Silver Trail

Km 110.4 - Keno City

Louis Bouvette arrived in the Yukon in 1901 and joined the Duncan Creek stampede. He was not lucky there, but stayed in the area to prospect for gold. In 1918, Bouvette found silver-rich galena during a hunting trip on Sheep Mountain. The following summer he prospected further and staked a claim called Roulette. An assay of the ore from Roulette indicated a very rich 200-300 ounces of silver per ton.

Several of Bouvette's friends staked claims on the newly named Keno Hill and most were successful in selling their claims to a bigger mining company. The Yukon Gold Co. established Keno Hill Ltd. to manage their properties in 1920. Keno Hill Ltd. shipped the first ore that winter and the silver mine was called the richest in Canada.

Jack Pickering and James Greenfield, early stakers on Keno Hill, formed a company to haul the ore 40 miles to Mayo Landing, where it was loaded onto the steamers. John Kinman's cabin, on the trail above Lightning Creek, was a stopping point on the haul road. It became Keno City, with three hotels, a liquor store and a post office. Keno City's population declined after 1923, when cat trains took over from horses and it was no longer necessary to stop along the route.

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