The Town of Chicken was once the mining hub for the Fortymile district. In 1886, ten years before the Klondike Gold Rush, gold was discovered on Franklin Creek and the community of Chicken was founded.In the late 1800's, early miners traveled far in search of gold. Food was sometimes scarce, but a particular area near the South Fork of the 40-Mile River was abundant in Ptarmigan, now the state bird which bears a resemblance to a chicken. The miners kept themselves alive with the help of the Ptarmigan (if you consider being eaten as helping.)

As the story goes, the miners wanted to name the town 'Ptarmigan' after the bird which is common in the area, and had helped them through the hard times. Unfortunately, people couldn't agree on how to spell it! They also didn't want to be ridiculed for misspelling the town name. Finally they settled with the easier name of Chicken. The name stuck and so has the community, despite an up-and-down history of mining in the Fortymile district.

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