The village of Tanana (TAN-uh-naw), population 246, is located a couple miles west of the confluence of the Yukon and Tanana Rivers. As you might guess, the confluence his played a significant role in the history of the area.
Tanana was a trading post for local indigenous people long before European contact. The Alaska Commercial Company set up a trading post, Harper’s Station in 1880. In 1881, Church of England missionaries from Canada built a mission near the trading post. Within ten years, an elaborate school and hospital, known as the St. James mission was built. Then Fort Gibbons was established to maintain the telegraph line between Fairbanks and Nome.
When gold didn’t prove lucrative, steamboat traffic dwindled. Fort Gibbon closed in the early ‘20s. During WWII Tanana’s airfield became one of the stops for the lend-lease aircraft program.
Not surprising, the climate is similar to Nenana and Manley Hot Springs. Residents enjoy 70 degree days in July and dress for minus twenty degrees in January. They receive 50 inches of snowfall annually.
Jessie Holmes is leading the pack running to Tanana. Matt Hall and Michelle Phillips are trailing by a mile then Mille Porsild is 8 miles back. Nearly half the field has departed Manley. Many are resting around mile 150 which gives them about a 50 mile run to Tanana.
Jessie Holmes lists his home as Alabama but he’s been in Alaska since 2004. He found adventure and established his love for dogs while running a trap line on the Yukon River. He won the Kobuk 440 then decided Iditarod was in his future. In 2018 Jessie claimed rookie of the year honors with 7th place. He’s started seven and completed seven Iditarod runs. He’s had 5 top 10 finishes placing 3rd in 2022 and 2024.
Matt Hall has six Iditarod starts and six finishes. He’s been in the top ten 3 years with his best finish just last year – runner up to Dallas Seavey. He’s been on the runners since the age of two and those early experiences with dogs served as the basis for his dream of being a professional musher. He ran the Yukon Quest 1,000 mile race when he was 22. At the age of 26, he won the Yukon Quest 1,000.
Michelle Phillips has completed 12 of the 12 runs to Nome she’s attempted. Her best finish is 11th place. Phillips is the 2025 Yukon Quest 450 Champion. Phillips is also a veteran of the 1,000 mile Yukon Quest. Thanks to the influence of her partner, Ed Hopkins, Michelle became interested in mushing. She says it was the combination of working with the elite athlete while traveling through the great north country that appealed to her.
Mille Porsild has completed five of five Iditarod starts. She’s been in the top 10 three times earning 5th in 2021. That same year, she received the Humanitarian award. As a rookie in 2020 she crossed the finish line in 15th place to earn rookie of the year honors. Mille has participated in several long distance expeditions in the north country. She comes from a long line of arctic explores. It was their stories of traveling with dogs that sparked Mille’s desire to spend her life with dogs.
Tanana has hosted an Iditarod checkpoint in 2003, 2015 and 2017. By tomorrow morning, the checkpoint will be welcoming the 2025 race. The communities of Nenana, Manley and Tanana have welcomed Iditarod each year the start has been moved north to Fairbanks.
