"John W. Clark (1846-1896) was one of the first Euroamerican residents of Alaska, arriving at St. Michael with the Western Union Telegraph Company Russo-American Expedition to build a worldwide telegraph line in 1866. He was a distinguished trader on the Yukon, Kuskokwim and Nushagak Rivers between 1868 and 1896. Clark lived at Nushagak nearly twenty years and was a founder of the world-renowned Bristol Bay commercial salmon fishing industry. He was an entrepreneurial fur trader and merchant and likely the first English speaking resident of the Bristol Bay region. Clark was a close friend of the Native people of western Alaska and traveled widely about the region by dogsled and baidarka. He married and established a large extended family in western Alaska." --Publisher's description.