Big Delta in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska — Northwest (North America)
Jack of all Trades
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 16, 2024
1. Jack of all Trades Marker
John Hajdukovich had a significant impact on the people and land of the Upper Tanana River Valley. A true sourdough and frontiersman, John lived and worked in this area for almost sixty years.
Golden Dreams
John Hajdukovich left Montenegro, Yugoslavia to seek his fortune in Alaska. He arrived at Big Delta in the fall of 1906 and headed for the gold-rich hills upstream. Most prospectors wintered at Fairbanks working for their next grubstake (loan of supplies), but John wintered at Big Delta and became influential in the development of the area.
Diversity was His Stock-in-Trade
With the adventuresome spirit of an entrepreneur, Hajdukovich partook in many enterprises during his life. He was not only a miner, but also a roadhouse operator, trader, contractor, U.S. Commissioner, big game hunting guide, Alaska Game Commissioner, and sawmill owner.
The Road Back to Prospecting
John staked his last claim in 1951 on Morning Star Creek, a tributary of the same drainage he prospected 40 years earlier. The Coal Mine Road that he built to his claim is still in use today. In his later years, John spent more and more time
this page online
Background [photo]: The old trading post/roadhouse at McCarty
[Photo captions, clockwise from middle left, read]
From left: Chief Peter Joe, Josh Ray, John Healy, and John Hajdukovich during his trading years
John and a trophy grizzly, Alaska Range, 1927
John Hajdukovich
Ted Lowell's trucking company hauling baby bison John arranged to have shipped to Delta, 1928
[Timeline]
1906 Hajdukovich arrives at Big Delta and joins 17 prospectors at a gold discovery site on the Goodpaster River.
1909 John runs the McCarty Trading Post and Roadhouse, which has long since returned to nature (see background image), and operates the ferry at Big Delta.
1911 Mining at Jarvis Creek using a hydraulic plant, John takes out $600 in gold "good enough for a grubstake."
1913 He acquires the McCarty Trading Post and Roadhouse.
1914 The present day roadhouse is constructed. Travelers take care of themselves in a self-serve style.
1917 John hires Rika Wallen to operate the roadhouse.
1919late 30s He establishes several
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 16, 2024
2. Jack of all Trades Marker
1923 Rika purchases the roadhouse for $10 "and other considerations. "Some say "other considerations may have been back wages for her years of dedicated work; others say was an agreement that John would always have a place to hang his hat.
1923 The Alaska Road Commission contracts with John to improve the trail from Big Delta to Tanacross paying him $1000.
19241936 Hajdukovich is appointed U.S. Commissioner and later resigns in protest of traders supplying alcohol to Native Alaskans.
1927mid 30s Catering to wealthy clients, such as Wendell Endicott (of Sears, Roebuck and Co.), John makes a living as a big game guide.
1928 John petitions the government to ship 23 bison to Big Delta. The herd has grown to approximately 450 and is still hunted annually by permit.
19281932 John serves as an Alaska Game Commissioner.
1930s Known for helping Native Alaskans in many ways, John also assists Chief Peter Joe in establishing the Tetlin Reservation.
1940 John mines at Central Creek using the open-cut hydraulic methodwith no luck. Ironically, the largest gold mining operation in the area is currently located at nearby Pogo Creek.
19411945 During the war John partners with Louis Grimsmore to supply the Army with lumber for construction of the Big Delta Army Airfield and Alcan Highway.
1965 At the age of 86, on July 18, John Hajdukovich dies of cancer at St. Joseph's Hospital in Fairbanks.
Erected by Alaska State Parks and Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Environment • Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1906.
Location. 64° 9.304′ N, 145° 50.374′ W. Marker is in Big Delta in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska. It can be reached from Richardson Highway. Marker is on the Big Delta State Historical Park grounds. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 274.5 Richardson Highway (State Hwy 2), Delta Junction AK 99737, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Athabascan Region and in Interior Alaska. It is also 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.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Message in a Wire (within shouting distance of this marker); Telegraph Building (within shouting distance of this marker); WAMCATS (within shouting distance of this marker); Windmill (within shouting distance of this marker); Mess Hall (within shouting distance of this marker); Alaska Road Commission Outbuilding (within shouting distance of this marker); Spring House (within shouting distance of this marker); Roadhouse (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Big Delta.
Also see . . .
1. Big Delta State Historical Park. (Submitted on September 2, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
2. Rikas Landing Roadhouse. (Submitted on September 2, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
Credits. This page was last revised on September 2, 2024. It was originally submitted on September 2, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 282 times since then and 49 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 2, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
