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A gold rush town. Was a stop along the original 1900's Iditarod
trail. Named after William Dikeman, who along with John Beaton had
penetrated the virgin territory and uncovered paydirt in the area
that soon would become the Iditarod Mining District (Source).
Sourdoughs John Beaton and William Dikeman poked around Fairbanks
and Nome with limited success. Then they bought a stern wheeler
and headed up the Innoko River. According to information supplied
by Beaton's heirs, they were searching for a place deep enough to
tie up for the winter.
Dikeman steered, and Beaton felt for the bottom with a measuring
rod until he could plunge in the full length of the stick and blurted
out "I did a rod!" in his Nova Scotia-Scots accent.
Parking the boat, they built a cabin on skids that they could
drag from prospect to prospect. After sinking 27 holes, they dug
into the widest gold streak in Alaska, on Christmas Day 1908.
The Iditarod strike led to America's last great gold stampede.
Some 5,000 men worked the area and took out 1.3 million ounces of
gold. Production dropped quickly, however, and Iditarod soon went
from boom town to ghost town, though some production continues in
the vicinity even today.
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