S.S. KENO NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE OF CANADA

At the time of the Klondike Gold Rush, the dangerous Yukon River was transformed into a highway. In addition to the makeshift boats and rafts hastily built by the most hurried or broke prospectors, a real paddlewheel and steamboat industry took off. It was necessary to take the candidates for fortune to Dawson City, to bring back the sick, the disappointed, but also the new Balthazar Picsou, and to transport tons of cargo: food, for dogs and horses in particular, mining equipment, dynamite, but also the most refined dishes and fabrics for the new fortunes.

The Yukon River's 2,736 kilometres of waterway was the preferred access route to the Klondike region and provided two routes to Dawson City: the Whitehorse-Dawson City route from the southern Yukon and the St. Michael-Dawson City route from the far west of Alaska.

None of these steamships remain from the Gold Rush era. Those that have been preserved, such as the S.S. Klondike at Whitehorse, the S.S. Nenana at Fairbanks, Alaska, or this S.S. Keno, are post-rush but served the same purpose. The Keno, built in Whitehorse in 1922, was assigned to the Stewart-Mayo District route (290 kilometres) along the Silver Trail. Silver, lead and zinc ore from the Mayo mines was loaded on board.