Description
Harper Bend is located in Tanana River 5 mi. N of junction of Chitanana River, 18 mi. SE of Tanana, Nowitna Low.
History
Named as early as 1890 for Arthur Harper, born 1835, prospector, trader, and explorer of the Yukon River. Harper reached the Yukon in 1873 and his name, along with Napoleon Leroy Mcquesten and Alfred Mayo, stands out prominently in the history of the Yukon "country" the last third of the nineteenth century (see Brooks, 1953, p. 311-320). In 1875, Harper ascended the Tanana and built a cabin near this bend. Later, in 1878, this cabin was the home and scene of the murder, by Indians, of Mrs. Edmond Bean, wife of the first trader to establish himself on the Tanana (Allen, 1887, p. 86). See McQuesten Creek and Mayo Bend.