Kaltag
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Kaltag Ggaał Doh pronunciation Gath-Doh |
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| City | |
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 Kaltag
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| Coordinates: 64°19′31″N 158°43′37″W / 64.32528°N 158.72694°WCoordinates: 64°19′31″N 158°43′37″W / 64.32528°N 158.72694°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Census Area | Yukon-Koyukuk |
| Incorporated | June 6, 1969 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Violet Burnham |
| • State senator | Donald Olson (D) |
| • State rep. | Neal Foster (D) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 27.61 sq mi (71.51 km2) |
| • Land | 21.59 sq mi (55.92 km2) |
| • Water | 6.02 sq mi (15.60 km2) |
| Elevation | 98 ft (30 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 190 |
| • Estimate (2016) | 185 |
| • Density | 6.70/sq mi (2.59/km2) |
| Time zone | Alaska (AKST) (UTC-9) |
| • Summer (DST) | AKDT (UTC-8) |
| ZIP code | 99748 |
| Area code | 907 |
| FIPS code | 02-37430 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1404379, 2419405 |
Kaltag (KAL-tag) (Ggaał Doh in Koyukon) is a city and village in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 190.
Kaltag was a Koyokon Athabascan area used as a cemetery for surrounding villages. It is located on an old portage trail which led west through the mountains to Unalakleet. The Athabascans had seasonal camps in the area and moved as the wild game migrated. There were 12 summer fish camps located on the Yukon River between the Koyukuk River and the Nowitna River.
Kaltag was named by Russians for a Koyokon man named Kaltaga.
There was a smallpox epidemic in 1839 that killed a large part of the population of the area.
After the Alaska Purchase, a United States military telegraph line was constructed along the north side of the Yukon River. A trading post opened around 1880, just before the gold rush of 1884-85. Steamboats on the Yukon, which supplied gold prospectors ran before and after 1900 with 46 boats in operation on the river in the peak year of 1900. A measles epidemic and food shortages during 1900 reduced the population of the area by one-third. The village Kaltag was established after the epidemic when survivors from three nearby villages moved to the area.
There was a minor gold rush in the area in the 1880s. In 1906, gold seekers left for Fairbanks or Nome; however, the galena lead mines began operating in 1919. Kaltag was downriver from the mines and grew as a point on the transportation route for the mines. It declined in the 1940s as mining declined.
The old cemetery caved into the river around 1937. An airport and clinic were constructed during the 1960s.
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