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Description (Page 1)
Yukon History
This northern
Canadian territory's history is marked by what is often regarded as the world's greatest gold rush.
It is believed that ancestors of the Amerindians crossed a bridge over the Bering Sea from
Asia approximately 10,000 to 25,000 years ago, establishing the Yukon as the first inhabited region of
Canada.
Around 1840, two explorers from the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) arrived in the area with the aid of
maps and information from Sir John Franklin and other early
European explorers. Six years later, HBC coined the name "Yukon," from the Loucheux Indian word "Yuchoo," meaning "the greatest river."
The name held true, as evidenced by the gold discoveries of the early 1870s along the tributaries of the Yukon River bringing prosperity to the area. In 1876 pioneer George Carmack discovered rich gold deposits on Bonanza Creek, a small tributary of the Klondike River, which connects to the
Yukon River.
Only miniscule amounts of gold had been mined prior to this discovery, thus leading to the great
gold rush of 1897. With the gold rush came miners and gold seekers from all over
Canada and beyond, disrupting the peace that the indigenous people, such as the Athapaskan Indians, had enjoyed for centuries.
At the peak of the gold rush, the nearby settlement of Dawson flourished making it the largest city in Canada west of
Winnipeg. Located at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers, Dawson was estimated to have a population of 40,000 at its height.
Territorial Status, the Decline of Gold, and Yukon's role in World War II
Between 1897 and 1904, over $100 million worth of gold was uncovered from the depths of the Yukon River. In
1898 the Canadian Parliament passed the Yukon Act, officially establishing the Yukon Territory, separating the proliferating area from its northwestern counterparts and creating a commissioner and legislative assembly. Police ensured
Canadian jurisdiction over the territory.
Yukon continued to prosper during its first few years as an official territory, but by 1906 there was little gold left for individual miners to recover. As these miners departed Yukon, large companies with expensive dredges and other advanced mining techniques infiltrated the area.
The depletion of gold resulted in a population that plummeted from 27,219 in 1901 to 8,502 in 1911. Ten years later, it plunged to a low of 4,157, returning
Yukon's economy to its former state.
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