An Alaskan Adventure

As the descendant of early miners, a grandfather who prospected for gold in the Fairbanks area in 1908 and a father who mined from the 1920s through the early 1940s, my interest and fascination with Frederick Currier's manuscript was easily spiked. Currier's quest for gold from 1893 into the 1900s was an admirable pursuit. His account of prospecting ventures in 1898 on the Chena River near Fairbanks is spellbinding, especially in his use of a sternwheeler and his building of cabins as he prospected toward the headwaters. I have great admiration for the early gold prospectors like Frederick Currier since I have sunk a couple of shafts to bedrock with a windlass and know the effort and determination required. The power of a few nuggets can change a person's direction in life. Currier's, An Alaskan Adventure, is well worth reading—more than once.