The John River ( Iñupiaq: ''Atchiiniq'') is a tributary of the

Koyukuk River The Koyukuk River (; ''Ooghekuhno' '' in Koyukon, ''Kuuyukaq'' or ''Tagraġvik'' in Iñupiaq) is a tributary of the Yukon River, in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the last major tributary entering the Yukon before the larger river empties int ...

in the northern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. It was named after

John Bremner John Bremner (1833–1887) was a prospector and early explorer of Alaska.Heller, Herbert: ''Sourdough Sagas'', Ballantine Books, 1973. Early life John Bremner was born in Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and emigrated to Iowa. At some point he a ...

, a prospector and explorer who was one of the first non-native persons to go there. It flows south from

Anaktuvuk Pass The Anaktuvuk Pass ("the place of caribou droppings", el. 2,200 ft.) is a mountain pass located in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in North Slope Borough in northern Alaska. The Anaktuvuk Pass is in the Brooks Range which div ...

in Alaska's

Brooks Range The Brooks Range (Gwich’in language, Gwich'in: ''Gwazhał'') is a mountain range in far northern North America stretching some from west to east across northern Alaska into Canada's Yukon Territory. Reaching a peak elevation of on Mount Isto, ...

, into the larger river at a point near Bettles, slightly north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. In 1980, the segment of the John River within the

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve is a national park of the United States that protects portions of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska. The park is the northernmost national park in the United States, situated entirely north of the ...

were designated "wild" and added to the

National Wild and Scenic Rivers System The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...

. The designation means that the segment is unpolluted, free-flowing, and generally inaccessible except by trail. The John River Valley is an important migration route for Arctic

caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

History

In 1901, the

Schrader Schrader is a family name that is very common roughly within the Triangle Hannover-Hamburg-Berlin within Germany (so-called " Eastfalia", part of today's states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt). It means tailor. Carriers of this name have spread ...

- Peters expedition explored the John River, the

Anaktuvuk River The Anaktuvuk River () is a river in Alaska's North Slope. long, it flows west from glaciers in the Endicott Mountains changing direction just north of Anaktuvuk PassPorter, Stephen C. (1966) ''Pleistocene geology of Anaktuvuk Pass, Central Bro ...

, and continued onward to

Point Barrow Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow). It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at , south of the North Pole. (The northe ...

. In 1931, Robert "Bob" Marshall explored the John River up to the Arctic Divide, and described seeing a "quadruple rainbow".

Boating

It is possible to run the John River in canoes, kayaks, and small rafts, though conditions vary from place to place. The upper are rated Class III (difficult) on the International Scale of River Difficulty and "should be attempted only by experienced paddlers with solid wilderness skills." Below this, the river is rated Class II (medium) for the next , then Class I on the lower reaches all the way to the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

. Dangers on the upper river include sustained whitewater, swift currents, a difficult

portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...

, and the possibility of water too shallow to run.

References

External links

Gates of the Arctic
– National Park Service
''The John River, Alaska''
– Photo documentary on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{authority control Rivers of North Slope Borough, Alaska Rivers of Alaska Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States Rivers of Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve Brooks Range Tributaries of the Koyukuk River Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska

History

Boating

See also

References

External links