EARLY GOLD DISCOVERIES IN YUKON
In the year 1850, HBC explorer Robert Campbell made the first gold discovery in the Yukon at Fort Selkirk. The original fort was located across the Yukon River from its current location on Pelly's south bank. Campbell apparently was unimpressed when he saw gold on a gravel bar in front of the fort. It's possible that this was the same bar from which Robert Henderson wore three ounces of fine gold in 1894).
There were three major gold rushes in the world between 1848 and 1858: in California, Australia, and the Cariboo. As a result, many experienced prospectors were looking for new placer deposits there. Bars of gold were discovered in the Stikine River in 1861; This area, which was close to the Yukon, hinted at miners entering the Territory. Even though the Russians had never shown any interest in mining, they sent the corvette Rhynda to make sure that no mining was taking place on their land.
The Crimean War five years earlier had hurt relations between the Russians and the British. Reverend McDonald reported gold at Fort Yukon the following year, saying that he could have found it on a small river close to the fort. This was without a doubt "The Preacher's Creek," a fork in the Circle gold fields of Birch Creek, not found again until 1893.
"Tiny specks of gold had been found by HBC men in the Yukon," Frederick Whymper wrote in an account of his explorations in 1866 and 1867 for the ill-fated Collins Overland Telegraph line to Siberia. He did not go into detail. The Yukon would be greatly affected by 1867 events. Then, to the horror of its people, Russia breathed a sigh of relief after the United States purchased Alaska from Russia. In the meantime, all of the British lands in North America became part of a confederation.
The following year, the new Canadian Parliament began negotiations to acquire Rupert's Land—the majority of the current territory of Canada—from the HBC. However, a settlement was not reached until 1870. As a result, up until that point, the Yukon was under HBC control.
