Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush, 1896-1899With the building of the railroad and the settlement of the plains, the North West was opening up. The Klondike stampede was a wild interlude in the epic story of western development, and here are its dramatic tales of hardship, heroism, and villainy. We meet Soapy Smith, dictator of Skagway; Swiftwater Bill Gates, who bathed in champagne; Silent Sam Bonnifield, who lost and won back a hotel in a poker game; and Roddy Connors, who danced away a fortune at a dollar a dance. We meet dance-hall queens, paupers turned millionaires, missionaries and entrepreneurs, and legendary Mounties such as Sam Steele, the Lion of the Yukon. Pierre Berton's riveting account reveals to us the spectacle of the Chilkoot Pass, and the terrors of lesser-known trails through the swamps of British Columbia, across the glaciers of souther Alaska, and up the icy streams of the Mackenzie Mountains. It contrasts the lawless frontier life on the American side of the border to the relative safety of Dawson City. Winner of the Governor General's award for non-fiction, Klondike is authentic history and grand entertainment, and a must-read for anyone interested in the Canadian frontier. |
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aboard Adney Alaska Sportsman Arctic arrived bank began Belinda Big Alex boat Bonanza British Columbia brought cabin camp Canadian canyon Captain Carmack Cheechako Chilkoot Pass Circle City claim Company Creek crowd dance halls dance-hall girl Dawson City dogs Dyea Edmonton Eldorado feet five Fort Selkirk Fort Yukon fortune Fortymile Front Street frozen gamblers gang George Carmack glacier gold rush gold-fields Henderson hills horses hundred dollars Ibid Indian July Juneau Lake Bennett miners mining months mountains Mounted Police moved named night Ogilvie once outfit pack passengers Peace River pounds prospector reach the Klondike route saloon Sam Steele San Francisco Seattle ship Skagway snow Soapy Smith spring staked stampede steamboat steamer Steele Stikine story stream summit tents Teslin Lake thousand dollars took town trail turned Valley Vancouver whiskey White Pass White Pass trail winter wrote York Yukon River