Rivers get People and Freight Inland View of umiaks and wooden
boats in the waterAlaska's major rivers are used to move people
and goods from ports to inland areas. Alaskans have used
traditional Native boats, American poling boats, rowboats,
sailboats and steamboats. A steamboat could move several hundred
tons of passengers and goods in one trip and make several trips
a season The Alaska Commercial Company's sternwheeler Yukon
started its first voyage up the Yukon River on July 4, 1869. It
was pushing two boats with supplies and carrying a government
surveying party. It took the boat 23 days to go 1,000 miles
upriver to Fort Yukon. Until 1878, the Yukon operated along the
river between May and September. It carried supplies to trading
posts on the river, took furs to markets, and moved freight, fur
traders, and prospectors up and down the river. A competitor
brought a steamboat to the river in 1878, and others followed,
but in each case, the Alaska Commercial Company soon bought them
out. After word spread a