Gold Rush Women

The enterprising women who ventured to the Yukon and Alaska during the many gold rushes between the 1880s and early 1900s remain relatively unknown.

Were familiar with the tales of the men who swarmed the wild North Country in search of fortunes in gold, but the adventures of their female counterparts make for stories as riveting as anything Jack London concocted.

In Gold Rush Women, you’ll read about daring women such as Kate Carmack, the Tagish Native reputed to have made the first gold discovery on the Klondike River; Ethel Berry, who mined alongside her husband Clarence, becoming one of the first Northern gold rush millionaires; and Fanny Quigley, who hiked out to remote gold strikes and sold hot meals from a tent. Whether miners, madams, or merchants, each made her unique contribution.

Award-winning author and teacher Claire Rudolf Murphy has lived in Alaska for over 20 years. Her previous books include The Prince and the Salmon People and A Child’s Alaska.
Author Jane Haigh is an Alaskan historian who curated the exhibition, “Threads of Gold: Lives of Women in the Northern Gold Rushes,” at the University of Alaska Museum.