Dawson City, or just Dawson, is located at the confluence of the Klondike River and Yukon River and was the focal point of the famous 1896 Klondike Gold Rush.
It has, however, a much longer previous history as originally being a fishing camp of the Tr'ochëk people and an important summer gathering spot.

When the Klondike Gold Rush started in 1896 this little fishing camp was completely transformed and grew into a thriving city of 40,000 by 1898. When the gold rush ended the following year the town's population plummeted as all but 8,000 people left. In the following decades the population steadily declined until it stabilised around 600-900. Since the 1970's the population has slowly increased due to the high gold price which makes it viable once again to mine for gold in the area. Tourism is now also one of Dawson's main industries.

In the early 1950s, Dawson was linked by the Top of the World Highway to Alaska, and later in 1955 with Whitehorse via the Klondike Highway. Dawson has an extreme inland subarctic climate, with most summers reaching 30 °C (86 °F) and dropping below −40 °C (−40 °F) in winter.