Forty Mile (Yukon)

Forty Mile is a ghost town in the Yukon Territory.

The settlement was established in winter 1887 at the mouth of the Fortymile River in the Yukon after 1886 had been found near gold. Forty Mile was the first city in the Yukon Territory. In its heyday, the late 19th century, the city had a population of 700.

The Han, ancestors of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation, took advantage of the area around Forty Mile for about 2000 years. In winter, here the Yukon caribou herds traversing were hunted and in spring and summer salmon fishery was operated.

1886 Jack McQuesten, Alfred Mayo and Arthur Harper established here a trading post of the Alaska Commercial Company. 1887 originated in Forty Mile, the first police station and the first Anglican mission school of the territory. 1894 followed a trading post of the North American Transportation and Trading Company, a library, several saloons and restaurants, a theater and several distilleries. With the beginning of the Gold Rush of the Klondike River in 1896 most of the inhabitants left the place again. Of the buildings today, there are only a few.

Since 1998, Forty Mile, along with the historic sites Fort Constantine and Fort Cudahy in co-owned and co-management of Tr'ondek Hwech'in and the Government of the territory.

The nearest town is Dawson upriver 77 km. Since the late 1960s, Forty Mile can be reached via a branch off from the Top of the World Highway road to Clinton Creek.