![]() From its earliest beginnings at Kenai Lake through the trout-filled waters of Skilak and finally on to the slow-moving tidal area where it empties into Cook Inlet, the Kenai is a river unlike any other in the world, particularly as it’s road-accessible for the majority of that length. Today the Kenai River remains the center of life on a diverse and magnificently endowed peninsula, its appeal as potent as ever before. Right: A stringer of sockeye for food in the freezer. Left: This hefty silver was caught by a guest of Jimmie Jack’s Alaska Seascape Lodge in Soldotna. In July of 1957 oil was discovered near the neighboring Swanson River, prompting more growth. At the end of the season, these same ships would haul out the catch gathered at the three processors that were up and running by then. By World War I ships were sailing into Kenai Bay every spring with supplies for the community. ![]() As the salmon runs increased in economic importance, the population of the region swelled, as it did again when Russian mining engineer Peter Doroshin first reported the discovery of gold along the river’s banks. Nicholas) was built on the bluffs to accommodate the growing trade. Likewise, the kind of natural abundance required to support such long-termed subsistence wasn’t overlooked by the earliest European visitors to Alaska, and by the 1790s the Kenai area had become the Russian center for Cook Inlet fish and furs. For the two thousand years prior to the Dena’ina, Kachemak Riverine culture flourished along the river. Throughout much of the millennium that just ended, Dena’ina Athabascans called the Kenai area home and relied upon the river to sustain their way of life, establishing a permanent village named Skitok, from the Dena’ina Shk’ituk’t (“where we slide down”), at the present site of Kenai. A nice little rainbow and a very happy young client with guide Perry Corsetti. Above inset from left to right: Releasing a king to let the breeders spawn. ![]()
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