delta junction began its history in 1904 as a telegraph station at the entry of the delta river in big delta, alaska. in 1928, a herd of bison was brought from montana to provide game for hunters. they made landings difficult for the nearby army base and the herd is now kept at a only several hundred by the issuance of hunting permits. in the 1980s the delta junction bison range was established between fort greeley and the little gerstle river just south of the alaska highway. during world war ii, the alaska highway was built to connect dawson creek in british columbia, canada to the richardson highway. this connection became known as delta junction after the nearby  delta river. delta junction became a municipality in 1960 and experienced an economic boom after the pipeline began its construction in 1974. a decline in the economy began in 1971 when the george parks highway was built to stretch from anchorage to fairbanks, bypassing delta junction. following this event, the pipeline's construction ended in 1977 and the cold war ended in 1991 with the collapse of the soviet union. immigrants from the former soviet union began to populate the area in the 1990's and 2000's. in 2002 and 2005, delta junction once again boomed when fort greely became fully functional.