From the Top Of The World to Chicken, Alaska

Lost Chicken Hill Mine was established in 1895, before the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98 began. Today, traveling from the north/west this sign almost shouts you are in Chicken, Ak.

Above is Downtown Chicken, a mercantile emporium, saloon and cafe! There ain't no more.

Above might be consider a lower suburb, calling itself the Town of Chicken.


I did try my hand at gold panning in beautiful Chicken Creek and had not luck even knowing what I was looking for.

Arrow-leafed BalsamRoot Flower

The Pedro Dredge No. 4 above was in operation on
Chicken Creek between 1959 and 1967. Previous
the dredge was busy on Pedro Creek outside

Fairbanks from 1938 until 1959.

These fellows paid $10.00 each to mine for 24 hours. The material was brought to Chicken from a working mine but I don't thinks anyone got rich. Probably didn't even make $10.00.

Mining dredges were land-locked floating machines, digging ponds that allowed them to float across the area to be mined. The dredges operated 24 hours a day.

The dredge and the other implements around the edges of Downtown Chicken and the camping area today used as "attractions".

This dang bird keeps following me around. The white-crowned West Taiga Sparrow. I'm beginning to think only this Sparrow and Robins are all there are in the Yukon and Alaska. It is all the song birds I see.



Menzies' Compion flower

The larger duck is a Common Pintail; the guy

with the red head is a Barrow Goldeneye.

I looked and looked and your guess is as good as mine. But I am sure it is NOT a chickweed flower.





Chicken has a population of 11 full timer. At one time Chicken was a vibrant mining area that close to 400 gold miners called home. Most left, heading east, when gold was discovered in Dawson Creek. The legend has it that the miners shot and feasted on Ptarmigan, a large bird like a Chicken. Since they could not spell the birds name, they settled for Chicken instead. Chicken was also featured in a novel called Tisha, written by Ann Purdy. It is a story of a young woman's struggles in the Alaskan wilderness attempting to reach Chicken, where she eventually lived for a number of years.

BBFN, Karen and Don