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Located on the YUKON RIVER at the mouth of the Pelly River, Fort Selkirk was established as a HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY trading post by Robert Campbell. Its first site (built in 1848) was 2 km upstream on the Pelly but the post was moved to the confluence in the winter of 1851-52 because of spring flooding damage. Archaeological and other evidence indicates, however, that the latter site was important for trade long before Campbell rebuilt his post there. The Northern TUTCHONE used the area for fishing and traded there with the coastal Chilkat Tlingit.
The trading post was short-lived; it shut down in the summer of its establishment after it was attacked and plundered by the Chilkat. In 1898-99 the site was the base of the YUKON FIELD FORCE. A private trading post was established by Arthur Harper around 1890. A community built up around the post, supported by riverboat traffic between WHITEHORSE and DAWSON; the Hudson's Bay Company re-established a post in 1938. In the 1950s the community was abandoned when the highway between Whitehorse and Dawson passed it by. Fort Selkirk is now co-owned and co-managed by Yukon Government and Selkirk First Nation. Over 40 buildings are maintained as a HISTORIC SITE to interpret the evolution of many such trading posts and FIRST NATIONS communities in the Yukon. The Selkirk First Nation provides interpretive programming at Fort Selkirk in the summer months and the site is accessible by boat from Minto on the Klondike Highway. In the summer of 2006 remains of the first site were uncovered during an archaeological dig.
 Fort SelkirkFort Selkirk in the Yukon was established as a Hudson's Bay Company trading post in 1848 (courtesy Aerocamera Services Inc).
Author
DEBORAH WELCH and MICHAEL PAYNE
Links to Other Sites
Fort Selkirk Virtual Museum
This illustrated Virtual Museum website chronicles the history of the hardy inhabitants of the Fort Selkirk region. The flora, fauna, and geological history of this region are also described.
Yukon Territory
An extensive visitors guide to all there is to see and do in the scenic and historic Yukon. From the Department of Tourism & Culture, Government of Yukon.
The Canadian Register of Historic Places
The Canadian Register offers a searchable database of historic places of local, provincial, territorial, and national significance.
Fort Selkirk Tour
Scroll down the page for an illustrated history of Fort Selkirk, a home to both Selkirk First Nation people and Euro-American settlers. A Government of Yukon website.
A Look Back in Time - The Archaeology of Fort Selkirk
An informative guide to the ancient and traditional history of the Fort Selkirk area, one of the Yukon’s most important historic sites. A Government of Yukon website.
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