Wiseman (pop. 30) sprang up around 1907, long before the trans-Alaska pipeline and the Dalton Highway were constructed in the 1970s. Dog sleds, horses and bush planes were used to reach the outside world. Gold was discovered in nearby Nolan Creek and the town became a supply center for miners in the upper Koyukuk Valley. Wiseman’s heyday came in 1910 after gold seekers abandoned Coldfoot, 13 miles south. The town was first called Wrights, then Nolan, and finally Wiseman in 1923.
Wiseman is located 75 miles north of the Arctic Circle in the Brooks Range, at 1,180 ft. elevation in a valley. The town features thirty original historic cabins and log structures (all privately owned and still in use) from the gold rush area, a Historic Museum with old miner’s journals and old photo’s, and a chapel named after Florence Jonas-Kalhabuk, the last full Eskimo resident. She passed away in Wiseman in 1979 at the age of 82. A nearby mountain was named in her honor.
Winter temperatures in Wiseman can be extremely cold, -50 to -70 at times in January and February. There is a total loss of sunlight between December 5 and January 9. High temperatures occasionally reach 90. Individual generators are used for power; some residents use propane lights.