History
The first Europeans to enter Koyukon territory were Russians, who came up the Yukon River to Nulato in 1838. When they arrived they found that items such as iron pots, glass beads, cloth apparel, and tobacco had already reached the people through trade with coastal Eskimos. An epidemic of smallpox had preceded them as well, and in subsequent years European diseases drastically reduced the Koyukon population.
Relative isolation persisted along the Koyukuk until 1898, when the Yukon Gold Rush brought more than a thousand men to the river. They found little gold, and most left the following winter.
Read more about this topic: Koyukon People
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