| Whitehorse is the likeable capital of the | | | | The completion of the White Pass and Yukon |
| Yukon, home to two thirds of its population, | | | | Railway to Whitehorse, newly named after the |
| around 24,000 people. The centre of its | | | | rapids put this tentative settlement on a |
| mining and forestry industries, and a | | | | firmer footing. Almost at the same time as |
| bustling, welcoming stop off for thousands of | | | | the gold rush petered out. In the early years |
| summer visitors. Whilst roads bring in todays | | | | of the twentieth century the towns population |
| business, the town owes its existence to the | | | | dwindled quickly from about 10,000 to about |
| Yukon River, a 3000 kilometre artery that | | | | 400, for forty years the place slumbered, |
| rises in the Coast Mountains and flows | | | | barely sustained by copper mining and the |
| through the heart of the Yukon and Alaska to | | | | paddle wheelers that plied the river carrying |
| the Bering Sea. | | | | freight and the occasional tourist. The towns |
| | | | second boom arrived with the construction of |
| The rivers flood plain and strange escarpment | | | | the Alaska Hwy, a kick start that swelled the |
| above the present town were long a resting | | | | towns population from 800 to 40,000 almost |
| point for Dene peoples, but the spot | | | | overnight, and has stood it in good stead |
| burgeoned into a full blown city with the | | | | ever since. |
| arrival of thousands of stampedes in the | | | | |
| spring of 1898. Having braved the Chilkoot | | | | The airport is 7 miles west of downtown. |
| Pass to meet the Yukons upper reaches, men | | | | |
| and supplies then had to pause on the shores | | | | Whitehorse has a dry sub arctic climate |
| of Lineman or Bennett Lake before navigating | | | | |
| the Miles Canyon and White Horse rapids | | | | Some of the tourist attractions in Whitehorse |
| southeast of the present town. | | | | include Miles Canyon, the S.S. Klondike |
| | | | sternwheeler, the Yukon Transportation |
| After the first few boats through had been | | | | Museum, the MacBride Museum, the Old Log |
| reduced to matchwood, the Mounties laid down | | | | Church Museum, the Beringia Centre, Yukon |
| rules allowing only experienced boatmen to | | | | Gardens, Log Skyscrapers, the Whitehorse fish |
| take craft through. Writer Jack London, one | | | | ladder, the Yukon Wildlife Preserve and the |
| such boatman, made a lot of money in the | | | | Takhini Hot Springs, and the Yukon visitor |
| summer of 1898, when more than seven thousand | | | | centre. |
| boats left the lakes. After a period the | | | | |
| prospectors constructed an eight kilometre | | | | Whitehorse supports a thriving, vibrant art |
| wooden tramway around the rapids, and in time | | | | and music scene, hosting several music |
| raised a shantytown settlement at the canyon | | | | festivals every year. In the dead of winter |
| and tramways northern head to catch their | | | | the Frostbite Music festival warms things up |
| breath before the river journey to Dawson | | | | with everything from funk to punk and much |
| City. | | | | more. |
| | | | |