Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 19

Yukon Transportation: A History

by Gordon Bennett

Abstract

This paper examines the development of the Yukon transportation system from the early 1840s to the 1960s within the context of contemporary economic conditions. It describes the limitations imposed by geography on the economic development of the Yukon as well as those development problems peculiar to regions that are dependent on the exploitation of nonrenewable resources, and explores the extent to which transportation has provided solutions to these problems. It also discusses the roles played by individuals, companies and governments in the development of various forms of transportation and various traffic routes.

Submitted for publication 1972, by Gordon Bennett, National Historic Parks and Sites Branch, Ottawa.

Frontispiece: Spring break-up on the Yukon River. (Frederick Whymper, Travel and Adventure in the Territory of Alaska [London: John Murray, 1868], facing p. 197.)