The history of Yukon covers the period from the arrival of
Paleo-Indians
Paleo-Indians were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix ''paleo-'' comes from . The term ''Paleo-Indians'' applies specifically to the lithic period in ...
through the
Beringia
Beringia is defined today as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada; on the north by 70th parallel north, 72° north latitude in the Chukchi Sea; and on the south ...
land bridge approximately 20,000 years ago. In the 18th century, Russian explorers began to trade with the
First Nations
First nations are indigenous settlers or bands.
First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to:
Indigenous groups
*List of Indigenous peoples
*First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
people along the Alaskan coast, and later established trade networks extending into
Yukon
Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
. By the 19th century, traders from the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
were also active in the region. The region was administered as a part of the
North-Western Territory
The North-Western Territory was a region of British North America extant until 1870 and named for where it lay in relation to Rupert's Land.
Because of the lack of development, exploration, and cartographic limits of the time, the exact boun ...
until 1870, when the United Kingdom transferred the territory to Canada and it became the
North-West Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated pop ...
.
After gold was discovered in the
Klondike region in 1896, the area saw a
large influx of prospectors enter into the region in search of gold. Due to the large influx of prospectors into the region, the western portion of the North-West Territories was split from the rest of the territory in 1898 to form the Yukon Territory. Although the gold rush ended by the turn of the century, mining developments continued to take place in the territory during the early 20th century. During the Second World War, the