The Porcupine River is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 that runs through Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 and the Yukon

Yukon

Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....

. Having its source in the Ogilvie Mountains

Ogilvie Mountains

The Ogilvie Mountains are a mountain range in the Yukon Territory that lie north of Dawson City and are crossed by the Dempster Highway. The best known mountains are part of the Tombstone Territorial Park ....

 north of Dawson City, Yukon

Dawson City, Yukon

The Town of the City of Dawson or Dawson City is a town in the Yukon, Canada.The population was 1,327 at the 2006 census. The area draws some 60,000 visitors each year...

, it flows north, veers to the southwest, goes through the community of Old Crow, Yukon

Old Crow, Yukon

-Population data:-External links:******, a National Film Board of Canada documentary...

, flowing into the Yukon River

Yukon River

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...

 at Fort Yukon, Alaska

Fort Yukon, Alaska

As of the census of 2000, there were 595 people, 225 households, and 137 families residing in the city. The population density was 85.0 people per square mile . There were 317 housing units at an average density of 45.3 per square mile...

. It derives its name from the Gwich'in word for the river, Ch'oonjik, or "Porcupine Quill River".

The Porcupine caribou

Porcupine caribou

The Porcupine caribou or Grant's caribou is a subspecies of the caribou found in Alaska and adjacent parts of Canada. It resembles the Barren-ground Caribou and is sometimes included in it....

 herd, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...

 (ANWR) Alaska, gets its name from the river.

The oldest (but disputed) possible evidence of human habitation in North America were found in a cave along one of its tributaries, the Bluefish River. A large number of apparently human

Human

Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...

-modified animal bones have been discovered in the Bluefish Caves

Bluefish Caves

Bluefish Caves is an archaeological site in the Yukon Territory of Canada from which a specimen of allegedly human-worked mammoth bone has been radiocarbon dated to 28,000 years before present ....

. They have been dated to 25,000 to 40,000 years old by carbon dating — several thousand years earlier than generally accepted human habitation of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

See also

• List of Alaska rivers
• List of longest rivers of Canada
• List of Yukon rivers