The first Europeans to enter Koyukon territory were
Russians, who came up the Yukon River to
Nulato in 1838. When they arrived, they found that items such as iron pots, glass beads, cloth apparel, and tobacco had already reached the people through their trade with coastal
Eskimos, who had long traded with Russians. An epidemic of
smallpox had preceded them, causing high fatalities in the village. In subsequent years, European infectious diseases drastically reduced the Koyukon population, who had no
immunity to these new diseases. Relative isolation persisted along the Koyukuk until 1898, when the
Yukon Gold Rush brought more than a thousand men to the river. They found little gold, and most left the following winter. , 195 miles above its mouth, September 6, 1898. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Koyukon people have inhabited their region for at least 1,000 years, with cultural roots there that stretch back thousands of years earlier. ==Ethnobotany==