Morgan offers an authentic and deliciously humorous account of the prostitutes and other "disreputable" women who were the earliest female pioneers of the Far North. At the turn of the century, tens of thousands of Americans left their homes, escaping a worldwide depression & the restraints of the Victorian Era, to stampede to Alaska & the Yukon, where millions of dollars in gold was being discovered in remote, subartic mining camps. Women accompanied the men on the long journey to the Far North--more often prostitutes, dance hall girls & entertainers than respectful wives & schoolteachers. These are the girls of the demimonde, that "half world" of disreputable women who lived on the outskirts of society. Meet "Dutch Kate" Wilson, who pioneered many areas long before the "respectable" women who received credit for getting there first; ruthless heartbreakers Cad Wilson & Rose Blumkin; "French Marie" Larose, who auctioned herself off as a wife to the highest bidder; & Edith Neile, called the "Oregon Mare," famous for both her outlandish behavior & her soft-hearted generosity. These "good time girls" crossed geographic & social frontiers, finding freedom, independence, hardship, heartbreak & sometimes astonishing wealth. They were an important part of this key chapter in the history of the West, which holds a special place in the American imagination.

Morgan offers an authentic and deliciously humorous account of the prostitutes and other "disreputable" women who were the earliest female pioneers of the Far North.

First published in 1954, this is a true story of love and adventure which traces the history of Dawson City through the eyes of a young schoolteacher from Canada and the penniless Yukon miner she married... “This is a brave book. It is a record of a woman’s courage and devotion in a hostile land. It is the story of a refined and sensitive girl who found happiness the hard way, and triumphed over conditions that would have driven most women to distraction. It is also a tribute to a husband who with hand, heart and head was outstanding in a world of worthy men. “I have read many books on the Yukon, but this is different...It is the gallant personality of the author which shines on every page, and makes her chronicle a saga of the High North.” (Robert W. Service, Preface)

This book gathers the riveting stories of adventurous women -- miners, madams, merchants, and mothers -- who went North during the gold rush era.

New York Times bestselling author Howard Blum expertly weaves together three narratives to tell the true story of the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush. It is the last decade of the 19th century. The Wild West has been tamed and its fierce, independent and often violent larger-than-life figures--gun-toting wanderers, trappers, prospectors, Indian fighters, cowboys, and lawmen--are now victims of their own success. But then gold is discovered in Alaska and the adjacent Canadian Klondike and a new frontier suddenly looms: an immense unexplored territory filled with frozen waterways, dark spruce forests, and towering mountains capped by glistening layers of snow and ice. In a true-life tale that rivets from the first page, we meet Charlie Siringo, a top-hand sharp-shooting cowboy who becomes one of the Pinkerton Detective Agency’s shrewdest; George Carmack, a California-born American Marine who’s adopted by an Indian tribe, raises a family with a Taglish squaw, and makes the discovery that starts off the Yukon Gold Rush; and Jefferson "Soapy" Smith, a sly and inventive conman who rules a vast criminal empire. As we follow this trio’s lives, we’re led inexorably into a perplexing mystery: a fortune in gold bars has somehow been stolen from the fortress-like Treadwell Mine in Juneau, Alaska. Charlie Siringo discovers that to run the thieves to ground, he must embark on a rugged cross-territory odyssey that will lead him across frigid waters and through a frozen wilderness to face down "Soapy" Smith and his gang of 300 cutthroats. Hanging in the balance: George Carmack’s fortune in gold. At once a compelling true-life mystery and an unforgettable portrait of a time in America’s history, The Floor of Heaven is also an exhilarating tribute to the courage and undaunted spirit of the men and women who helped shape America.

In 1896, a small group of prospectors discovered a stunningly rich pocket of gold at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers, and in the following two years thousands of individuals traveled to the area, hoping to find wealth in a rugged and challenging setting. Ever since that time, the Klondike Gold Rush - especially as portrayed in photographs of long lines of gold seekers marching up Chilkoot Pass - has had a hold on the popular imagination. In this first environmental history of the gold rush, Kathryn Morse describes how the miners got to the Klondike, the mining technologies they employed, and the complex networks by which they obtained food, clothing, and tools. She looks at the political and economic debates surrounding the valuation of gold and the emerging industrial economy that exploited its extraction in Alaska, and explores the ways in which a web of connections among America�s transportation, supply, and marketing industries linked miners to other industrial and agricultural laborers across the country. The profound economic and cultural transformations that supported the Alaska-Yukon gold rush ultimately reverberate to modern times. The story Morse tells is often narrated through the diaries and letters of the miners themselves. The daunting challenges of traveling, working, and surviving in the raw wilderness are illustrated not only by the miners� compelling accounts but by newspaper reports and advertisements. Seattle played a key role as �gateway to the Klondike.� A public relations campaign lured potential miners to the West and local businesses seized the opportunity to make large profits while thousands of gold seekers streamed through Seattle. The drama of the miners� journeys north, their trials along the gold creeks, and their encounters with an extreme climate will appeal not only to scholars of the western environment and of late-19th-century industrialism, but to readers interested in reliving the vivid adventure of the West�s last great gold rush.

Gold Diggers of the Klondike explores beyond the myths of the dance-hall girls and prostitutes of the Klondike gold rush, and uncovers the stories of the women who "mined the miners." In chronicling prostitution in Dawson city during the height and the decline of the rush, Ryley reveals that sexuality is an important aspect of the history of the Canadian frontier.