Books about the Gold Rush
For the thousands of people who dreamed of gold and lived vicarious adventures
from their armchairs, the stories of Rex Beach, Jack London and Robert
Service breathed life into the saga of the North. Robert Service wrote
his most famous poems about Sam McGee and Dan McGrew before he ever set
foot in Dawson or the Klondike. The mild mannered Vancouver bank clerk
didn't get to the Yukon until 1904, when all the action had died down.
Twenty-one year old Jack London, on the other hand, struggled up the Chilkoot
Trail with his ton of supplies and wove his own Alaskan adventures into
fiction that inflamed the hearts of his countrymen.
His contemporary, Rex Beach passed two winters in Rampart on the Yukon River. Beach's book, "The Spoilers" told the world about claim jumping scandals in Nome that were based on actual activities. These famous authors were not the only ones who brought stories of Alaska to the rest of the world. Journalists, correspondents and family letter writers brought the Gold Rush into the living rooms of the folks around the world.
Back
to index of stories.
Used with
permission.
Gold Rush Centennial Task Force, State of Alaska.
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