The Floor of Heaven (53 page)
Read The Floor of Heaven Online
Authors: Howard Blum
Tags: #History, #United States, #19th Century, #Biography & Autobiography, #Adventurers & Explorers, #Canada, #Post-Confederation (1867-)
CHAPTER EIGHT: ASS; KC; KFCM; QC; SFL; RMN; CD; RS; CSW; ENS; DM; DD; Registry of Pinkerton National Detective Agency, prepared by Michael McEldering, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (RPNDA).
CHAPTER NINE: ASS; KC; RSS; KFCM; HCS; SFL; Robert K. DeArment, Knights of the Green Cloth: The Saga of the Frontier Gamblers, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1982 (KGC); Leland Feitz, A Quick History of Creede: Colorado Boom Town, Little London Press, Colorado Springs, 1969; Feitz, Soapy Smith’s Creede, Little London Press, 1973; Museum of Hoaxes, www.museumofhoaxes.com; Judith Ries, Ed O’Kelley: The Man Who Murdered Jesse James’ Murderer, Stewart Printing & Publishing, Marble Hill, MI, 1994; Creede Candle archives, Denver Public Library.
CHAPTER TEN: GC; CLD; SAW.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: CD; RS; CSW; RPNDA; ASS; KC; QC; HCS; RMN; Louisa Ward Arp, Denver in Slices, Sage Books, Denver, 1959; Clyde King, The History of the Government of Denver, PhD Thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1911; Thomas J. Noel, The City and the Saloon: Denver, 1858–1916, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1982; Lewis Stone Sorley, History of the Fourteenth United States Infantry, from January, 1890–1908, privately printed; CSW; CLD.
CHAPTER TWELVE: Richard Timberlake, Business Cycles and Depressions; Douglas W. Steeples and David Whitlen, Democracy in Desperation: The Depression of 1893, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 1998; Clement Juglar and DeCourcey W. Thom, A Brief History of Panics in the United States, Cosimo, Inc., New York, 2006; W. Jett Lauk, The Causes of the Panic of 1893, online facsimile of 1907 edition; Lucy G. Barber, Marching on Washington: The Forging of an American Political Tradition, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2004; Jacob S. Coxey, The Coxey Plan: A Cure for Hard Times, Massillon, OH, 1914; SOA; KF; HOA; AIH; GHA; Jim DuFresne, Alaska: The Complete Guide to the Last Frontier, Lonely Planet Publications, Victoria, Australia, 1983 (ACG).
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: CD; RS; CSW; RPNDA; ENS, DD; Trevor Davis, Looking Back on Juneau: The First One Hundred Years, Miner Publishing, Juneau, 1979.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: CD; RS; CSW; RPNDA; David and Brenda Stone, Hard Rock, Vanguard Press, New York, 1957 (HR); Edwin Kible, The Birdman of Treadwell: Diary of a Treadwell Gold Miner, Doubleday & Page, New York, 1924 (DTGM); Charles Palanche, American Geologist, vol. 34, 1904 (AG); Harriman Alaska Expedition, Doubleday & Page, New York, 1904 (HAE); GC; CLD.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: GC; CLD; KF; Ernest Ingersoll, Gold Fields of the Klondike and the Wonders of Alaska, W. W. Wilson, New York, 1987; Thomas Wiedemann, Cheechako into Sourdough, Binfords & Mort, Portland, OR, 1944; Roy Minter, White Pass: Gateway to the Klondike, University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, 1987 (WP); Walter R. Curtain, Yukon Voyage, Caxton Printers, Caldwell, ID, 1983 (YV).
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: GC; CLD; KF; KS; GHA; TI; TSF; ITK; BSG; TTY; POK.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: GC; CLD; TI; TSF; Patsy Henderson, Early Days at Caribou Crossing and the Discovery of Gold on the Klondike, 1949, University of Washington Archives (EDCC); George W. Carmack, My Experiences in the Yukon, 1933, University of Washington Archives (ME); Kan Sergei, Shamanism and Christianity: Modern-Day Tlingit Elders Look at the Past, http://books.google.com; Morton Klass and Maxine Wiesgrau, eds., Across the Boundaries of Belief: Contemporary Issues in the Anthropology of Religion, Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 1999.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: ASS; KC; Seattle Times, online archive; RSS; KFCM; SFL; RMN; Della Murray Banks, “Homer’s Gold Seekers: A Game of Bluff,” Alaskan Sportsman, October 1945 (HGS).
CHAPTER NINETEEN: CD; RS; CSW; RPNDA; HAE; AG; DTGM; HR.
CHAPTER TWENTY: CD; RS; CSW; RPNDA; HAE; AG; DTGM.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: CD; RS; CSW; RPNDA; Jim Gibbs, Alaska Maritime, Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, PA, 1997 (AM); Marcus Backer, ed., Geographic Dictionary of Alaska, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1906 (GDA); ACG.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: CD; RS; RPNDA; GC; CLD; ME; EDCC.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: ASS; KC; SFL; HGS; Milton A. Daby, The Sea Saga of Dynamite Johnny O’Brien, Lowman & Hanford, Seattle, 1933.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: CD; RS; CSW; RPNDA; AM; GDA; ACG.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: CD; RS; CSW; RPNDA; AM; KS; KF; Mike Leahy, “Gold Smelting,” http://www.pbs.org/weta/roughscience/series3/big_smelt/smelting.html; “Gold Mining & Gold Prospecting,” http://www.e-goldprospecting.com; HR; BSG.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: ME; KF; KS; EDCC; CLD; GC.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: ME; EDCC; CLD; KF; GC.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: CD; RS; RPNDA; AM; KS.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: ME; CLD; EDCC; KF; POK.
CHAPTER THIRTY: CD; RS; RPNDA; CSW.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: ME; KF; EDCC; GC; CLD; POK.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: ASS; SFL; KC; RMN, Seattle Times archives.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: ME; CLD; GC; KS; KF; HR; BSG.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: ME; CLD; GC; KS; KF; William Ogilvie, Early Days on the Yukon, John Lane Co., New York, 1913; POK; James Wickersham, Old Yukon, Washington Law Book Co., Washington, DC, 1938.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: ASS; Seattle Post-Intelligencer archives; KF; KS; Sharon A. Boswell and Lorraine McConaghy, Raise Hell and Sell Newspapers: Alden J. Blethen & the Seattle Times, Washington State University Press, Pullman, WA, 1996; GC.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: KF; KS; GC; Will Chase, Reminiscences of Captain Billie Moore, Burton Publishing Co., Kansas City, MO, 1923; Arthur Dietz, Mad Rush for Gold in Frozen North, Los Angeles Time-Mirror Printing and Binding House, 1914; Hamlin Garland, Trail of the Goldseekers, Macmillan Co., New York, 1899; ASS; POK; Clarence L. Andrews, The Story of Alaska, Caxton Printers, Caldwell, ID, 1938; Andrews, “The Real Soapy Smith,” Alaska Sportsman, November 1947; Gerald L. Pennington, Klondike Stampeders Register, Windsor Associates, San Diego, 1997; Mabel Pearce Reed, Skagway Memories, self-published, 1988; Robert L. S. Spude, Skagway, District of Alaska, 1884–1912, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 1983.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: ASS; KC; RSS; KFCM; KF; SFL; Lael Morgan, Good Time Girls; Samuel H. Graves, On the White Pass Payroll, Lakeside Press, Chicago, 1908 (OWPP); Will Irwin, The Confessions of a Con Man, B. W. Huebush, New York, 1913; Archie Satterfeld, Chilkoot Pass, Alaska Northwest Books, Portland, OR, 2004; Harriet S. Pullen, Soapy Smith: Bandit of Skagway, Skagway Tourist Agency, Skagway; Shea and Patten, The Soapy Smith Tragedy, Daily Alaskan Print, Skagway, 1907; Howard Clifford, Uncrowned King of Skagway, Sourdough Enterprises, Seattle, 1997.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: GC; CLD; KF; KS; POK.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: CD; RS; RPNDA; DM.
CHAPTER FORTY: ASS; SFL; KC; Seattle Times archives; Harry L. Suydam, “The Reign of Soapy Smith,” Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly, vol. 51, 1901 (RSS); KF; R. M. Dickey, Gold Fever (GF); Dickey, Diary (DD).
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: GC; CLD; CD; RPNDA; G. S. Howard, “Badman of Skagway Meets Insp. Wood,” Quarterly, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, vol. 48, 1963 (BOS); ASS; Samuel Steele, Forty Years in Canada, Jenkins Press, Toronto, 1915 (FYC).
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: RPNDA; BOS; ASS; FYC; Philip Godsell, “Skagway Terror,” Fury: Exciting Adventures for Men, October 1957.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: ASS; SFL; RSS; KF; KC; Seattle Times archives; Frank Clancy, “I Was Just a Kid,” Alaska Sportsman, October 1955; James M. Sinclair, Mission: Klondike, Mitchell Press, Canada, 1978; Calvin H. Bardull, “I Saw Soapy Killed,” Alaska Sportsman, June 1952; Hazel Stewart Clark, “A Man of Honor,” Alaska Sportsman, March 1958; OWPP; “Soapy Smith Skull: An Ironic Monument to a Two-Gun Tyrant,” Literary Digest Magazine, September 1927.
EPILOGUE: ASS; SFL; KC; GC; CLD; Seattle Post-Intelligencer archives; Claire Rudolf Murphy and Jane G. Haitch, Gold Rush Women; CD; RSS; CSW; RPNDA; Robert S. Birchard, King Cowboy: Tom Mix and the Movies, Riverwood Press, Burbank, CA, 1993; Diana Serra Cary, The Hollywood Posse, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1995; William K. Everson, A Pictorial History of the Western Film, Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ, 1969; KF; TTY; POK.
Acknowledgments
WHEN I was a young boy growing up in a wooded area of the north Bronx, my friends and I used to chase around playing cowboys and Indians. Hiding behind rock outcroppings and clumps of tall, ancient trees, we devised intricate games that involved ambushes and ferocious shoot-outs with our cap guns. Then the developers came—and the Wild West that was our corner of New York City began to disappear. We had no choice but to move on to other pursuits. And so I soon discovered basketball and books.
But the memory of my early “cowboy days” and their abrupt end stayed with me over the years. In time, I decided to write a book that would focus on the last days of the Old West and the decision by some intrepid men and women to move on to the far north to search for adventure and fortune.
When I first began the intellectual journey that would become this book, I turned to two people for guidance. First, I shared my plan with Lynn Nesbit. Lynn has been my agent for more than two decades, and in that time she has become literary adviser, friend, and confidant. Once again, she gave me encouragement and wise advice; and once again, I owe her enormously.
Then I spoke with Rick Horgan, my editor at Crown. Rick is someone who cares about books and cares about editing them. He improves everything of mine that he marks with his stern pencil. And, not least, he’s a man who always—always!—does precisely as he says. That’s a rare quality in any field, and I’m grateful to be able to work and publish with him.
As the book moved forward, I was also helped and encouraged by many people at Crown, including Tina Constable, Molly Stern, and Nathan Roberson. And the team at Lynn’s office whom I pestered too often were a godsend: Cullen Stanley, Tina Simms, and Lenore Hoffman.
Once there was a manuscript, I shared it with my longtime friends Bob Bookman and Stuart Manashil at CAA, and their help in trying to bring this story to the screen has proven invaluable. At Vanity Fair, both Graydon Carter and Dana Brown gave me wise advice. Alan Hergott, as always, served as a friend and a wise counselor. And Christopher Mason gave the manuscript a thoughtful read.
While writing the book, I also relied on a circle of friends: Susan and David Rich; Sarah and Bill Rauch; Irene and Phil Werber; John Leventhal; Bruce Taub; Pat, Bob, and Mark Lusthaus; Gary Cohen; Beth DeWoody; Adrienne Riso; Bob Mitchell; and, not least, my sister Marcy.
My children—Tony, Anna, and Dani—were a source of constant joy and immense pride.
And Ivana helped to make it all worthwhile.
About the Author
HOWARD BLUM is a contributing editor of Vanity Fair and the author of eight previous critically acclaimed bestselling nonfiction books. His most recent book, American Lightning, was a New York Times bestseller and an Edgar Award winner, was chosen as a Best Book of the Year by the Independent Booksellers Association, and is being made into a major motion picture. Blum lives in Connecticut.
Table of Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
Map
A Note to the Reader
Prologue: Up the Yukon River
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Part II: Gold!
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Photo Insert
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Part III: Skagway
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-three
A Note on Sources
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Table of Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
Map
A Note to the Reader
Prologue: Up the Yukon River
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Part II: Gold!
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Photo Insert
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Part III: Skagway
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
