crey18's review against another edition
2.0
Although sometimes difficult to move between the narration and primary sources, this text is a generally approachable look at the journey of two men during the Klondike Rush. The photographs really help pull the narration together and are placed very well. "The Dead Horse Trail" chapter felt the most cohesive.
abigailbat's review against another edition
4.0
Looking for an adventure? Pack your bags, bundle up, say goodbye to your loved ones (just in case) and join Stanley Pearce and Marshall Bond on their journey to the Klondike region of Alaska in search of riches beyond your imagination.
Using primary sources (letters, journals, and newspaper articles passed down within Stanley Pearce's family), David Meissner illuminates the hardships and risks of this fantastic adventure. In 1897, miners arrived back in Seattle with millions in gold, mined in the Klondike. Thousands of people then rushed to this remote area in hopes of making their fortune. It would NOT be easy. Pearce and Bond spent thousands outfitting themselves for their journey and it took them months to even reach the Klondike. Before planes, before train tracks reached the area, adventurers had to travel by steamship to Alaska, on foot up the hazardous mountain passes, and by boat down rocky rivers to reach Dawson City.
The primary sources included give the reader a play-by-play of this dangerous adventure. Highly recommended for thrill seekers and history buffs.
Readalikes:
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson for its similar action-packed history adventure style.
Call of the Wild by Jack London. The dog Buck was actually based on Pearce and Bond's dog Jack. Jack London met them in the Klondike and they spent some time together there.
Using primary sources (letters, journals, and newspaper articles passed down within Stanley Pearce's family), David Meissner illuminates the hardships and risks of this fantastic adventure. In 1897, miners arrived back in Seattle with millions in gold, mined in the Klondike. Thousands of people then rushed to this remote area in hopes of making their fortune. It would NOT be easy. Pearce and Bond spent thousands outfitting themselves for their journey and it took them months to even reach the Klondike. Before planes, before train tracks reached the area, adventurers had to travel by steamship to Alaska, on foot up the hazardous mountain passes, and by boat down rocky rivers to reach Dawson City.
The primary sources included give the reader a play-by-play of this dangerous adventure. Highly recommended for thrill seekers and history buffs.
Readalikes:
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson for its similar action-packed history adventure style.
Call of the Wild by Jack London. The dog Buck was actually based on Pearce and Bond's dog Jack. Jack London met them in the Klondike and they spent some time together there.
jshettel's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating story of the Alaskan gold rush told through research and primary source documents. Now I want to read Call of the Wild.
renatasnacks's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like I recommend this only under a specific set of circumstances, ie: you are a middle school teacher teaching a unit about the Gold Rush OR Call of the Wild and you want some primary sources.
I picked it up with an eye to booktalk it for fans of nonfiction survival stories, but I just don't think it's... exciting... enough for the average young reader to pick up and read cover to cover. It has these great primary sources, family letters of 2 gold prospectors (Stanley Pearce and Marshall Bond), with great details about their lives, but the problem is... like... they don't find gold... and not that much happens to them really. Which I understand is extremely typical--the book says only 0.5% of gold rushers actually got rich on gold. But it's also uhh kind of a letdown, narratively speaking. Like, they go to Alaska (which: yes! Was a hard journey), they get some bad gold claims, they don't find very much gold, they leave Alaska and die from other reasons.
Also: the effect of the gold rush on First Nations and Native Americans is literally an afterthought, like literally the last page is about how the gold rushers "were clearly not aware of or concerned about the potentially detrimental effects of their actions on the land, animals, or Native people, who had already been living there for thousands of years." Like ok sure, the gold rushers didn't think about them, but you, the author, could have maybe mentioned this sooner.
Anyway, as a historical document of these 2 specific Gold Rush dudes,this is great--great use of the letters, maps, old photos etc! And sort of good job contextualizing the Gold Rush. But it feels like kiind of a stretch to call this "an adventure."
I picked it up with an eye to booktalk it for fans of nonfiction survival stories, but I just don't think it's... exciting... enough for the average young reader to pick up and read cover to cover. It has these great primary sources, family letters of 2 gold prospectors (Stanley Pearce and Marshall Bond), with great details about their lives, but the problem is... like... they don't find gold... and not that much happens to them really. Which I understand is extremely typical--the book says only 0.5% of gold rushers actually got rich on gold. But it's also uhh kind of a letdown, narratively speaking. Like, they go to Alaska (which: yes! Was a hard journey), they get some bad gold claims, they don't find very much gold, they leave Alaska and die from other reasons.
Also: the effect of the gold rush on First Nations and Native Americans is literally an afterthought, like literally the last page is about how the gold rushers "were clearly not aware of or concerned about the potentially detrimental effects of their actions on the land, animals, or Native people, who had already been living there for thousands of years." Like ok sure, the gold rushers didn't think about them, but you, the author, could have maybe mentioned this sooner.
Anyway, as a historical document of these 2 specific Gold Rush dudes,this is great--great use of the letters, maps, old photos etc! And sort of good job contextualizing the Gold Rush. But it feels like kiind of a stretch to call this "an adventure."
bibliomaineiac's review against another edition
4.0
This book, aimed at middle schoolers, is a nice factual account of the Klondike Goldrush. A quick read for myself, it is full of pictures, as well as the words of two men who lived it, in the form of letters and diary entries. It would be a nice tie-in if someone is looking for a non-fiction book to go with Jack London's Call of the Wild, as the two men featured met him in Dawson City during the rush.
cveeders's review against another edition
3.0
While gold might be scarce nowadays, the theme of the gold rush is far from tapped out. Many people have interest in it even today. Some of the towns along the trails to the Klondike have historical places dedicated to the rush. There are also many books written about the gold rush. The one I focused on was the call of the Klondike. The Call of the Klondike follows the path of two gold hunters and their path to find gold. The book is told through a range of journal entries, letters home, newspaper clippings and third person accounts.
The book features two main characters, Stanley Pearce and Marshall Bond. They were friends and business partners before the rush and, upon hearing about the prospect of gold in Alaska, decided to try their luck together. They asked their fathers to help fund their travels because buying the needed supplies. Pearce became a correspondent for his local newspaper, the Denver Republican, providing first hand experiences about his trip to the Klondike. Bond kept a diary and both wrote letters home about their adventures. Pearce once wrote “Words could not describe it…The scenery was by far the grandest I have ever seen…. Bond and I spied a bear while floating down the river and tried to land but failed. Wild swans, geese, and ducks were everywhere. Indian camps by scores…” (The call of the Klondike page 54).
The estimated time for the expedition was a year. Pearce and Bond left for their trip in July 1897, and Bond’s brother, Louis, heard about the gold and hopped on the boat that left after his brothers. It took about four months for them to reach Dawson City. Then it became winter and the rivers and trails became impassable. They were ready to leave in August 1898.
However, the trip was far from easy even before they were in the wilderness. An entire outfit cost a huge amount of money. The outfit contained food that could be stored, camping supplies, mining equipment and more. They had to carry it on the trail with them. Some people hired Indians to help carry the outfit but it was still many items. Another hardship Pearce and Bond faced was the incompletion of the trail that they used. The White Pass trail was treacherous and, when it rained, it got extremely muddy. Many of the men bought horses to help carry the outfits. Unfortunately, many of the horses got stuck in the mud, fell over and broke their legs. They couldn’t be helped after that and many died there, and were left to decay. In the Call of the Klondike the author states “Not long after Pearce and Bond reached the summit, the trail behind them was temporarily closed because of impassable conditions and rotting horseflesh. (Page 47)”.
It was also bitterly cold. Sometimes when they went to stake claims, it was sometimes forty below. When they walked into Dawson City, people would tell others that their noses were frozen because they themselves would not notice. The weather was often very neutral and gloomy. Jack London, who met Pearce and Bond when he went to find gold, wrote a short story “to build a Fire” about a man’s experience with the cold, harsh climate. He says “It was a clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things , a subtle gloom that made the day dark, and that was due to the absence of sun”(page 1). One of the biggest problems was scurvy which is a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin c. Neither Pearce nor Bond contracted scurvy but some of their companions did. Some people died from it. You were lucky not to have it in a community with little availability of fruits and vitamins.]
I thought this book was a little slow to grab my attention but once I got into it, it was easier to read. I still didn't exactly enjoy it but it had many pictures and big headlines that took up lots of space. This book is definitely aimed a people who want to learn about the gold rush and are passionate about history.
The book features two main characters, Stanley Pearce and Marshall Bond. They were friends and business partners before the rush and, upon hearing about the prospect of gold in Alaska, decided to try their luck together. They asked their fathers to help fund their travels because buying the needed supplies. Pearce became a correspondent for his local newspaper, the Denver Republican, providing first hand experiences about his trip to the Klondike. Bond kept a diary and both wrote letters home about their adventures. Pearce once wrote “Words could not describe it…The scenery was by far the grandest I have ever seen…. Bond and I spied a bear while floating down the river and tried to land but failed. Wild swans, geese, and ducks were everywhere. Indian camps by scores…” (The call of the Klondike page 54).
However, the trip was far from easy even before they were in the wilderness. An entire outfit cost a huge amount of money. The outfit contained food that could be stored, camping supplies, mining equipment and more. They had to carry it on the trail with them. Some people hired Indians to help carry the outfit but it was still many items. Another hardship Pearce and Bond faced was the incompletion of the trail that they used. The White Pass trail was treacherous and, when it rained, it got extremely muddy. Many of the men bought horses to help carry the outfits. Unfortunately, many of the horses got stuck in the mud, fell over and broke their legs. They couldn’t be helped after that and many died there, and were left to decay. In the Call of the Klondike the author states “Not long after Pearce and Bond reached the summit, the trail behind them was temporarily closed because of impassable conditions and rotting horseflesh. (Page 47)”.
It was also bitterly cold. Sometimes when they went to stake claims, it was sometimes forty below. When they walked into Dawson City, people would tell others that their noses were frozen because they themselves would not notice. The weather was often very neutral and gloomy. Jack London, who met Pearce and Bond when he went to find gold, wrote a short story “to build a Fire” about a man’s experience with the cold, harsh climate. He says “It was a clear day and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things , a subtle gloom that made the day dark, and that was due to the absence of sun”(page 1). One of the biggest problems was scurvy which is a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin c. Neither Pearce nor Bond contracted scurvy but some of their companions did. Some people died from it. You were lucky not to have it in a community with little availability of fruits and vitamins.]
I thought this book was a little slow to grab my attention but once I got into it, it was easier to read. I still didn't exactly enjoy it but it had many pictures and big headlines that took up lots of space. This book is definitely aimed a people who want to learn about the gold rush and are passionate about history.
amdame1's review against another edition
3.0
A true story of two men who went searching for gold during the Alaskan gold rush. Lots of primary sources such as diary entries, letters, and photographs add much to this account. It was an interesting read but not as much action/adventure as I expected. However, it was very interesting to read about what they wore and the supplies they took along as well as how much things cost. No book can quite relate how truly arduous things were though.
A good addition to your collection, especially if your curriculum includes this time period.
3.5 stars
A good addition to your collection, especially if your curriculum includes this time period.
3.5 stars
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