The Opening of Alaska 1901-1903
Anchorage, Alaska: Cook Inlet Historical Society, 1982. First Edition. Illustrated stiff wrappers. 4to. Pp. xi, 111. Lavishly illustrated with reproductions of historic photographs. Maps, including one fold-out. Bibliography. Index. Bound in glossy stiff wrappers illustrated with black-and-white photos. Brief gift inscription on the title page. Near Fine. Item #5530 An unaccountably scarce first edition. Reprinted in 1989, this first printing is presented here in a bright, fresh copy.
Recounts the author's experiences, 1901-1903, in establishing Alaska's military telegraph line. Below-freezing weather was the most severe detriment to his men. While the author was firm in his prohibition of alcohol, he waxes favorably about Perry Davis Pain Killer, "the greatest medicine ever invented for the North." Per Mitchell, "I do not know the ingredients, other than it is about half alcohol and contains some laudanum, but I would hazard a guess at opium, red pepper, turpentine and tabasco juice." He would give it to his men suffering frostbite.
Price: $100.00