Yukon River

The Yukon River is a major waterway in northwestern North America. It begins in British Columbia, flows through Canada’s Yukon territory—which takes its name from the river—and continues through the U.S. state of Alaska for its lower half. Stretching 3,190 kilometers (1,980 miles), it empties into the Bering Sea at the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta. Its average discharge ranges from 6,400 to 7,000 cubic meters per second (230,000–250,000 cubic feet per second). The river drains 854,700 square kilometers (330,000 square miles), with 323,800 square kilometers (125,000 square miles) in Canada—an area more than 25 percent larger than Texas or Alberta. As the longest river in both Alaska and Yukon, it served as a key transportation route during the Klondike Gold Rush from 1896 to 1903.

The name Yukon comes from the Gwichʼin phrase *chųų gąįį han*, meaning “white water river,” a reference to the pale color of glacial runoff. This phrase contracts to *Ųųg Han* (with nasalized vowels) or *Yuk Han* (without nasalization). In the 1840s, different Dene nations offered conflicting interpretations. In 1843, the Holikachuks told the Russian-American Company their name was *Yukkhana*, meaning “big river,” though this does not literally match a Holikachuk phrase for that meaning. Two years later, the Gwichʼins told the Hudson’s Bay Company their name was *Yukon*, meaning “white water river,” which does correspond to Gwichʼin words that shorten to *Yukon*. Because the Holikachuks traded regularly with both the Gwichʼins and the Yupʼiks, they likely borrowed the Gwichʼin contraction and conflated its meaning with the Yupʼik name *Kuig-pak* (“River-big”). Documentary evidence thus suggests the Holikachuks borrowed *Ųųg Han* from Gwichʼin and mistakenly assumed it meant the same as the Yupʼik term. The upper course of the Yukon, from Marsh Lake to the confluence of the Pelly River at Fort Selkirk, was formerly called the Lewes River.

Geologists, geographers, hydrologists, and ecologists agree the headwaters lie in the glaciated Coast Mountains of British Columbia, but the exact source is debated. The U.S. Geological Survey generally accepts the Llewellyn Glacier at the southern end of Atlin Lake as the source. Others point to Lake Lindeman at the northern end of the Chilkoot Trail. Atlin Lake flows into Tagish Lake via the Atlin River, and Lake Lindeman flows into Bennett Lake, which also reaches Tagish Lake. Tagish Lake then flows into Marsh Lake via the Tagish River. The Yukon River proper begins at the northern end of Marsh Lake, just south of Whitehorse. Some argue the true source is Teslin Lake and the Teslin River, which contributes a larger flow when it meets the Yukon at Hootalinqua. North of Whitehorse, the river widens into Lake Laberge, immortalized by Robert W. Service’s poem “The Cremation of Sam McGee.” Other large lakes in the system include Kusawa Lake (feeding the Takhini River) and Kluane Lake (feeding the Kluane and then White River).

The river passes through Whitehorse, Carmacks (just before Five Finger Rapids), and Dawson City in Yukon, then crosses into Alaska, flowing past Eagle, Circle, Fort Yukon, Stevens Village, Rampart, Tanana, Ruby, Galena, Nulato, Grayling, Holy Cross, Russian Mission, Marshall, Pilot Station, St. Marys (accessible from the Yukon at Pitkas Point), and Mountain Village. Beyond Mountain Village, the main channel splits into many branches across the delta. Communities after the “head of passes”—as the division is locally known—include Nunum Iqua, Alakanuk, Emmonak, and Kotlik. Emmonak, the largest delta community with about 760 people in the 2000 census, has a gravel airstrip that serves as the regional hub.

Navigational hazards on the river include Five Finger Rapids and Rink Rapids, both downstream from Carmacks. Despite its length, only four vehicle-carrying bridges span the river.

A portion of the river in Yukon—the “Thirty Mile” section from Lake Laberge to the Teslin River—is a national heritage river and part of the Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park. Paddle-wheel riverboats operated on the Yukon until the 1950s, when the Klondike Highway was completed. After the United States purchased Alaska in 1867, the Alaska Commercial Company took over the Russian-American Company’s assets and built several posts along the river.

The Yukon has a recent history of pollution from military sites, dumps, wastewater, and other sources. However, the Environmental Protection Agency does not list it among impaired watersheds, and U.S. Geological Survey data show relatively good levels of turbidity, metals, and dissolved oxygen. The Yukon and Mackenzie rivers carry much higher suspended sediment concentrations than major Siberian Arctic rivers. The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, a cooperative of 70 First Nations and tribes in Alaska and Canada, aims to make the river and its tributaries safe to drink from again by supplementing and scrutinizing government data.