WhenJosephineKnowlesleftfortheKlondikegoldfieldswithherhusbandin1898,shedidn’tknowshewouldbefacingaconstantbattlewithcold,disease,malnutrition,andtheever-presentpossibilityofdeath.Withquietdetermination,sheresolvedtosurvive,toendureeachfreshhardshipwithoutcomplaint,andtobeofservicetothecommunityaroundher.“GoldRushintheKlondike“isKnowles’struestoryofheryearintheYukonterritory,arevealing,never-before-publishedpersonalmemoirofday-to-daylifeattheheightoftheKlondikeGoldRush.Writteninaclear,forthright,nineteenth-centurystyle,“GoldRushintheKlondike“presentsterrifyingstrugglesagainstahostileenvironment,picturesquedescriptionsofanuntouchedArcticwilderness,andKnowles’skeenobservationsofmenandwomenonthefrontier.AVictoriangentlewomanofrefinement,Knowlesfoundherselfamongswearing,whoring,sometimesviolentminers,whomshewonoverwithhergritandcompassion.Decidingtonevermoralizeorcondemn,Knowleswritesfranklyoftheintensehardshipsthatdroveminersintolivesofdrinkanddissipationandthefrontierwomenwhowereforcedtomakestarkchoicesbetweenprostitutionandstarvation.Knowles’sadventuresincludeencounterswithauthorJackLondon(KnowlesfirmlydisapprovedofLondon’scruelmistreatmentofhissleddogs),nursingminersduringatyphoidoutbreakuntilshefellillherself,witnessingsavagefightsamongtheminers,dangeroustravelthroughthemountainpassesandriverrapidsoftheYukon,andadaringsurreptitiousvisittoagamblingsaloon.Amidallhardships,Knowlesformedwarmrelationshipswiththeminingcommunity,for,assheputit,“Allthediseasesandothertroubleshadknittedusintoonelargefamily.“Illustratedwithperiodphotographs,“GoldRushintheKlondike“isaninvaluablehistoricaldocumentofalosttimeandplaceandanadmirableportraitofonewoman’sdeterminationinthefaceofdanger.
