use of, as cannon Balls by the Russians, when destitute of shot, to fire against their enemies."

Notes:

Mount Saint Elias, also designated Boundary Peak 186, is the second highest mountain in both Canada and the United States, being situated on the Yukon and Alaska border. The mountain was first sighted by European explorers on 16 July 1741 by Vitus Bering of Russia. In 1805 a Russian-built fort there was destroyed by Tlingits.