Alaska-Yukon Cruise Tour

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Fort Yukon, Alaska

Fort Yukon, Alaska is a unique community. Established as a trading post in 1847 by the Hudson's Bay Company, it is the largest Athabascan Indian village and one of the oldest settlements in the State of Alaska. The Gwich'in Athabascans have inhabited the Fort Yukon area for a millennium. The Gwich'in people refer to the village as Gwichyaa Zhee (house on the flats).

Located approximately 140 miles northeast of Fairbanks, Fort Yukon is situated near the confluence of the Yukon and Porcupine Rivers in an area known as the Yukon Flats. The village can be reached by plane or snowmobile in the winter or by boat or plane during the summer.

The Tribal Government was established under the Indian Reorganization Act in 1939 and continues to serve the tribal members through a variety of federal, state, and privately funded programs.

History

Fort Yukon was first established as Fort Youcon by Alexander Hunter Murray, a Hudson's Bay Company trading post in 1847. Murray drew numerous sketches of fur trade posts and of people and wrote the Journal of the Yukon, 1847–48, which give valuable insight into the culture of local Gwich’in people at the time. While the post was actually in Russian Alaska, the Hudson's Bay Company continued to trade there until expelled by the American traders in 1869, following the Alaska Purchase when the post was taken over by the Alaska Commercial Company. A post office was established on July 12, 1898 with John Hawksly as its first postmaster, but the settlement suffered over the following decades as a result of several epidemics and a 1949 flood.

During the 1950s, the United States Air Force established a base and radar station at Fort Yukon; the town was officially incorporated in 1959. It has recently, in part due to its location north of the Arctic Circle and its proximity to Fairbanks, become a minor tourist destination.

Geography

Fort Yukon is located on the north bank of the Yukon River at its junction with the Porcupine River, about 145 air miles northeast of Fairbanks.

Demographics

Estimated population in July 2006: 534 (-10.3% change)

Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area

Estimated median household income in 2005: $29,200 (it was $29,375 in 2000)

Estimated median house/condo value in 2005: $57,700 (it was $50,000 in 2000)

Ethnic makeup in Fort Yukon:

• American Indian (88.7%)
• White Non-Hispanic (10.6%)
• Two or more races (2.7%)
• Hispanic (1.3%)

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