DAWSON

Dawson, on the bank of the Yukon River in the Yukon Territory. formerly Dawson City, city, western Yukon Territory, Canada. It lies at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers, near the Alaska, U.S., boundary, 165 miles (265 km) south of the Arctic Circle. The community, named for George M. Dawson, the geologist-explorer, developed after the gold strike at nearby Bonanza Creek in 1896. During the height of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898, Dawson's population exceeded 30,000, only to be followed by a spectacular decline resulting from the exhaustion of the most readily accessible mines. The city's position as the capital of the Yukon, gained in 1898, was lost in 1953 when the distinction was transferred to Whitehorse. Gold dredging continued on a limited scale along the Klondike until operations ceased in 1966, leaving the place to function as a tourist base and local distributing centre. The restored cabins of Jack London and Robert W. Service recall the city's past association with those colourful writers. The annual (August) Discovery Day celebrations extol the past glory of Dawson, which in 1967 was declared a national historic complex and is now part of the Klondike Gold Rush International Historic Park, a cooperative undertaking between Canada and the United States. Inc. 1906. Pop. (1991) 972.