This creek near Cooper Landing was one of Alaska's earliest gold finds. Peter Doroshin, a mining engineer for the Russian American Company, discovered gold in the area in 1850. Joseph Cooper later discovered gold in 1884, but he did not file a claim. Charles Sickels filed the first claim on Cooper Creek in 1895. Cooper returned in 1896 to stake claims on his namesake creek. The area was mined first by hand and then hydraulically until World War I when labor shortages closed the Kenai Mining and Milling Company. A Gold Rush Centennial interpretive sign can be seen at mile 48 on the Sterling Highway. Other interpretive signs can be seen at pull-outs at mile 95.4 and mile 107.7 of the Seward Highway, and on trails near the SeaLife Center in Seward.
