Kantishna
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Kantishna & Denali National Park Alaska - History
Among the many peoples who originally called Kantishna and Denali National Park home were the Ahtna, Athabaskan, Koyukon and Tanana.
In the 1890s, after thousands rushed to Canada’s Klondike goldfields, many miners headed west to try their luck in Alaska. Stampeding became a way of life for many frontier adventurers, and when Alaska’s boomtowns became too crowded or the pay-dirt too scarce, these wanderers followed rumors of gold into uncharted and exceedingly rugged territory.
The Kantishna Mining District, deep within Denali National Park and Preserve, is one such place where hundreds of miners left the relative security of Dawson, Fairbanks, and Nome to seek their fortunes in the wilderness.
It was around this time that naturalist, hunter, and
conservationist, Charles Sheldon, first began work to preserve this
unique natural treasure. He first traveled to the area
in 1906 and again in 1907. When Sheldon returned to the East
in 1908, the Game Committee of the Boone and Crockett Club, of which
he was chairman, launched the campaign to establish a national park.
Largely due to these efforts, Mount McKinley National Park was
established in 1917.
Following the establishment of Mount McKinley National Park that year by President Woodrow Wilson, the Park was designated an International Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations in 1976.
In 1980, the original park was designated a wilderness area and incorporated into Denali National Park and Preserve.