[8] In central Alaska, it emerges into a lowland marsh region known as the Tanana Valley and passes south of the city of Fairbanks.

[9] Betting on the exact time of the break-up takes the form of a lottery, called the Nenana Ice Classic.

[10] In the summer of 1885, Lieutenant Henry Tureman Allen of the U.S. Army undertook the first recorded exploration of the Tanana River.

Fairbanks, a metropolitan area with about 100,000 residents in 2019, is a center of placer gold mining, which has continued in the basin since the mid-19th century.

[10] During World War II, it was proposed to resettle Finnish refugees in areas around the Tanana River (Operation Alaska).

Each year, thousands pay $3.00 to guess the exact date and minute the Tanana River ice will go out in Nenana.