Crooked Past
The History of a Frontier Mining Camp: Fairbanks, Alaska
A century ago, Treadwell, Alaska, was a featured stop on steamship cruises, a rich, up-to-date town that was the most prominent and proud in all Alaska. Its wealth, however, was founded on the remarkable productive gold mines on Douglas Island, and when those were caved in and flooded in the early decades of the twentieth century, Treadwell sank into relative obscurity.
This book presents first-person accounts from the sons and daughters of the miners, machinists, hoist operators, and superintendents who together dug and blasted the gold that made Treadwell rich. Alongside these stories are vintage photos that capture both the industrial vigor of the mines and the daily lives that made up Treadwell society. The book will fascinate anyone interested in Alaska history or the romance of gold mining's past.
