Interior Community: Fort Yukon
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Fort Yukon was founded in 1847 by Alexander Murray as a Canadian outpost in Russian Territory. It became an important trade center for the Gwich’in Indians, who inhabited the vast lowlands of the Yukon Flats and River valleys. The Hudson Bay Company, a British trading company, operated at Fort Yukon from 1846 until 1869. In 1862, a mission school was established. In 1867, the U.S. purchased Alaska, and two years later it was determined that Fort Yukon was on American soil.
Moses Mercier, a trader with the Alaska Commercial Company, took over operation of the Fort Yukon Trading Post. The fur trade of the 1800s, the whaling boom on the Arctic coast (1889-1904) and the Klondike Gold Rush spurred economic activity.
Fort Yukon is one of the older settlements in Alaska and remains the largest primarily Athabascan village in Alaska. At the furthest northern tip of the Yukon river, it also is just north of the Arctic Circle, and beneath the aurora borealis belt-providing some of the best Northern Lights viewing anywhere in the world on almost any given winter night. Mentioned in Jack London’s books, and home to the first climbers of Denali, Fort Yukon is an interesting and historical village with much to offer any visitor including historical bus tours, fine lodging and dining at River in the Sky Café and Cabins, package tours are available.
Details
Enjoy Alaska's spectacular northern lights!
Population: 574
Location: About 145 air miles northeast of Fairbanks and 8 miles north of the Arctic Circle, at the confluence of the Yukon and Porcupine Rivers.
Access: Scheduled air service from Fairbanks and charter service year-round; by barge or boat during the summer months.
Accommodations: One lodge and one bed and breakfast.
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