The popular image of the Klondike is of a rush of white, male adventurers who overcame great physical and geographical obstacles in their quest for gold. Young, white, single American men carried forward the ideals and structures of the western frontier. It was a man?s world made respectable only after the turn of the century with the arrival of white, middle class women who miraculously swept out the corners of dirt and vice and ?civilized? the society. These impressions endure despite recent attempts to correct them.
Gamblers and Dreamers tackles some of the myths about the history of the North in the era of the gold rush. Though many inhabitants came and went, Charlene Porsild focuses on the concept of community commitment to show that many put down roots. This in-depth study of Dawson City at the turn of the century reveals that the city had a cosmopolitan character, a stratified society, and a definite permanence. It examines the lives of First Nations peoples, miners and other labourers, professionals, merchants, dance hall performers and sex trade workers, providing fascinating detail about those who left homes and jobs to strike it rich in the last great gold rush of the nineteenth century. In the process, Gamblers and Dreamers puts a human face on this compelling period of history.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 971.9/1
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 21
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- n-cn-yk
- ISBN
- 0774806508 9780774854559
- LCCN
- F1095.K5
- LCCN Item number
- P67 1998eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaBNVSL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xiv, 250 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)jme00326397 (OCoLC)181817504 (CaOOCEL)404206
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaBNVSL
Table of Contents
- Contents 8
- Illustrations, Maps, and Tables 9
- Preface 11
- Acknowledgments 13
- 1 Gamblers of a Hundred Hells and Dreamers from the Seven Seas 18
- 2 The Original Yukoners and the Klondike Gold Rush 39
- 3 The Thrill of the Chase: Miners and Other Labouring People in Dawson 75
- 4 The Scarlet Ladder: Work and Social Life in Dawson's Underworld 114
- 5 'Like Flocks of Migrating Geese': Social Work and Religious Life in the Klondike 152
- 6 Sterling Reputations and Golden Opportunities: The Professional and Business Sectors of Dawson 179
- 7 Women, Men, and Community in the Klondike 206
- Appendix: Quantifying the Klondike 216
- Notes 225
- Bibliography 242
- Index 259
- A 259
- B 259
- C 259
- D 260
- E 260
- F 260
- G 261
- H 261
- I 261
- J 262
- K 262
- L 262
- M 262
- N 263
- O 263
- P 263
- Q 264
- R 264
- S 264
- T 264
- U 265
- V 265
- W 265
- Y 265
- Z 265
