Sourdoughs at Seventy Mile: California Native Sons in the Yukon Gold Rush

The accounts of California native sons who sought fortunes during the Yukon gold rush of 1898 provide context for the frenzy that overtook Dawson City. The book also reveals the conditions of California’s pioneer families and their sons who decided to leave the comforts of the land of sunshine to risk their lives and fortunes in the Northwest Territory and Alaska. The book contains many first-hand accounts written by men who grew up together in the closely-knit, yet developing communities just south of San Francisco in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The accounts convey the history of the small towns in San Mateo County, including Redwood City, Menlo Park, and Half Moon Bay as they developed from Mexican ranchos into small communities that embodied the ideals of the western frontier in America. Fraternity, organization, persistence, diligence, individualism, and a penchant for adventure characterize the men and women who settled the West, then sought another frontier along the Yukon River.