Description
Located on the west bank of the Koyukuk River, 1.6 km (1 mi) downstream (SW) of its junction with the John River, 5.6 km (3.5 mi) east-northeast of Lookout Mountain, Kanuti Flats.
History
Named for Gordon C. Bettles, printer, prospector, and trader who established the trading post and community in 1898 (Kitchener, 1954, p. 156). A post office was established in 1901 and continued intermittently until 1956 (Ricks, 1965, p.7). Following World War II, the residents gradually relocated five miles further east, near the site of a newly-constructed airstrip; this area was incorporated as the City of Bettles in 1985. The last inhabitants of Old Bettles moved out in 1997.