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In Pursuit of Alaska:
An Anthology of Travelers’ Tales
1879-1909
by Jean Morgan Meaux

They were hardy and venturesome souls, the men and women who went to Alaska in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They climbed glaciers in hobnailed boots, fended for survival as they crossed torrential rivers, abandoned loved ones and squandered life-savings in a mad rush to the goldfields. On returning home, they were besieged with requests to write about their wilderness adventures. The resulting narratives painted a picture of a place at once beautiful and demanding—yet serenely indifferent—and helped shape a national vision of Alaska that persists today. In Pursuit of Alaska presents twenty-seven of the best of their accounts.