The Tanana River (
Lower Tanana
Lower Tanana (also Tanana and/or Middle Tanana) is an endangered language spoken in Interior Alaska in the lower Tanana River villages of Minto and Nenana. Of about 380 Tanana people in the two villages, about 30 still speak the language. As of ...
: Tth'eetoo',
Upper Tanana
Upper Tanana (also known as Tabesna, Nabesna or Nee'aanèegn') is an endangered Athabaskan language spoken in eastern Interior Alaska, United States, mainly in the villages of Northway, Tetlin, and Tok, and adjacent areas of the Canadian ter ...
: ''Tth’iitu’ Niign'') is a tributary of the
Yukon River
The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...
in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
. According to linguist and anthropologist
William Bright
William O. Bright (August 13, 1928 – October 15, 2006) was an American linguist and toponymist who specialized in Native American and South Asian languages and descriptive linguistics.
Biography
Bright earned a bachelor's degree in lingui ...
, the name is from the
Koyukon
The Koyukon (russian: Коюконы) are an Alaska Native Athabascan people of the Athabascan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. Their traditional territory is along the Koyukuk and Yukon rivers where they subsisted for thousands of years by ...
(Athabaskan) ''tene no'', ''tenene'', literally "trail river".
The river's headwaters are located at the confluence of the
Chisana and
Nabesna rivers just north of
Northway in eastern Alaska.
The Tanana flows in a northwest direction from near the border with the
Yukon Territory
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
, and laterally along the northern slope of the
Alaska Range
The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 600-mile-long (950 km) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest endSources differ as to the exact delineation of the Alaska Range. ThBoar ...
, roughly paralleled by the
Alaska Highway.
In central Alaska, it emerges into a lowland marsh region known as the
Tanana Valley
The Tanana Valley is a lowland region in central Alaska in the United States, on the north side of the Alaska Range, where the Tanana River emerges from the mountains. Traditional inhabitants of the valley are Tanana Athabaskans of Alaskan Athab ...
and passes south of the city of
Fairbanks.
In the marsh regions it is joined by several large tributaries, including the
Nenana (near the city of
Nenana) and the
Kantishna. It passes the village of
Manley Hot Springs
Manley Hot Springs (''Too Naaleł Denh '' in Koyukon) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 169, up from 89 in 2010.
Geography
Manley Hot Springs is locat ...
and empties into the Yukon near the town of
Tanana.
Ice on the river accumulates each winter to an average maximum thickness of at Nenana.
The Nenana Ice Classic, begun in 1917, is an annual guessing game about the date of the ice break-up.
In October or November, after the freeze has begun, a tripod is planted in ice in the middle of the river. The tripod is connected to an on-shore clock that stops when the tripod begins to move during the spring thaw. Over the years, the break-up date has varied from April 20 to May 20.
Betting on the exact time of the break-up takes the form of a lottery, called the Nenana Ice Classic.
History
Human habitation of the Yukon basin, including the Tanana watershed, began more than 12,000 years ago.
[Benke and Cushing, p. 787] Several sites in the watershed have produced evidence of occupation by
Paleo-Arctic people. Later residents include people of the Tanana tribe, which has had a presence in the region for 1,200 years.
In the summer of 1885, Lieutenant
Henry Tureman Allen
Major General Henry Tureman Allen (April 13, 1859 – August 29, 1930) was a senior United States Army officer known for exploring the Copper River in Alaska in 1885 along with the Tanana and Koyukuk rivers by transversing of wilderness. His t ...
of the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
undertook the first recorded exploration of the Tanana River. In 1883, Lieutenant
Frederick Schwatka
Frederick Gustavus Schwatka (29 September 1849 – 2 November 1892) was a United States Army lieutenant with degrees in medicine and law, and was a noted explorer of northern Canada and Alaska.
Early life and career
Schwatka was born in Galena, ...
and his party had entered the Yukon watershed by way of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and floated to the mouth of the Yukon. Allen's goal was to find an all-Alaska route to the Yukon River. He and his men ascended the
Copper River Copper River may refer to several places:
*Copper River (Alaska), in the United States
* Copper River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Skeena River
The Skeena River is the second-longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada (afte ...
, crossed into Tanana River drainage, and descended the Tanana to the Yukon and down it to the mouth. During the five-month trip, the Allen party mapped the courses of the Copper, Tanana, and
Koyukuk rivers.
In the early 21st century, the basin is largely wilderness unchanged by human activity. Fairbanks, a metropolitan area with about 100,000 residents in 2019, is a center of
placer gold mining, which has continued in the basin since the mid-19th century. Limited farming also occurs in the valley near Fairbanks.
During World War II, it was proposed to send Finnish refugees around the Tanana River (
Operation Alaska).
Nenana Ice Classic
Since the early 1900s, Alaskans have been gambling on when the river would melt. Each year, thousands pay $2.50 to guess the exact date and minute the Tanana River ice will go out in Nenana. The
Nenana Ice Classic is a fundraiser for local charities and has awarded some large prizes. In 2010, after the ice went out on April 29, three lottery winners split a jackpot of $279,030.
In 2012, the record prize was $350,000.
Major tributaries (in descending order of elevation)
![West of Fairbanks - aerial view - P1040587](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/West_of_Fairbanks_-_aerial_view_-_P1040587.jpg)
*
Chisana River
*
Nabesna River
The Nabesna River (''Naambia Niign'' in Upper Tanana) is a tributary of the Tanana River in the U.S. state of Alaska. Beginning at Nabesna Glacier in the Alaska Range, it flows north-northeast from Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Prese ...
*
Kalutna River
*
Tok River
Tok or TOK may refer to:
*Tok, Alaska
*Tok Pisin, a language
*Toki Pona (ISO 639-3 code), a constructed language
*T.O.K., a Jamaican reggae dancehall band
*Theory of Knowledge (IB course)
* ''Tok'', the Hungarian name for Toc village, Săvârșin ...
*
Robertson River
The Robertson River is a river in Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand. It rises to the east of the Tin Range and flows into the sea east of Port Pegasus.
See also
*List of rivers of New Zealand
This is a list of all waterways named as rivers ...
*
Johnson River
*
Little Gerstle River
*
Healy River
*
Volkmar River
*
Gerstle River
*
Clearwater Creek
*
Goodpaster River
The Goodpaster River is an major tributary of the Tanana River in the U.S. state of Alaska. Its name in the Middle Tanana dialect of the Lower Tanana language is ''Jiiz Cheeg''. Goodpaster River is a stream located just 6.6 miles from Big Delt ...
*
Delta River
The Delta River is an tributary of the Tanana River in the U.S. state of Alaska. Its name in the Ahtna language is ''Saas Na’ ''. Fed by the Tangle Lakes of the Alaska Range, the river flows north to meet the larger river near Big Delta ...
*
Delta Creek
*
Little Delta River
*
Salcha River
The Salcha River (Lower Tanana: ''Sołchaget'') is a tributary of the Tanana River in the U.S. state of Alaska. Rising in the eastern part of the Fairbanks North Star Borough east of Fort Wainwright, it flows generally west-southwest to meet the ...
*
Little Salcha River
*
Chena River
**North Fork
**South Fork
*
Wood River Wood River may refer to:
Rivers In Canada
* Wood River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Columbia River via Kinbasket Lake
* Wood River (Saskatchewan), a river in south-west Saskatchewan
In Ireland
* Wood River (County Clare), Kilru ...
*
Tatlanika River
*
Nenana River
The Nenana River ( taa, Nina No’) is a tributary of the Tanana River, approximately long, in central Alaska in the United States. It drains an area on the north slope of the Alaska Range on the south edge of the Tanana Valley southwest of Fai ...
**
Teklanika River
**
Seventeen Mile Slough
*
Tolovana River
*
Kantishna River
The Kantishna River (Lower Tanana: ''Khenteethno'') is a tributary of the Tanana River in the U.S. state of Alaska. Formed by the confluence of the McKinley River with Birch Creek in Denali National Park and Preserve, it drains part of the nort ...
*
Zitziana River
*
Cosna River
*
Chitanana River
See also
*
List of rivers of Alaska
This is a List of rivers in Alaska, which are at least fifth-order according to the Strahler method of stream classification, and an incomplete list of otherwise-notable rivers and streams. Alaska has more than 12,000 rivers, and thousands more st ...
*
List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem)
The longest rivers of the United States include 38 that have main stems of at least long. The main stem is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". The United States Geological Survey (USGS) defines a main- ...
Notes and references
;Notes
;References
Works cited
*Benke, Arthur C., ed., and Cushing, Colbert E., ed. (2005). ''Rivers of North America''. Burlington, Massachusetts: Elsevier Academic Press. .
{{authority control
Tanana Athabaskans
Rivers of Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska
Rivers of Alaska
Rivers of Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska
Rivers of Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska
Tributaries of the Yukon River
Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska