Minto is in the western part of traditional Tanana Athabaskan territory. During the late 1800s, some members of the nomadic Minto band traveled to Tanana, Rampart and Fort Yukon to trade furs for manufactured goods, tea and flour. After gold was discovered north of Fairbanks in 1902, steamboats began to travel on the Tanana River, bringing goods and people into the area. Old Minto, on the banks of the Tanana River, became a permanent settlement when some members of the Minto band built log cabins there. Other families lived there seasonally in tents. A school was established in 1937, but most families still did not live in Minto year-round until the 1950s. The people from the Minto band were eventually joined by families from Nenana, Toklat, Crossjacket and Chena.