When Fort Yukon was built in 1847, the Hudson's Bay Company knew it was on Alaskan territory. Twenty-two years later they lost it to the Americans, in a peaceful takeover.
After the purchase:of:Alaska in 1867, American traders operating on the Yukon River demanded that British traders leave the country. They dragged their heels, insisting on scientific evidence that Fort Yukon was outside Canada, but they prepared to leave. In midsummer 1869, Governor McTavish of the HBC gave orders to abandon Fort Yukon and build a new post, Rampart House, on the Porcupine River.
