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Connecting curious minds with uncommon, undeniably Northwest reads

All for the Greed of Gold

Will Woodin’s Klondike Adventure

Edited by Catherine Holder Spude

$27.95

Enhanced with family photographs and skillfully edited, Will’s diaries, short story, and candid 1910 memoir describe the travails of taking an uncommon route to the Yukon—the White Pass and Tutshi Trails—and also highlight the camaraderie and cooperation among working-class men.

2017 Mary Lee Spence Documentary Book Award, Mining History Association

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Description

When the steamship Cleveland left Seattle’s docks on March 1, 1898, William Jay Woodin was on board, traveling with his father and several others. They were chasing the nineteenth century’s last great gold rush, but instead of mining, they planned to earn their fortune by providing supplies.

Enhanced with family photographs and skillfully edited, Will’s writings—including diaries, a short story, and a delightfully candid 1910 memoir—record events, emotions, and reflections, as well as his youthful wonder at the beauty surrounding him. Unlike many stampeders, Will’s party chose to take both the White Pass Trail and the Tutshi Trail, and his story offers a rare glimpse into ordeals suffered along this less common route.

Will’s experiences also epitomize a mostly untold story of how working-class men endured a grueling Yukon journey.  He was part of an emerging middle class who, with minimal formal education, left farm life to seek urban employment. Whether packing tons of goods on their own backs or building boats at the Windy Arm camp, Will brings to light the cooperation and camaraderie necessary for survival.

Illustrations / maps / notes / bibliography / index / 294 pages (2016)

Recognition

2017 Mary Lee Spence Documentary Book Award, Mining History Association

“Will Woodin’s story is new, interesting, and well written. What the editor has given us is truly a gift.”—Charlene L. Porsild, Ph.D., President /CEO, Montana History Foundation

“A detailed and entertaining description of the ‘other route’ to the Yukon gold fields.”—Dennis Larsen, author of Slick as a Mitten

 

Additional information

Dimensions 9 x 6 in
Format

eBook, Paperback