Christian Theodore Pedersen

Christian Theodore Pedersen (23 December 1876 – 20 June 1969) was a Norwegian-American seaman, whaling captain and fur trader active in Alaska, Canada, and the northern Pacific from the 1890s to the 1930s.

[3][4] He left on his first whaling voyage at age 17; by 1908 he was captain of the schooner Challenge which wintered in the arctic at Herschel Island.

He helped select the steam brigantine Karluk for the expedition and sailed it from San Francisco to Victoria, British Columbia.

The ship was further damaged by a storm to the point that Pedersen and her crew were forced to abandon her and seek refuge aboard the Belvedere.

[11][12][13][14][15] Pedersen then signed on as captain of the whaling and trading ship Herman for the H. Liebes Company of San Francisco.

The last of these schooners, North Star of Herschel Island, delivered in 1936, is now in private hands in Victoria, British Columbia.

[27] Canalaska was sold to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1936; Pedersen retired from the sea but continued to be involved in the fur trade as a business owner.