Nicolas Petit on Front Street of Tanana
Nicolas Petit brought his dog team down Front Street first. Front Street, what kind of a jet powered dog team does he have? He can’t be in Nome yet! Right, that’s Front Street of Tanana. Along with the chefs from the Lakefront Hotel of Anchorage, the Mayor and community residents were there to welcome the first musher to their village. The Lakefront sponsors the first to the Yukon Award.
Nicolas Petit checks into Tanana with Martin Buser to Follow
Both musher and dogs were in great spirits. Petit was happy with the trail and very happy with the performance of his team. After feeding and bedding his dogs down, Petit came inside the community center. The Mayor, Donna Mae Folger, was there to welcome Nicolas and honor him as the first musher to reach Tanana. The mayor presented Nicolas with gifts from the community. One of the gifts was a beautiful Chief’s Necklace designed and created by a Tanana resident.
Nicolas Petit and Elder Blanche Edwin enjoy the First to the Yukon Meal
Petit then invited an elder of the village to join him for the five-course gourmet dinner. Blanche Edwin was delighted to accept the invitation. For dessert, Petit received an after dinner mint, $3,500 in freshly minted $1 bills. Village residents watched the chefs at work preparing the multi-course meal on single burner camp stoves and heard many ooh’s and ah’s from Petit and his guest attesting to the delicious nature of the meal.
The menu for the First to the Yukon Meal by the Lakefront
Some of the early teams into the checkpoint have declared their 8-hour rest. There will be teams arriving all night and into tomorrow. Jason Mackey commented on the trail saying it was hard and fast. Early trail reports indicated there was a lot of newly fallen deep snow. Mackey said there was some sugary snow prior to Nenana but after that the trail has been a typical cold weather trail. The temperature dropped to at least minus 30 again last night.
Erhart Kennel Puppies Have a Front Row View
Located on Front Street of Tanana is the Erhart Sprint Racing Kennel. Lester Erhart has been mushing for years and has mentored guys like former Iditarod champion Joe Runyan and Yukon Quest Champion Hugh Neff. Right now Erhart has three litters of five month old pups that were born within a few days of each other. From their puppy pen, the pups had a front row view of the teams coming into Tanana. They were as interested and excited as the two-legged spectators.
Tanana, the third checkpoint on the 2017 Iditarod route to Nome is located near the confluence of the Tanana and Yukon Rivers. Long ago the point of land between the two rivers was a meeting place where Athabascan people of the area met to trade. At one time there were five Athabascan languages spoken in the area.
In 1868 a French-Canadian trader established Fort Adams 15-miles down river from the confluence. It was the first fur trading post in the area. Shortly after that an Anglican mission was established and several other trading posts. In 1898 the U.S. Army built Ft. Gibbon’s at the present town site. The purpose was to oversee shipping and trading, maintain civil order and to install and maintain telegraph lines. Fort Gibbons closed in 1923 but the town and the mission remained.
In the 1930’s a regional hospital was built and the village was chartered. During World War II, the airfield at Tanana was one of the stops for the Lend-Lease program. Tanana has its own school district with 42 students. The community has 258 residents.
The average temperature in July is 72 degrees. The average temperature in January is minus 17. The average yearly precipitation is close to 12 inches.
There is an ice road that was complete in 2016 that connects Tanana to the community of Manley during the winter. Manley is connected to Fairbanks by road. Tanana can be reached by boat in warm weather. All year round, cargo and passenger planes land at the Calhoun Memorial Airport located a mile outside the village.
