Wild Times on the Alaska Frontier

Catherine Holder Spude’s latest book, Saloons, Prostitutes and Temperance in Alaska Territory, highlights the enterprising business owners, soiled doves and hopeful gamblers who ventured far north to take advantage of the gold-seekers who flocked to the area in the late 1890s.

Spude expertly transports readers beyond the tales of the daring courtesans and charlatans, and examines the effect alcohol had on argonauts who frequented the taverns and houses of ill-repute. The book’s details show a great research effort, and Spude uncovers facts not found by other authors. Her writing is exceptional; she never disappoints.

—Chris Enss, author of Wicked Women: Notorious, Mischievous, and Wayward Ladies from the Old West