Delta Junction ( uk, Делта-Джанкшен, Delta Dzhankshen) is a city in the
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, United States. As of the
2010 census, the population was 958, up from 840 in 2000. The 2018 estimate was down to 931. The city is located a short distance south of the confluence of the
Delta River with the
Tanana River, which is at
Big Delta. It is about south of
Fairbanks. Native inhabitants are
Tanana Athabaskans
The Tanana Athabaskans, Tanana Athabascans or Tanana Athapaskans are an Alaskan Athabaskan peoples of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. They are the original inhabitants of the Tanana River (in Tanana languages , literally 'str ...
.
History
For at least 10,000 years,
Athabascan indigenous peoples have inhabited portions of the interior of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
. Early inhabitants survived by hunting and fishing.
The early history of non-native settlement in the area occurred at the river crossing at Big Delta and is found at the entry,
Big Delta, Alaska
Big Delta is a census-designated place (CDP) in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 591 at the 2010 census, down from 749 in 2000. Big Delta is at the confluence of the Delta River and the Tanana River and ...
. In 1904, the town first served as a telegraph station. In 1928, a herd of 23
bison
Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised.
Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'' ...
were brought from the
National Bison Range
The Bison Range (BR) is a nature reserve on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana established for the conservation of American bison. Formerly called the National Bison Range, the size of the bison herd at the BR is 350 adult bison ...
in
Montana to an area south of Big Delta to provide an additional game species for hunters. Buffalo Center, a small community near the center of present-day Delta Junction, was named because of their presence, especially during the winter months. The huge animals were troublesome, and sometimes made landings dangerous at nearby
Allen Army Airfield
Allen Army Airfield is a public and military use airport serving Fort Greely and located three miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Delta Junction, a city in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska ...
.
During World War II, the United States aided the Soviet Union against Germany by sending airplanes and supplies authorized by the
Lend-lease Act to the Soviet Union through Alaska into the Russian Far East. The