Tazlina near Glennallen in Copper River Census Area, Alaska — Northwest (North America)
Bendiilna'
LAKE FLOWS CREEK
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 13, 2024
1. Bendiilna' Marker
If you put a small leaf boat in this creek, where would it journey?
Set adrift on Mendeltna's quiet creek, a leaf boat floats under the highway bridge, bumps the nose of a curious grayling, then catches the creek's current and rides down to Tazlina Lake. Grabbed near the lake's outlet, down the swift Tazlina River sails, gaining speed as Nickel and Durham creeks join in. The Tazlina merges into the tawny Copper River, carrying its small craft.
The leaf rides the Copper River's meanders for miles and miles before it shoots through a narrow canyon in the Chugach Mountains and bobs past a calving glacier. Captured in one of many braided channels, it glides across the sparkling wetlands of the delta. At last, a tiny dot of color in a realm of blue, the leaf reaches the Pacific.
Thousands of water sources and small streams, like this one, join rivers that drain a great ring of mountains. All waters merge into the Copper River and journey to the sea.
Everything is connected. Rainfall and snowmelt carry surface runoff into the nearest body of water. Whatever is spilled on ro[ads], sprinkled on lawns or tossed
this page online
What will you put into this weaving of waters? Please be careful what you set sail. Thoughtful beginnings create vastly beautiful endings. This quiet little creek is such a place.
Mendeltna Creek ends where the sea begins-hundreds of miles away at the Copper River Delta.
Bendiilna' is the oldest name for the place where you stand in Ahtna Athabaskan, the language of the Copper River Basin and its first people. The network of Ahtna place names is an audible map that follows the river's flow and direction.
Erected by Copper River Watershed Project, Ahtna Heritage Foundation, Alaska Native Language Center UAF, and Others.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Waterways & Vessels.
Location. 62° 2.936′ N, 146° 32.769′ W. Marker is near Glennallen in Copper River Census Area, Alaska. It is in Tazlina. It is on Glenn Highway (State Highway 1 at milepost 144), on the left when traveling east. Marker is at a rest area with vault latrines, just west of the Mendeltna
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 13, 2024
2. Bendiilna' Marker
Regionally, this marker is on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, the Pacific Rim, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Russian Empire.
Also see . . . Copper River Watershed Project. (Submitted on August 27, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
Credits. This page was last revised on February 16, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 27, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 126 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 27, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
