Frozen in Silver: The Life and Frontier Photography of P. E. Larson

by Ronald T. Bailey

Book Overview

In 1898 men and women from all over the world converged on Alaska. Gold had been discovered. In the Yukon Territory, all winter long eager gold seekers struggled over the mountain passes connecting Canada with the United States. A small group of photographers chronicled this epic, creating images of men and women laboring through blinding snowstorms over the windswept, ice-covered mountains. One of that group was a young Swedish immigrant by the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804010005
• ISBN13: 9780804010009
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: Swallow Press
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.1" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Despite the Synopsis...

Don't let the inaccuracies in the on-line synopsis (scathingly detailed by Christenson below) prevent you from acquiring this book. The author has researched and accurately described life in the Klondike/Yukon, and selected great images to accompany his text. The portions dealing with Larss' life outside the Yukon are similarly well done.

Excellent history of the Gold Rush

Excellent reading. Highly recommended to all interested in the gold rush. Although some facts may be incorrect, the majority of the book is very well written.

Synopsis corrections and review.

The synopsis is incorrect about some things. Gold was DISCOVERED in the Klondike river area in 1896 -- not 1898. Although prospectors who had been in the Yukon for years learned about the strike very quickly (and staked the best claims pronto), it took nearly a year for word of the discovery to reach the "outside world" (e.g., the contiguous United States) in a way that captured the public's imagination -- especially when the SS PORTLAND landed in Seattle in July 1897 with the now-famous "Ton of Gold" from the Klondike area. The first stampeders arrived in Alaska in the fall of 1897, followed by thousands soon after. Most stampeders went over the mountains into British Columbia and then the Yukon Territory via Dyea (over Chilkoot Pass) or via Skagway (over White Pass) during the winter of 1897-1898. The synopsis is blatantly incorrect that thousands of stampeders "arrived in blinding snowstorms"; this is absolute nonsense. Arrived WHERE? The bulk of stampeders arrived in Dyea or Skagway. While it does snow there, it does not snow all the time. It rains a lot. To imply that all stampeders arrived ANY where along the Klondike gold rush route in "blinding snowstorms" is unnecessary hype -- and simply not true. This book provides a well-rounded look into the life of P.E. Larss, especially about his life before and after the Klondike gold rush. Photographs have been well-selected to illustrate his craft and the events he was involved in. Gary Christenson