Very enjoyable, if problematic
4 stars
If you go to the Yukon, you can save reading most of the information signs in the whole territory as they're all cribbing from this book. It's in a very readable style, but that style is from the 50s, updated in the 70s, and reprinted ever since. The way the author treats anyone who's not a white man is...not great. Any individuals are described fairly, but at a general level First Nations are described as "crude" or "brutal" or other dismissive language, and women feature rarely. It was quite a surprise compared to federal and territorial literature. But it is of its time, and does draw on the last few actual eyewitnesses to the Klondike Gold Rush.
And oh boy, was that totally insane. The weather people endured, below -50C for the winter, with minimal clothes and tents, if they arrived early. Transporting 500kg of supplies, 40kg at a time, …
If you go to the Yukon, you can save reading most of the information signs in the whole territory as they're all cribbing from this book. It's in a very readable style, but that style is from the 50s, updated in the 70s, and reprinted ever since. The way the author treats anyone who's not a white man is...not great. Any individuals are described fairly, but at a general level First Nations are described as "crude" or "brutal" or other dismissive language, and women feature rarely. It was quite a surprise compared to federal and territorial literature. But it is of its time, and does draw on the last few actual eyewitnesses to the Klondike Gold Rush.
And oh boy, was that totally insane. The weather people endured, below -50C for the winter, with minimal clothes and tents, if they arrived early. Transporting 500kg of supplies, 40kg at a time, up the White Pass, and then learning how to build boats on Lake Bennett before shooting the White Horse and Five Finger rapids to get to Dawson City. It is indeed surprising that more didn't die.
Few made money, and those that did, instantly spent their money at terrifying rates, with the sawdust on the floors in the bars being worth thousands of dollars from the gold dust being dropped. It's all mad. When you only have gold, food and whiskey sell like crazy!
I can't quite believe it, a very addicting book.