Boom and Bust in the Alaska Goldfields: A Multicultural Adventure

269 Pages·2007·1.8 MB·English

by  Steven C. Levi

Boom and Bust in the
Alaska Goldfields: A
Multicultural Adventure
Steven C. Levi
Praeger
    
 

    
 
A Multicultural Adventure
 . 
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Levi, Steven C.
Boom and bust in the Alaska goldfi elds : a multicultural adventure /
Steven C. Levi.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-313-34544-9 (alk. paper)
1. Alaska—Gold discoveries. 2. Frontier and pioneer life—Alaska.
3. Gold miners—Alaska—History. 4. Adventure and
adventurers—Alaska—History. I. Title.
F909.L43 2008
979.8’03—dc22 2007028640
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 2008 by Steven C. Levi
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2007028640
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-34544-9
First published in 2008
Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.praeger.com
Printed in the United States of America
Th e paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my wife
who never REALLY
believed this would
EVER get published!

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Preface ix
Chapter One: Th e Madness Begins 1
Chapter Two: Juneau 11
Chapter Th ree: Th e Rush North 17
Chapter Four: Booze and Bootlegging 35
Chapter Five: Skagway and Dyea 49
Chapter Six: Th e Valdez Stampede 65
Chapter Seven: Th e Kotzebue Rush 77
Chapter Eight: Nome 89
Chapter Nine: Women and Minorities 111
Chapter Ten: Th e Natives and the Argonauts 129
Chapter Eleven: Th e Fairbanks Boom 147
Chapter Twelve: Law and Order 155
Chapter Th irteen: Th e Fourth Estate 177
Chapter Fourteen: Th e End 189
Appendix 193
viii Contents
Notes 201
Bibliography 225
Index 235
Photo essay follows page 88.

Th e Alaska Gold Rush is the chronicle of humans digging in the muck for the future.
It is the tale of drunkards and heroes, paupers and magnates, gamblers and god-
fearing missionaries—and sometimes all the same person. It was the drama of all that
we hope and fear played out by men and women drawn north by the most irresistible
of forces: GOLD.
—Warren Sitka, Alaskan humorist
Far to the north of the 48 contiguous states is a land shrouded with the miasma of
adventure. It is a land of glaciers the size of some states and fi sh the size of some cities.
Its history is steeped in intrigue, scoundrels abound, and things that could never
occur anywhere else on earth happened here. It has everything one has come to expect
of an exotic port—and more. Th is land is Alaska.
Even though Alaska’s history is brimming with fascinating incidents, colorful char-
acters, eccentric events, and strange twists of fate, not that many historians have been
able to get the message across. Th is is understandable because most historians are not
writers and most writers are not historians. Th e problem is compounded by the fact
that, over the decades, history teachers at all levels of the American educational system
have achieved the impossible: they have managed to make history b-o-r-i-n-g.
Th e reality is that history is the most interesting and relevant of all academic sub-
jects. It is the drama of real people solving real problems with solutions that could be
stripped out of any age and used today. It is also entertaining, humorous, sad, twisted
and, at the same, informative and off ers creative solutions to modern problems. A
small part of the fascinating fi eld of history is off ered here.
Th is book is not intended to be an overview of the Alaska Gold Rush, roughly
from the late 1870s–1944. Rather, it is meant to provide a myriad of glimpses into the
lives of people and events of the age. Th is is a book of popular history rather than