 "Discovery II" began its life in 1953 as the "Yutana", a freight boat hauling goods on the Yukon and Tanana rivers (hence its name, a combination of the names of the two rivers).Captain Jim Binkley purchased the Yutana in 1967 after its effective freighting life was over, and until 1970 it was drydocked on the Chena River near Fairbanks, Alaska.In 1971, Jim Binkley was in need of a larger sternwheel riverboat with which to conduct his daily river tours (his first sternwheeler, "Discovery I", frequently reached its maximum capacity of 150 passengers), and decided to convert the "Yutana" into a passenger vessel.