The Fortymile River Area & History:

The Forty Mile town site is at the confluence of the Fortymile River and the Yukon River, about 48 miles downriver from Dawson City and the Klondike River towards the Alaska border. This was the main placer gold mining area from the 1880's until Dawson City was developed after the 1896 gold discovery at Rabbit Creek (Bonanza Creek). The Fortymile River and tributaries were mined before that discovery and afterwards, mostly in Alaska from where the river flows. At the the Forty Mile townsite there was a settlement, trading post and Northwest Mounted Police post on the Yukon River. There has been active placer mining on the river and on tributaries to the present, though most of the area has yet to be mined or systematically tested.