acquired yesterday the first edition of the excellent Yukon Places and Names by R. Coutts. Books like this, William S. Powell's "North Carolina Gazeteer" & Walbran's "West Coast Place Names" are great places to get a feel for a place's history while aimlessly browsing (nice to know, for example, that a river named for Charles Babbage flows into the Beaufort Sea)...

"When first prospecting in the southeast Yukon and Cassiar country, I was naturally interested in the history of an area about which I had read and been told so much. Becoming curious about the origin or meaning of a Yukon place name, I found that there was often no answer, or conflicting ones. Alone of Canada’s provinces and territories almost nothing has been written on this subject. On reading the early literature it often appeared that the modern name was not that given originally and that in many cases the name and its meaning had been altered or changed. I began to search for the true origins of these names. Gradually, the people and the stories behind the names began to live for me and many were more interesting than much of the fiction written about the territory. As the stories unfolded and extended, my interest became more serious but no less enjoyable. Many newly learned facts revealed other stories and puzzles to be traced and solved..."