Steamboats of the Yukon River

Steamboats on the Yukon River played a role in the development of Alaska and Yukon. Access to the interior of Alaska and Yukon was hindered by large mountains and distance, but the wide Yukon River provided a feasible route. The first steamers on the lower Yukon River were work boats for the Collins Overland Telegraph in 1866 or 1867, with a small steamer called Wilder. The mouth of the Yukon River is far to the west at St. Michael and a journey from Seattle or San Francisco covered some 4,000 miles (6,400 km).

There were a series of steamers owned by the Alaska Commercial Company: Yukon (screw propeller) of 1869, and St. Michael (stern wheel) of 1879. Slowly the north was opened up with the help of river steamers. Portus B. Weare worked the river after 1892.

In 1897 there were 7 steamers operating in the Yukon, by 1899 there were 30.

The discovery of gold on Rabbit Creek at Dawson City prompted Klondike Gold Rush. Thousands of gold seekers headed north. Riverboats from the Pacific Northwest headed north to ply the route. Hundreds of boats were co-opted and others were built. Twelve identical steamboats were built by Moran Bros. (hull Nos. 9–20). Yards in Seattle, Victoria, Portland, and Vancouver all built boats. The CPR Steamer service ordered more vessels: Moyie and Minto, for instance; but they arrived too late for service on the Yukon River.

Boats were either steamed across the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea to enter the river mouth, or they were transported in pieces over the White Pass and assembled in Whitehorse. The big revenue route was from Whitehorse several hundred miles north to Dawson.

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