The Nature of Gold: An Environmental History of the Klondike Gold Rush (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books) [Hardcover]

Kathryn Taylor Morse (Author), William Cronon (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0295983299 | ISBN-13: 978-0295983295 | Publication Date: October 2003

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 Rushoespecially as portrayed in photographs of long lines of gold seekers marching up Chilkoot Passohas 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 labourers 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 travelling, 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. Kathryn Morse is assistant professor of history at Middlebury College in Vermont.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Morse demonstrates the dramatic environmental damage created by the gold rush, but she also helps us understand the very real accommodations that miners had to make if they hoped to survive in these far northern landscapes... She is a superb storyteller with a wry sense of humour, a flair for the quirky detail and the revealing anecdote, and a keen appreciation for the tragicomic underside of this famous event."ofrom the Introduction by William Cronon

From the Inside Flap

NEW IN PAPER-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. The profound economic and cultural transformations that supported the Alaska-Yukon gold rush ultimately reverberate to modern times. "A tour de force of modern scholarship."--Pacific Northwest Quarterly- --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 290 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295983299
• ISBN-13: 978-0295983295
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,619,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Really Interesting, July 5, 2007

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This review is from: The Nature of Gold: An Environmental History of the Klondike Gold Rush (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books) (Hardcover)

I bought this for a class, but enjoyed it so much that I decided to keep it rather than just disposing of most of my text books like I usually do. Great information on Alaska that is more widespread than just the Klondike.