Gold Rush Dogs

by Claire Rudolf Murphy, Jane G. Haigh

Dog lovers and history buffs will delight in this collection celebrating the beloved canines that offered companionship, protection, and hard work to their masters in the Far North.

Genres: Animals, History, Nonfiction, Dogs

120 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

Claire Rudolf Murphy has loved history since she was a young girl; in fact she majored in it at Santa Clara University. Murphy is the author of fourteen books for children. A former middle and high school teacher, she is a member of the faculty of Hamline University's Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Washington.

Reviews

[Tara Chevrestt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up while on vacation and I paid full price for it and no regrets! Tho very short and sweet, I found it to be an enjoyable must read. Readers will learn about Alaskan dogs that have gone down in history, including, but not limited to Stickeen, Julian, Nero, Yukon, Faust, Baldy, Togo, Balto, my personal favorite, Patsy Ann. The book tells their stories. Some were brave and saved lives. Some were mining dogs or hauling or sled dogs. Some were just remarkable friends. The book even talks about a few dogs in early law enforcement, namely the Canadian Mounty dogs. Regardless of the canine's role, this book acknowledges their necessity and their importance in history. After reading about Patsy Ann, I immediately had to find her statue in Juneau and take a picture.

Touching book with great dog pictures and entertaining stories. A must for dog lovers whether you make it to Alaska for your next vacation or not.

[Stephen Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like history and you like dogs, then this would be a book for you. The pictures alone are worth a look. I always like it when a worthy dog is immortalized in print and pictures, but then all dogs are worthy. If you consider yourself a dog lover, I will list some of the dogs covered and then you can see if you recognize them. Then I will list off the ones I didn't know. So in the book thee is Stickeen (extra points if you know what breed he was), Togo, Balto, and Patsy Ann.

Julian, the mighty mastiff was new to me. At one time broke the record for pulling the heaviest load of any dog in the Klondike. When he died in May 1900 "Most Famous Dog in Alaska is Dead" read the headline.

The Yukon field force of the North- West Mounted Police (later named the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) was discussed in the book. I liked how a caption gave us the introduction to the show Sergeant Preston of the Yukon:

"Now as howling winds echo across the snow-covered reaches of the wild Northwest, the Quaker Oats Company, makers of Quaker Puffed Wheat and Quaker Puffed Rice, the delicious cereal shot from guns, presents Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. It's Yukon King, swiftest and strongest lead dog of the Northwest, breaking the trail for Sergeant Preston of the North-West Mounted Police in his relentless pursuit of lawbreakers."

Then there was the Saint Bernard Nero, owned by Belinda Mulrooney, richest woman in the Klondike. At one point the dog falls into a swollen creak while carrying two pokes of gold, and she chooses to cut the gold and lose it instead of lose the dog.

Julien and Nero were said to be models that Jack London used as inspiration for The Call of the Wild.

Baldy, Scotty Allan's dog is discussed and used for an introduction into the dog sledding races. Baldy helped lead the team to win the 408 mile All Alaska Sweepstakes in 1909.

Patsy Ann, a deaf Bull Terrier, the 'Princess of the Piers' was new to me. I guess if I had been to Juneau, I might have seen the statue of her and known the story. She was a stray in the late 1920's that came to be loved by everyone and always was there at the docks waiting to great a ship coming in.

Anyway, stories are nice. Very interesting history. Pictures are great. Nice to read about worthy dogs in history.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0. I loved the mixture of dogs and the history of Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush.

[Grayce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, very informative. No traumatic dog stories I would consider it safe for dog lovers. Loved seeing the pics and learning about these awesome dogs!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gold Rush Dogs is the kind of book that you'd find in the tourist-trappy gift shop in that little old mining town that you visited on your Gold Rush Days tour through Alaska. It's a coffee table book that you'd be likely to display to remind you of your Alaska trip, or to catch the eye of your friend that's in town for a visit. It's a popular history book that you'd thumb through while a smile played at your lips, and you might stop here and there to read about what's going on in that photo that caught your eye.

But Gold Rush Dogs is also good! The dogs presented in this book were all creatures with valiant hearts who made the lives of their masters safer, happier, warmer, and possibly even more prosperous than they may have been without their poochie pals. Some of the dogs in this book saved the lives of their masters, or played roles in saving the lives of scores of people. These animals were critical to the survival of humans in this hostile environment.

The notion of the large, thick coated Alaskan sled dog is iconic, but before reading this book I wasn't aware that a wide range of breeds were present and playing vital roles in the lives of the Alaskans. Dogs as small as 12-18 inches in height, to as large as Saint Bernards or mastiffs marched through the pages of this book. The huskies and malamutes were represented, of course, but I certainly would never have thought of the short-haired breeds like bull terriers or German shorthaired pointers as being animals suited to cold Alaskan winters.

Many of the stories were heart warming or heart breaking, but all were interesting and well told. In addition to being a fabulous coffee table book, or a gift to a dog lover, this book could easily be a resource for reports that older elementary school or even middle school aged kids have to write for history class. It is rich with photographs, gold rush history, and biographies of the dogs and people who played a part in Alaska's history, and it is decently sourced.

[Debra Daniels-Zeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Stickeen, John Muir's dog to Patsy Ann, a bull terrier who belonged to the town of Juneau, these stories of Alaskan canine heroes are compelling. A number of these stories involved sledding dogs. I really enjoyed reading about the great serum run of 1925 and how the dog sleds lost out to the airlines for delivering U.S. mail. I was rather slow to finish this book because it was easy to put down. Although I liked the stories the book was divided up in a way that inferfered with the narrative flow. Side bars a few pages long and then back to the text. Too much of it is tiring and I wish it has been divided up differently. The photos were interesting but I would have rather had them in a separate section. The stories alone made this book a four star.

[Mary Roush · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read! It would have been enough to just share the wonderful stories of these famous dogs of Alaskan history. The book goes way beyond, and blends the dogs' stories with stories of key people, places, and events from the Alaska gold rush through the beginnings of the Iditarod sled dog race. It's a great book for adults, but I also am eager to share it with my classes of fourth graders. The stories mix humor with danger, adventure with history. I love how the heart of all the stories is the relationship of trust, respect, and love between the dogs and their people. I learned a lot about the history of Alaska, and about diverse human characters from her history, but the book always reminded me of an important Iditarod saying: it's all about the dogs.

[Ray]

I really liked this book. It talked about the many dogs that were around during the Gold Rush period. It talked about nine different dogs and their owners. In each chapter it talked about the achievements that the dogs made and what their owners achieved. All in all I would recommend this book to everyone because it was easy to read and a person could understand it easily.

[Dianna Winget · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an informative and entertaining look at some of the most famous canines in Alaska’s Gold Rush history. It covers not only some of the better known dogs like Balto and Patsy Ann, but also several lesser known ones. It’s amazing just how large a role dogs played in Alaska’s history. This is a fun read for dog lovers of all ages.

[Deborah Gaspar · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book