"Roy Glenister and Dextry are gold miners who strike it rich in Nome, Alaska until their claim is “jumped', seemingly by legal means and by powerful politicians, crooked lawyers, and a judge. The political establishment seems too powerful to fight. How can they get their claim (and money) back from a mafia-like organization in frontier Alaska?
Roy is an honest man driven by frustration, despair, and disappointment, and loves to do things he never thought he would. How can he fight an organization that has the law in its pocket? There is “law” and then there is “frontier law.”
The story is based on actual events in Nome during the heyday of the Alaska gold rush."
"Young Pierce Phillips, green, naïve, self-assured and with little money, finds himself in Dyea, Alaska. He is soon parted from his money by smooth-talking gamblers. Now, penniless, hungry and with no means to reach the Klondike, he is forced to accept a job hauling supplies for other would-be prospectors over the perilous Chilkoot Pass. During one such expedition he meets Countess Courteau, who plays a major role in his future. His Yukon adventures change Pierce from youth to a man, a seasoned veteran who has learned that love can be a stronger desire than Gold Fever..."
"She was a young woman of courage, desert-born, alone, afoot and lost in the stifling heat of the South Texas desert, her throat aching with drought. Alaire Austin staggered on to reach a water-hole she knew existed. Where it existed was a calculated guess, and along with it, she would find Texas Ranger David Law. He was a strong man, masterful and ruthless. She had no idea that this chance meeting at the only water-hole in fifty square miles of parched desert would be the beginning of her life"
"Rex Beach was born in Atwood, Michigan to a prominent family and pursued a career as a lawyer before being drawn to Alaska at the time of the Klondike Gold Rush. After five years of unsuccessful prospecting, he turned to writing. His first novel, The Spoilers, was based on a true story of corrupt government officials stealing gold mines from prospectors, which Beach witnessed while he was prospecting in Nome, Alaska. The novel begins with the return of Dextry and Roy Glenister to Nome to reclaim their mine, The Midas. On their arrival, they find “The Law” has come to Nome. The problem is “The Law” is crooked, bent on stealing all the best gold mines in Alaska. Alec McNamara is the villain in this novel and rules with a heavy hand through the aging and corrupt Judge Stillman. Helen Chester is the naïve niece of Judge Stillman. She cannot believe her uncle is involved in such treachery. And of course, Roy Glenister is in love with her. After trying to work within the law, the miners eventually form a vigilante group called The Stranglers to right the wrongs while Glenister continues to believe the law can correct the wrongs. A cast of other characters enter the book with various roles; Cherry Malotte, The Bronco Kid (who has a surprise in store for listeners), Slapjack Sims, Struve the crooked lawyer. The climax of the book is…………but then I would be spoiling the ending, wouldn’t I? The Spoilers became one of the bestselling novels of 1906. The novel was made into movies five times, with leading men including Gary Cooper, Randolph Scott and John Wayne.
For a brief pictorial history of the characters involved in the actual mine stealing, please see this page.
(Summary from Wikipedia and modified by The Reader)"
"The Silver Horde , is set in Kalvik, a fictionalized community in Bristol Bay, Alaska, and tells the story of a down on his luck gold miner who discovers a greater wealth in Alaska's run of salmon (silver horde) and decides to open a cannery. To accomplish this he must overcome the relentless opposition of the "salmon trust," a fictionalized Alaska Packers' Association, which undercuts his financing, sabotages his equipment, incites a longshoremen's riot and bribes his fishermen to quit. The story line includes a love interest as the protagonist is forced to choose between his fiance, a spoiled banker's daughter, and an earnest roadhouse operator, a woman of "questionable virtue." (Summary by Wikipedia)"
"Unfairly given a dishonorable discharge from the army, Calvin Gray goes to Dallas, where he manages to win the trust of a jeweler and is able to sell a number of diamonds to the newly oil rich Briskows. He makes friends with the family and helps them adjust to their newly found riches. The Briskows, in turn, help him prove false the charges that caused his dismissal from the army. (Summary by Richard Kilmer)"
