Alaska: Tales of Adventure from the Last Frontier
For thousands of years Alaska has called to us. The hardy souls who first answered that call endured bitter temperatures, maddening isolation, and often harrowing adventures for the privilege of living there, and many lost their lives in the process. From the earliest human explorers to Russian fur trappers, from Klondike gold seekers to today's miners and oilmen, from Alaska's native people to the millions of tourists who visit the state every year, people have come to Alaska to marvel at...
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For thousands of years Alaska has called to us. The hardy souls who first answered that call endured bitter temperatures, maddening isolation, and often harrowing adventures for the privilege of living there, and many lost their lives in the process. From the earliest human explorers to Russian fur trappers, from Klondike gold seekers to today’s miners and oilmen, from Alaska’s native people to the millions of tourists who visit the state every year, people have come to Alaska to marvel at its beauty, rejoice in its riches, and measure themselves against its challenges. The wonder of Alaska, as well as its terrifying dangers, come to life in this anthology, featuring true adventures described by some of the best writers in the world, each hand picked by bestselling writer and Alaska aficionado Spike Walker. Alaska: Tales of Adventure from the Last Frontier will open your eyes and stir your soul as it celebrates the untamed beauty of Alaska.Inside you will find unmatched tales of adventure by the following authors:Spike Walker Jack London Larry Kaniut Roger A. Caras Lew Freedman Dana Stabenow Gary Paulsen Jean Aspen Ann Mariah Cook John Muir Washington IrvingAnd many more... Kirkus Reviews Fast becoming the dean of Alaskan adventure writing, Walker (Coming Back Alive, 2001, etc.) assembles here a crackerjack collection of evocative writings from that state, spread over time and geography. The selection of well-worn material could easily have come from a commonplace book of passages-in some cases, whole stories or articles-on Alaska. A few are pure adventure and dread, such as Larry Kaniut's account of a man drowning after his legs get stuck in a mudflat. Others showcase Alaskan institutions like the Iditarod, caught best by Gary Paulsen in first-hand experience with that great, numbing race. No collection of this sort would be complete without Jack London's "To Build a Fire," perhaps the best-known Yukon story of all time, but Walker also finds room for London's fine profile of gold prospectors. "No Christian martyr ever possessed greater faith than did the pioneers of Alaska," writes London, but even he is outdone in bleakness by the excerpt from Richard Matthews's The Yukon: "They arrived to claim their reward and found that it was claimed already; there was no good ground left to stake and thousands to stake it." The saving grace of his tale is in the humor as prospector after prospector is done in by the crazy circumstances. "Hope dies hard," notes Matthews, "and in its terminal agonies it is not particular about its sustenance." Mind you, the descriptions of how to get to the gold fields run by the Klondike News in 1898 should have been enough to send prospectors right back home. The gold-rush section is certainly the strongest here, but all of it is worth reading, from Jan Aspen's fictional account of hunting to Dave Brown's dry observations on the rapacious world ofthe Trans-Alaska Pipeline, "the most interesting fiasco I have ever been allowed to participate in." A pleasure even for those who simply like the idea of Alaska, let alone pine to go there.
PrefaceixIntroductionxLiving on the EdgeToo Little, Too Late - Excerpt from Nights of Ice3Lost and Adrift - Excerpt from Danger Stalks the Land20Excerpt from Dangerous Steps28The IditarodExcerpt from Winterdance45Excerpt from Iditarod Classics: Interviews with Libby Riddles, Rick Swenson, and Susan Butcher54Excerpt from Running North66The Great ExplorersExcerpt from Bering's Voyages75Excerpt from Astoria, or, Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains87Yukon and Mackenzie Exploration - Excerpt from The Dominion Illustrated, 189091The Discovery of Glacier Bay95Gold Rush1898112Gold Hunters of the North122Article from The Dyea Trail, January 19, 1898134Klondike Outfit List137Getting There: How to Go - Article from the April 1, 1898, issue of The Klondike News140The Dog Nuisance - Article from the Dawson Daily News, May 23, 1900146To Build a Fire147Natural WondersExcerpt from Monarch of Deadman Bay165Alexander Archipelago and the Home I Found in Alaska178Black GoldExcerpt from Who Killed Alaska193Far Trek205An Arco Epitaph208Modern AdventurersMales For Sale: Cheap, Hairy217Excerpt from Arctic Son221Excerpt from Goodbye, Boise ... Hello, Alaska256Alaskan VoicesExcerpt from Edgar Kallands273Excerpt from Simeon Mountain279Excerpt from Goodwin Semaken284Galena - Excerpt from Josephine Roberts, Tanana291Don't Laugh ... It's Not Funny!Housekeeping in the Klondike297Still a Few Bugs in the System303
\ Kirkus ReviewsFast becoming the dean of Alaskan adventure writing, Walker (Coming Back Alive, 2001, etc.) assembles here a crackerjack collection of evocative writings from that state, spread over time and geography. The selection of well-worn material could easily have come from a commonplace book of passages-in some cases, whole stories or articles-on Alaska. A few are pure adventure and dread, such as Larry Kaniut's account of a man drowning after his legs get stuck in a mudflat. Others showcase Alaskan institutions like the Iditarod, caught best by Gary Paulsen in first-hand experience with that great, numbing race. No collection of this sort would be complete without Jack London's "To Build a Fire," perhaps the best-known Yukon story of all time, but Walker also finds room for London's fine profile of gold prospectors. "No Christian martyr ever possessed greater faith than did the pioneers of Alaska," writes London, but even he is outdone in bleakness by the excerpt from Richard Matthews's The Yukon: "They arrived to claim their reward and found that it was claimed already; there was no good ground left to stake and thousands to stake it." The saving grace of his tale is in the humor as prospector after prospector is done in by the crazy circumstances. "Hope dies hard," notes Matthews, "and in its terminal agonies it is not particular about its sustenance." Mind you, the descriptions of how to get to the gold fields run by the Klondike News in 1898 should have been enough to send prospectors right back home. The gold-rush section is certainly the strongest here, but all of it is worth reading, from Jan Aspen's fictional account of hunting to Dave Brown's dry observations on the rapacious world ofthe Trans-Alaska Pipeline, "the most interesting fiasco I have ever been allowed to participate in." A pleasure even for those who simply like the idea of Alaska, let alone pine to go there.\ \
