Even today they would be outrageous, but then they were a sensation. They traveled to the Klondike armed with good china, polished silver, walking sticks, matching hats, a movie projector that ran on gas, a circus tent, a gramophone, a Great Dane, the workings of a bowling alley, and resolute spirits sharpened in the battles of east coast high society. They came away after their sojourn perhaps with considerable profit (one will never know, as ladies never tell) but certainly with this diary full of observations about the peculiar people, food, and manners of the Alaskan Gold Rush of the 1890s. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Two Women in the Klondike created a sensation when it was first published in 1899. The idea that two well-bred socialites could survive the dangers of the north thrilled nineteenth-century readers from San Francisco to New York. When Mary Hitchcock heard about the discovery of gold in the Klondike in 1898, she left her privileged city life for the wilds of Alaska, planning to stake her own claims. She persuaded her friend Edith Van Buren to accompany her, and the two began preparations for "roughing it." The "necessities" that they brought up the Yukon River to Dawson City, Canada, included a portable bowling alley, an ice cream maker, a Great Dane named Ivan, and a full-size circus tent.Hitchcock relates the struggles, surprises, and pleasures of traveling in the late nineteenth century in her trademark style. She describes in diary form the people she met and her impressions of rural Alaska and Dawson City. Invaluable for its detailed descriptions of manners, food, and personalities, Hitchcock's account of the Klondike Gold Rush is an outrageous adventure for general readers, armchair travelers, and anyone interested in the lives of American women in the late 1800s.This new, abridged version includes a map of Hitchcock's northern travels and an introduction by Terrence Cole, professor of history at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
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