Fairbanks, AK news and local guide

Captain E.T. Barnette founded Fairbanks in August 1901 while trying to reach Tanana Crossing, where he meant to open a trading post. His steamboat, the Lavelle Young, ran aground in shallow water, and Barnette and his supplies were put ashore on the Chena River about 7 miles above its meeting with the Tanana. Smoke from the steamer caught the attention of gold prospectors in the hills to the north, among them the Italian immigrant Felice Pedroni, known as Felix Pedro, and his partner Tom Gilmore, who persuaded Barnette that the area had promise. He set up his post on the spot, and prospectors soon crowded in, building drift mines, dredges and lode mines. At the urging of Judge James Wickersham, who later moved the seat of the Third Division court there from Eagle, the town was named for Charles W. Fairbanks, a Republican senator from Indiana and later vice president under Theodore Roosevelt. Sources Wikipedia: Fairbanks, Alaska