Indian Sites and Villages Along the Tanana
Upper course.—On this much larger part of the river it is possible to report but indirectly.
A. H. Brooks, in 1898, reports thus on this subject:[13] "Several Indian houses are found on and near the Tanana between the Good-paster and Salchakat and constitute a subgroup of the upper Tanana Indians. * * * The most thickly settled part of the region is along the sluggish portions of the lower Tanana. The largest villages are at the mouth of the Cantwell and Toclat Rivers, and each of these consists of a number of good cabins. In the intervening region there are a number of isolated houses and fishing stations, which are marked on the accompanying map."
Figure 1.—The Tanana River between Nenana and Tanana, with Indian villages
To which Lieutenant Castner, who explored the upper Tanana, adds the following:[14] "On 750 miles of the Tanana proper and its tributaries I saw seven small hamlets, and not to exceed 100 Indians—men, women, and children."
From information obtained by me at Fairbanks, at the United States marshal's office and from miners, it appears that the following villages are better known:
- Village, 150 miles east of Fairbanks.
- Mansfield Lake village, 300 miles east of Fairbanks.
- Tetlen, 410 miles east of Fairbanks.
- East Tetlen, 7 miles southeast of Tetlen.