The book, based on the accounts of dozens of prospectors, follows the first gold-seekers from their arrival in 1873 until the stampede to the Klondike in 1896. Gates captures the essence of these early years of the gold rush, about which very little has been written. He chronicles the trials, hearbreaks, and successes of the unique and hardy individualists who searched for gold in the wilderness. With names like Swiftwater Bill, Crooked Leg Louie, Slobbery Tom, and Tin Kettle George, these men lived in total isolation beyond the borders of civilization. They were often eccentrics and outcasts, who shaped their own rules, their own justice, and their own social order.
- ISBN10 1283225441
- ISBN13 9781283225441
- Publish Date 1 January 2007 (first published 1 January 1994)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 19 May 2015
- Publish Country US
- Imprint UBC Press
- Format eBook
- Pages 215
- Language English