Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1921-11-24
GREAT RIVER OF NORTH.
Yukon Second Only in Length to
the Mississippi.

" navigation because OF Ice, not
ed in a press dispatch late in Oc-
tober. serves the double purpose
of bringing annually to the atten.
ton OF stay-at-home Americans
one OF the greatest of their rivers
which to the majority is probably
little more than name. and of
warning of the southwark thrust
OF the icy fingers of winter which
Will soon grasp the shore and
straits of the Great Lakes" SAYS
a bulletin of the National Geo
graphic society.
1.-The Yukon, despite the gener-
al failure to recognize it as such,
Is one of the great rivers of the
world, y continues the bulletin.
'lt is over 1900 miles in length
and is both the longest and the
largest river flowing into the Pa
.clfic waters in the Western Hem
lsphere. surprising by consider
able margin it's nearest COMPETE
tors, the Columbia and the Colo
RADIO. Among all the rivers of
North America the Yukon is sur
passed i'll length only by the Mis-
SlSslppl system and the Macken-
zie. 1t is longer than the st. Law
renee as well as all the other riv-
ers except the Mississippi system
which flow into the Gulf of Mex
leo or the Atlantic.
"ThOugh the discharge of the
Yukon has not been accurately
measured it is it's tremendous vol
ume of water rather than it's
length that causes it to be ranked
as great river. 1t is of course
far outdistanced by the vast Am
aZon. greatest of rivers. and the
congo. which probably ranks sec
ond. But the Yukon has been cS-
tmated to have threc-fourths of
the volume of discharge of the
Mississippi. and if this estimate
be accurate the stream which it
pours into. the sea is probably
among the half dozen greatest in
the world.
ITO Alaska. heretofore having
no highway of steel into its inte-
rior. the Yukon has been indis-
penSaBle. Because of the shallow
bars at its mouth. ocean steamers
cannot enter the river; but at the
harbor of st. Michael. just north
OF the mouth, freight is transfer
red to shallow draught. stern
wheel river steamers which as
ccnd the stream not only through
out the breadth of Alaska. but
for several hundred miles into
Canada.
"The Yukon. flowing through
Alaska roughly from east to
west, divides the territory into
northern and southern halves.
Large areas along the banks of
the river and it's tributaries as
well as at considerable distances
from the stream can thus be serv-
ed by freight boats. The princi-
pal objective of the river steam
erS, however, are Dawson. on the
Yukon about GO miles i'm Canada,
and more than 1900 miles from
the mouth. and Fairbanks. the
metropolis of interior Alaska.
'Thc Yukon is an international
river rising nearly 1O0 miles
within Canadian territory. and
sweeping in IA great are 10 the
north and east. Although the
river is over 1000 miles long. one
OF its sources, IA small lake. is
within % miles of the salt water
to which il makes such a round
about journey.
1.-The existence of such IA large
river as the Yukon in the far
north was long unsupported. A
Russian lieutenant, ZagoSkin. en-
tered its mouth by boat in 1912
and traversed it for several hun
drcd miles. The Hudson Bay
company had discovered It's head.
waters in Canada. bui the two
bits of information were not
lpieced together. The existence Of
the river as stream of great
magnitude first became really
known through the daring and
romantic project of installing