Yup’ik people have lived here for hundreds of years, thriving in an area that is renowned for its natural bounty and stunning beauty. Their ÀUVWFRQWDFWZLWK(XURSHDQH[SORUHUVKDSSHQHG around 1818 when the Korsakovsky expedition explored the mouths of the Nushagak and Wood rivers for the Russians. A Russian furtrading post was established in the area that survived until the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 and salmon canneries became more important than fur hunting.