at Moravian Mission Station at
Kuskokwim River in the year 1900 The river is formed by the
confluence of East Fork Kuskokwim River and North Fork Kuskokwim River, east of
Medfra. From there it flows southwest to
Kuskokwim Bay and the
Bering Sea. The Kuskokwim is fed by several forks in central and south-central Alaska. The North Fork (250 mi/400 km) rises in the
Kuskokwim Mountains approximately 200 miles (320 km) WSW of
Fairbanks and flows southwest in a broad valley. The South Fork (200 mi/320 km) rises in the southwestern end of the Alaska Range west of
Mount Gerdine and flows north-northwest through the mountains, past
Nikolai, receiving other streams that descend from the Alaska Range northwest of
Denali. The two forks join near Medfra, and from there the main stem of the Kuskokwim flows southwest, past
McGrath, in a remote valley between the Kuskokwim Mountains to the north and the Alaska Range to the south. In southwest Alaska the river emerges from the Kuskokwim Mountains in a vast lake-studded
alluvial plain south of the
Yukon River, surrounded by large
spruce forests. It passes a series of Yup'ik villages, including
Aniak, and approaches within 50 mi (80 km) of the Yukon before diverging southwest. Southwest of
Bethel, the largest community on the river, it broadens into a wide marshy delta that enters Kuskokwim Bay approximately 50 mi (80 km) SSW of Bethel. The lower river below Aniak is located within the
Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The river receives the Big River from the south approximately 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Medfra. It receives the
Swift,
Stony, and
Holitna rivers from the south at the southern end of the Kuskokwim Mountains before emerging on the coastal plain. It receives the
Aniak River from the south at Aniak. Approximately 20 miles (32 km) upstream from Bethel it receives the
Kisaralik and
Kwethluk rivers from the south. It receives the
Eek River from the east at
Eek near its mouth on Kuskokwim Bay. == History ==