Big Delta is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP) in
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 591 at the
2010 census, down from 749 in 2000. Big Delta is at the confluence of the
Delta River and the
Tanana River and gets its name from the huge
river delta
A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creat ...
formed by the confluence.
History
From at least 10,000 years ago to the present,
Athabascan
Athabaskan ( ; also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large branch of the Na-Dene language family of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, ...
Indians have inhabited portions of the interior of
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
. They survived by hunting the abundant game and fishing in the rivers of the interior of Alaska.
Beginning in 1899, the United States Army built a pack trail from
Valdez, on the south coast of Alaska, to
Eagle
Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
, northeast of Big Delta, a distance of about . The trail crossed the Tanana River near the confluence of the Delta and Tanana Rivers.
Gold was discovered in 1902 in
Fairbanks, about north of the crossing of the Tanana River. Roadhouses were built along the pack trail that connected the south coast of Alaska with Fairbanks. One such roadhouse was Bates Landing, which was built at the confluence of the Delta and Tanana Rivers, about north of the current Delta Junction, in the area known now as Big Delta. The U. S. government collected a toll on the south side of the Tanana River from all passengers crossing north. In 1904 work began on the
Richardson Highway, which mostly followed the route of the pack trail.
In 1906,
John Hajdukovich bought the roadhouse and enlarged it. In addition to running the lodge there, he took hunting parties into the nearby
Granite Mountains and traded with the Athabaskans in the surrounding area. An 18-year-old Swedish girl named Rika Wallen came to the roadhouse to work for John. After several years, John deeded the roadhouse to Rika in lieu of back wages he owed her. Rika also homesteaded an adjoining piece of land. Rika's Roadhouse and the adjacent property are now the Big Delta State Historical Park.
In 1928 a herd of
bison
A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised.
Of the two surviving species, the American ...
were brought from the U. S. state of Montana to Big Delta, because they were thought to be threatened with extinction in the continental United States. The herd still roams in the
Delta Junction area, about south of Big Delta.
The construction of the