The easiest way to describe the trail between Eagle Island and Kaltag (CAL-tag) would be to do a copy and paste of the trail from Grayling to Eagle Island. There’s nothing new, it’s just more of the same – islands, sandbars, sloughs, bluffs and river bends. After passing Eight Mile Point on the river, the mushers must be thrilled to see Kaltag sitting high on the west bank of the Yukon. Teams will make a short steep climb up the river bank and run down main street to the octagonal log community center in the middle of town. After being in desolate Eagle Island, the mushers are delighted to find water and even a real toilet in the pump house just a short walk from the checkpoint. It’s good to be thankful for ordinary things!
If you happen to have a map of the Iditarod Trail handy, check this out. In Trail Notes, Don Bowers, Jr. says that the original Iditarod Trail never ran on the Yukon River except to cross at Kaltag. The original mail and gold rush supply trail went directly from Iditarod to Kaltag across the marshy Innoko River Valley. I asked Handler why Iditarod teams don’t follow the same trail today. It’s because the ITC wants the trail to be at least 1,000 miles long. The direct route between Iditarod and Kaltag would fall far short of that distance. The area along the direct route is also extremely desolate so it’s nice for the racers to travel the northern or southern route that passes through populated villages.
Kaltag is an Athabascan village that sits on an old portage trail that went west from the Yukon through the mountains to Unalakleet (YOU-na-la-kleet). Sadly, disease and death have played a great role in Kaltag’s history. Originally, Kaltag was an area used as a cemetery for surrounding villages. Athabascans had spring, summer fall and winter hunting and fishing camps in the area and moved according to where the game or their food source was. Then in 1839 a small pox epidemic killed many of the natives and traders in the area. In 1880 a trading post opened and then a few years later gold was discovered. But then in 1900, a measles epidemic and food shortage wiped out nearly one-third of the area’s population. It was then that the survivors from 3 nearby seasonal villages decided to move together and form a new village. Kaltag was named for a Yukon Indian, Kaltaga. Between 1919 and 1940, the Galena lead mines were prosperous. Kaltag, 100 miles down river, grew as a transportation hub. Over time as the mighty Yukon flooded and changed its course, land eroded and the old cemetery slid into the river in 1937.
Today the population of Kaltag is 207. Forty-five students attend school in grades Pre-kindergarten thru 12. Subsistence is an important part of the economy. Folks hunt and fish for salmon, whitefish, waterfowl, moose and bear and pick berries from the abundant area crops. Some people in the village have cash jobs with the school, tribe and local government. Others work as fire fighters or in the commercial fishing industry. Most of the village houses have both running water and sewer. There are no roads connecting Kaltag to other villages but people travel locally by ATV, snowmachine or boat. Kaltag has year-round air service and barges deliver heavy cargo three times a year. Temperature extremes in Kaltag have been recorded from 55 degrees below zero up to 90 degrees. Otherwise, highs in July will be in the 70’s and lows for January will range from 10 degrees to below zero. Annual precipitation is 16 inches with just over 6 feet of snow. The river is open from mid-May to mid-October.
Besides being the meeting point of the northern and southern Iditarod routes and serving as a checkpoint every year, Kaltag is known for its Stick Dance Festival. Every two years, this week long festival of potlatches is organized by relatives of people who have recently passed away. Handler and I went to Wikipedia and found that a Potlatch is a gathering with feasting, speeches, music, singing, acting, dancing, gifting and spiritual ceremonies. Sounds like quite a celebration! Visitors from many neighboring villages come as the living express their appreciation to those who helped in their time of mourning.
Once there was a dog named Yukon who was described as a forlorn looking mutt. Skagway Bill was his master. Bill and Yukon landed in Skagway late in the fall of 1897 eager to find gold in the Yukon River basin. To get to the gold, prospectors had to follow White Pass up through the Coastal Mountains. In the winter of 1897, deep snow made the White Pass Trail hard to follow. One day Skagway Bill and a few other men set out to mark the trail with tall flags. Yukon remained in the village waiting for his master to return. A huge blizzard blew over White Pass. After 3 days and nights of intense snow and howling winds, the blizzard ended but Skagway Bill and the other trail markers did not return. With Yukon in the lead, a search party set out to find the snow bound men. Just a few miles from the summit, Yukon stopped dead in his tracks. With his nose pointing into the air and ears standing straight up, he sniffed the air and listened. Then he let out a strange whine and began digging furiously. The rest of the search party joined his efforts with shovels. The rescuers dug and yelled for the buried men. After a while they heard a faint response from deep in the snow. Finally, they found all the missing men who had been buried for three days under five feet of snow. Yukon was thrilled to see his master. When everybody returned safely to Skagway, Yukon was welcomed as the hero of the rescue effort. I read this story in a book called Gold Rush Dogs by Murphy and Haigh. It’s one of my favorite books because of the great pictures.
Well, there you have it – Kaltag then and now, the Stick Dance Festival, and a story about a hero dog named Yukon. Now we’re virtually headed to Unalakleet on the Bering Sea. Stay tuned and remember – in everything do your best every day and have a plan.
Born to Run,
Sanka
