North Klondike Highway

Km 551 - Stewart River

The Stewart River is one of the principal tributaries of the Yukon River, flowing more than 480 kilometres from its headwaters in the Mackenzie Mountains and joining the Yukon River 112 kilometres above Dawson City. The river was named by Hudson's Bay Company explorer Robert Campbell for his assistant James Green Stewart in 1849. It was one of the first rivers in the territory to be prospected and gold was found on its bars more than 10 years before the Klondike Gold Rush. One of the first gold mining dredges in the Yukon operated on the Stewart at the turn of the century.

Before the completion of the road system in the region, the Stewart River was the primary transportation route. Sternwheel riverboats like the S.S. Keno and the S.S. Vidette serviced the river communities, transporting passengers and supplies. When the silver mining industry began to develop in the 1920s, bags of silver ore were shipped from the town of Mayo to the mouth of the Stewart. There they were transferred to Yukon River boats and taken to Whitehorse or Dawson for shipment to the outside world.

During the summer months when the salmon are running the native people of the Stewart River Valley move to fish camps along its banks, as they have done for countless years. Although this section of the river is fairly gentle and placid, its upper portion can be quite treacherous. The rugged country which surrounds the upper stretches of the river has been an important source of furs for years and many people still trap in the area.

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