Ross River is an unincorporated community in Yukon, Canada. It lies at the junction of the Ross River and the Pelly River, along the Canol Road, not far from the Campbell Highway. Primary access to the Campbell Highway is via a nine-mile access road. Formerly it was accessed along a six-mile Canol Road section that is no longer maintained. It is serviced by Ross River Airport, used mainly for charter and scheduled flights to and from Whitehorse and Watson Lake. It is the home of the Ross River Dena Council, a First Nation in eastern Yukon. History The confluence of the Ross and Pelly rivers had long been used as a gathering place for First Nation peoples, particularly in the late summer. The first permanent settlement was established in 1901 when Tom Smith started a small fur trading post on the north bank of the Pelly and called the spot Smiths Landing. That winter approximately 15 First Nation families overwintered near the post, creating the beginnings of the permanent community of Ross River. By 1903 a second, rival trading post was set up on the south bank of the Pelly opposite Smiths Landing. The settlement attracted an increasing number of people, mostly the Kaska but including many First Nation people from the Mackenzie River region who would travel over the divide to meet others, trade, and sometimes stay. By 1914 over 1,000 people were gathering at Ross River in the late summer. But a severe influenza epidemic in 1916 hit the community's First Nation people hard, and increasing economic activity and new trading posts along the Mackenzie River reduced the population. World War II and the years immediately following brought massive changes to Ross River. The building of the Canol Road and pipeline between 1942 and 1944 brought a massive, but temporary, influx of newcomers and the new road made the community more accessible, although the road closed in 1946 and did not reopen until 1958. The late 1940s and early 1950s also saw a collapse of fur prices and the permanent closure of most of the region's fur trading posts — including Pelly Banks, Sheldon Lake, Rose Point, Frances Lake and Macmillan River. By 1952 Ross River had the only remaining trading post in the region. The Canol Road shifted the commercial centre of the community to the south bank of the Pelly River at the new ferry crossing