U.S. #C137

2001 80¢ Mount McKinley

Scenic American Landscapes

Issue Date: April 17, 2001

First City: Fairbanks, Alaska

Quantity Issued: 85,000,000

Printed by: Avery Dennison

Printing Method: Photogravure

Perforation: Serpentine Die Cut 11

Color: Multicolored

Denali National Park And Preserve

On February 26, 1917, Denali National Park was first established as Mount McKinley National Park.

The area of the present-day park was hardly habitable 11,000 years ago when bands of Native Americans began to occupy surrounding areas. Tribes including the Koyukon, Dena’ina, Ahtna, Kolchan, Tanana, and Athabaskan were among the earliest and most common. The first people likely entered the park about 7,000 years ago, and the first occupied it seasonally about 5,500 years ago. Harsh winters, frigid winds, and few trees made it difficult for people to survive there during the cold months.

Russia had claimed control of the Alaska area in 1741, but there is little evidence that any Russian explorers ever came within 50 miles of the current park boundaries. In 1867, Alaska became part of the United States through a deal struck by US secretary of state William Seward. Although Western Union Telegraph Expedition of 1865-67 had brought American attention to the Alaska area, its remote location left it relatively unexplored by Americans for several years.

When gold was discovered near Juneau, prospectors began flocking to Alaska. In 1896, prospector William A. Dickey named the mountain after presidential nominee William McKinley. (The native Athabaskans called it Denali, which means “The Great One” or “The High One.”) Dickey had written about a recent trip to the area for The New York Sun and gave a detailed description of the mountain he named. When asked why he named the mountain after McKinley, Dickey stated, “The verbal bludgeoning he had received from free silver partisans had inspired him to retaliate with the name of the gold-standard champion.”

Source mysticstamps.com