Editing Big Delta, Alaska (section)

== History ==
From at least 10,000 years ago to the present, [[Athabascan]] Indians have inhabited portions of the interior of [[Alaska]].  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, Alaska|Valdez]], on the south coast of Alaska, to [[Eagle, Alaska|Eagle]], northeast of Big Delta, a distance of about {{convert|660|km|mi|abbr=on}}.  The trail crossed the Tanana River near the confluence of the Delta and Tanana Rivers.

Gold was discovered in 1902 in [[Fairbanks, Alaska|Fairbanks]], about {{convert|150|km|mi|abbr=on}} 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 {{convert|12|km|mi|abbr=on}} 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 (Alaska)|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 [[American Bison|bison]] 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, Alaska|Delta Junction]] area, about {{convert|12|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of Big Delta.

The construction of the [[Alaska Highway]] during [[World War II]] shifted much of the economic activity of the area south to Delta Junction.  Later history of the area can be found in the entry for Delta Junction.