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Location in Alaska
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| Basic data | |||
| Foundation : | June 6, 1969 | ||
| State : | United States | ||
| State : | Alaska | ||
| Borough : | Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area | ||
| Coordinates : | 64 ° 20 ′ N , 158 ° 44 ′ W | ||
| Time zone : | Alaska ( UTC − 9 / −8 ) | ||
| Residents : | 190 (as of 2010) | ||
| Population density : | 3.2 inhabitants per km 2 | ||
| Area : | 70.9 km 2 (approx. 27 mi 2 ) of which 60.3 km 2 (approx. 23 mi 2 ) is land |
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| Height : | 30 m | ||
| Area code : | +1 907 | ||
| FIPS : | 02-37430 | ||
| GNIS ID : | 1404379 | ||
Kaltag is a small town in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area of the US state Alaska . At the United States Census 2000 it had 230 inhabitants with an Indian proportion of just over 84%.
Kaltag lies on the right bank of the Yukon at the foot of the Nulato Hills , 120 km west of Galena . The Innoko National Wildlife Refuge begins across the Yukon .
The place forms the eastern end of the Kaltag Portage , a passage through the valley of the Unalakleet River in the coastal mountains to Unalakleet on Norton Sound , which was used in 1925 for the dog sled relay to Nome caused by a diphtheria epidemic and is now part of the Iditarod dog sled race .
history
Kaltag served the Koyukon , a group of the Athabascans , as a burial place. The region was used for summer camps.
The place was named by Russian explorers after a Koyukon Indian named Kaltaga .
After the purchase of Alaska from Russia , the US military set up a telegraph line along the northern bank of the Yukon. A trading post was established around 1880 just before the 1884-1885 gold rush broke out.
A measles epidemic in 1900 killed a third of the region's residents. The village of Kaltag emerged after the end of the epidemic when survivors from three neighboring towns settled there.
From the 1920s to the 1940s, Kaltag served as a supply station for the transport ships for the lead mines in Galena upstream. An airfield and an infirmary were built in the 1960s.
Kaltag alternates with Nulato at the annual Stick Dance Festival , where people from the region gather to dance to remember the deceased.
