Wrangell was a major supply center for three major gold rushes to impact the area. Beginning in 1861 with the Stikine Rush, Wrangell was a bustling boomtown replete with saloons, hotels, and warehouses. In 1898 Wrangell provided early access to the Klondike gold fields up the nearby Stikine River. Early settlement of Wrangell by the Russians and the English . Chinese and Japanese collections depict later foreign influences in Wrangell.