Yukon & Chena Rivers

Yukon River

The 2,300 miles long Yukon River lies half in Alaska, half in Yukon Territory, emptying into the Bering Sea. The source of the Yukon River is Lake Lindeman at the at Chilkoot Pass, while other sources claim that its origin is the southern end of Atlin Lake. In the times of the gold strikes, especially at Fortymile River and the famous Klondike gold rush, thousands of adventurers and workers came from the Pacific coast from Skagway and over the Chilkoot Pass into British Columbia and down the Yukon River or from St. Michael near the mouth of the Yukon River and then up to Dawson City by steamboat.

In 1966 the Russian-American Telegraph Company put the small steamboat WILDER into service on the lower Yukon River. The first steamboat further up the Yukon River was the 49-foot-long YUKON in 1869 to Fort Yukon. The era of Alaska steamboats should last for 86 years.

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Yukon & Chena Rivers map

Chena River

The Chena River is a 10-mile-long river at Alaska, flowing into the Tanana River near Fairbanks, AK. The Tenana River itself is a major tributary to the Yukon River. On its banks the city of Fairbanks was founded around 1902. Today Fairbanks is the second-largest city in the state of Alaska.

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