Heritage
Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in

Ch’ëdä Dëk / Forty Mile, Fort Constantine and Fort Cudahy

A horizon shot with water in the foreground, sky above, and mountainous land in the middle.
Photo by Maedward

The Ch’ëdä Dëk “creek of leaves” / Forty Mile townsite is part of the Ch’ëdä Dëk / Forty Mile, Fort Cudahy and Fort Constantine Historic Site. The site is located at the mouth of the Fortymile River where it empties into the Yukon River, 67 km upstream from the Alaska/Yukon border and 88 km downriver from Dawson City, Yukon in the Traditional Territory of the Hän speaking people of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in.

Substantial archaeological evidence of use and occupation of the site goes back at least 2300 years. Generations of Hän people have camped here at the mouth of the Fortymile River to hunt and fish in the area. In response to a gold discovery in the upper Fortymile drainage in 1886, miners and traders arrived to establish the first Yukon town.

Fort Constantine was Yukon’s first North West Mounted Police post established in 1894 and Fort Cudahy was an American trading post and store established in 1893. Both sites are across the Fortymile River from the townsite of Ch’ëdä Dëk / Forty Mile.

Chapter 13, Schedule A of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Final Agreement states that Ch’ëdä Dëk / Forty Mile, Fort Cudahy and Fort Constantine Historic Site shall be co-owned and co-managed by the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation and Government of Yukon and protected under the Historic Resources Act.

The Historic Site Management Plan (the Plan) provides long-range goals and objectives that will guide the protection, conservation, and interpretation of the heritage resources of these sites. The Plan is intended to respect the past and current activities of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation by using the best practices in heritage conservation.

The last Management Plan was approved and signed by the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and Government of Yukon on June 11, 2006 at Ch’ëdä Dëk / Forty Mile, Yukon.
 

Find out more about Ch’ëdä Dëk / Forty Mile, Fort Constantine and Fort Cudahy:  

Keep reading

Explore More

Settling these agreements involved decades of hard work, innovation and commitment by leaders and visionaries and are mapping the way to a better future for all Yukoners.

Our Stories
Archival black and white photo of buildings on a grassy area with a hilly mountain behind them.
Gindèhchik and Zheh Gwatsàl
The historic sites of Gindèhchik “Fish Spear Creek Mouth”/Rampart House and Zheh Gwatsàl “Little House”/LaPierre House, are an important part of Gwich’in culture and history, and are recognized in the Vuntut Gwitchin Final Agreement.
Read More
A river in a valley with birds eye view of a town on the left side
Tr’ochëk National Historic Site of Canada
Visit Tr’ochëk Heritage Site, a vibrant Hän fish camp located at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers and learn about the key role it played in the survival of the Tr’ondëk people. This site was recognized as a Heritage Site in the Nation’s Final Agreement.
Read More
Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada trilingual commemorative bronze plaque for T'äw Tà'är National Historic Site: Dän K’è (Southern Tuchtone (Lake Laberge language), English and French
T'äw Tà'är National Historic Site
T'äw Tà'är stands at the meeting place of network of travel routes made up of waterways and trails. The Ta’an Kwäch’än historically lived on or traveled through this site to harvest animals, plants, and fish, and to foster their social and community networks.
Read More