Good Time Girls of the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush: A Secret History of the Far North

I just turned the last page of this delightful book and I was sorry to see it end! I just returned from my third trip to Alaska with 4 books in my suitcase and this was one of them. I find the early Alaska pioneers such strong, interesting people. The book mentions how Alaska had a "winnowing" affect....only the strong survived and these women were tough and independent! The research that went into this book was impressive - the most quotes I have ever seen in a book - but it lends credibility to what the author is saying about her subjects. The gold rush history is detailed as the "girls" followed the rush from town to town, so you get great historical detail on the gold rush, the towns impacted by the rush in additional to meeting the colorful ladies of the "line". A fast paced read with wonderfully rich old black and white photos that bring it all to life....

The Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush, a time at the turn of the century, when the gold camps were booming and the dust flowed like wine. Leaving behind law and many of the constraints of the Post-Victorian era, men and women went north to find adventure and wealth. Most found death among the cold frozen mountains and rivers but a few survived to find money, power and, sometimes, even love. The women found it easier to mine the miners then to mine the mines. Women couldn't work claims in most cases and most of the normal jobs didn't pay well. If a woman wanted the wealth and adventure she was searching for she ended up becoming a Good Time Girl. Men outnumbered women ten to one and were always willing to pay for the company. Dance hall girls and prostitutes were among the pioneers who opened the new regions, became rich entrepreneurs and powerful women who, in some cases, changed the towns for the better. But their history cannot be written in a vacuum. As many of them left behind no written records we have to use police logs, old photos and stories left behind by the more respectable women and men of the cities. The book deals with the conditions and events that made the Far North so much different from the lower forty-eight states where many of the women came from. Why did the cities, in many cases, allow a red light district? Why did they give them police protection? How did the women influence the towns and change the very future of the frontier? Why did so many women turn to be Good Time Girls? With tons of humor, happy endings and sad ones, the chapters within this book give a detailed look at the history of the independent women who faced hardships, lost fortunes and the dangers of a wild land to find a future.

I bought this book at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks bookstore. My dad, Class of '51 at UAF (we were there for his 50th reunion), had told me some stories about "The Line" and he had had his first job with the gold mining operations, so I was curious. There's not a lot of gory detail here. It's about people and places, but it's quite a colorful history. Though never officially legal, prostitution was tolerated and it flourished in Alaska for more than 50 years. And some very famous characters pop up, like Wyatt Earp and the "Birdman of Alcatraz". Definitely worth the time.

Lael Morgan does a great job of piecing together old newspaper articles and photos to recreate the lives of these adventurous pioneers. The stories from Dawson are especially detailed (due to the resources) and give you the feeling that you know what it was like to live and work in Dawson during the gold rush. Knowing that the characters in the book were real make the stories that much more compelling.

Lael Morgan is my cousin whom I have been very close to for over 60 years. This recent publication is her greatest success to date, and it was 30 years in the making. With her journalistic background, she conducted over a continuous period of time a detailed and precise account of the sociology of boom-town Alaska in the late 1800's. I am certain you note a certain familial bias, but this entertaining yet factual read will not disappoint!