James Minano Cabin, Slate Creek at Koyukuk River, Bettles Vicinity, Coldfoot, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, AK

Significance: Although prospectors had begun venturing up the Koyukuk River by the mid-1880s, the first surge of settlement in the region occurred with the overflow of Klondike stampeders in the late 1890s. By 1899, a collection of cabins had been built where Slate Creek flowed into the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River. The settlement was christened Coldfoot. The town reached its peak in 1902, with an estimated population of 500.

James Minano was a Japanese trader and whaler who had disembarked in Barrow, where he subsequently married an Eskimo woman, Sucklarlook. In 1903, he and his family accompanied his friend and fellow immigrant Frank Yasuda on a prospecting trip to the Koyukuk, where James Minano got a job in Coldfoot as cook. The Minanos settled in the town, raising four children and cultivating an extensive gardening operation which sold vegetables to miners.

The Minano Cabin is thought to have been constructed ca. 1915, built of traditional horizontal log construction. The house incorporated an unusual amount of sawn lumber (floor boards, ceiling, root cellar walls), perhaps salvaged from nearby abandoned buildings. The roof consisted of sod laid on planks, typical of northern Alaska. By 1924, the Minanos were the only remaining residents in Coldfoot. By 1984, the building was abandoned and in a state of disrepair. It was then one of only two surviving historic buildings in Coldfoot. The cabin has since collapsed.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2130
Survey number: HABS AK-23
Building/structure dates: 1915 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: after 1984