U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- The first recorded fatal polar bear attack in the United States happened in 1885, near Cape Thompson, Alaska. It was unlikely to have happened any earlier because there weren’t any polar bears in United States territory until the USA acquired Alaska from Russia, which was formally transferred to the USA on October 18, 1867.
There were probably many fatal polar bear attacks before then, but they happened to stone-age people without the ability to record them or publish them. There is not much overlap between the habitat of people living in the far North of Alaska and polar bears. With the advent of recorded records brought about by Europeans, there also came more advanced weapons, which made defense against polar bears simpler and easier.
The first fatal polar bear attack recorded in the USA occurred after both the ability to record and modern cartridge firearms were introduced to Alaska. Even then, it went unnoticed by researchers for many decades.
It was brought to my attention by bear researcher Tom Smith of Brigham Young University in August of 2021. The account was recorded in a famous book of Arctic exploration and survival published in 1942. Titled “50 Years Below Zero”, by Charles D. Brower, 1942/1960, it is 342 pages and embedded below for your reading pleasure.
50 Years Below Zero, by Charles D. Brower
In July of 1884, Charles D. Brower arrived about 300 miles North of Nome (Corwin’s Bluff). He was 21 years old. Brower kept a regular diary, which was used to write his autobiography. Brower had already spent seven years at sea, working on sailing ships and early steamships. He decided to overwinter at Corwin’s Bluff, with three other men, one of which was accompanied
