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Dawson, city, western Yukon, Canada. It lies at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers, near the boundary with the U.S. state of Alaska, 165 miles (265 km) south of the Arctic Circle. The community, named for George M. Dawson, the geologist-explorer, developed after the gold strike at nearby Bonanza Creek in 1896. During the height of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898, Dawson’s population exceeded 30,000, only to be followed by a spectacular...