When the Gold Rush exploded in 1897, West Coast shipyards responded to the demand, and stern-wheelers were constructed in yards as far south as San Francisco and as far north as Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. In total, 266 stern- and side-wheeled steamboats operated on the Yukon River in Alaska and Canada. When the boom dissipated in 1900, many steamship companies either went bankrupt or were bought out by competitors, and vessels were left derelict on shore. As a result, the Yukon now contains one of the greatest intact collections of stern-wheel vessels known to exist. Work this year will focus on archival research and side scan surveys of Kootenay Lake, Slocan Lake, and the Upper Arrow Lakes. Learn more here: Yukon River Steamboat Survey.