Egegik
Egegik
is located on the south bank of the Egegik River on the Alaska
Peninsula, 100 miles southwest of Dillingham and 335 air miles southwest
of Anchorage. It lies at approximately 58° 13' N Latitude, 157° 22' W
Longitude (Sec. 01, T023S, R050W, Seward Meridian). The community is
located in the Kvichak Recording District. The area encompasses 135 sq.
miles of land and 3 sq. miles of water.
Settlement of the Bristol Bay region
first occurred over 6,000 years ago. Yup'ik Eskimos and Athabascan
Indians jointly occupied the area. Aleut arrived in later years. The
local Natives were originally contacted by Russians between 1818 and
1867. The village was reported as a fish camp called "Igagik" in 1876.
An Alaska Packers Association salmon saltery was operating at the mouth
of the river in 1895. The town developed around a cannery in the early
1900s. During the influenza outbreaks beginning in 1918, Natives from
other villages moved to Egegik in an attempt to isolate themselves from
the disease.
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