Although it's headwaters are close to the Pacific, they are cut off from the ocean by mountains causing the Yukon river to meander north through the Yukon then west across Alaska to the Bering Sea. The river is most famous for the gold rush of 1897 at the confluence with the Klondike River. As a result of the gold rush the forests along the river were decimated and it was catastrophic to the Tr'ondek Hwech'in people when the interlopers settled among them. The forests have largely recovered. And fortunately the visionary Chief Isaac relocated his people down river where they have preserved their ancient traditions.
—David Foss