KOYUKUK RIVER

river in central Alaska, U.S., a major tributary of the Yukon River. It rises from several headstreams on the south slope of the Brooks Range and flows southwestward for about 500 miles (800 km) to join the Yukon near the village of Koyukuk. Named for the Koyukon, a local Indian tribe, the river was visited by the Russian explorer Lavrenty Zagoskin in 184244. Placer deposits in the upper Koyukuk basin, discovered in 1898 during the gold rush, have continued to be worked near the settlements of Wiseman and Allakaket, though they are not of commercial importance.