Description

pp. 348, SIGNED and dedicated by both authors.

“Like many men of the nineteenth century, Joseph Francis Ladue (1854-1901) sought to rise from humble origins to a position of wealth-by way of the mother lode. This is the story of one man’s ambitions, failures, trials, and triumphs. His quest took him to the dusty, rowdy boom-towns of Deadwood and Tombstone and the unexplored territory of Canada’s Yukon. There, for fifteen years he worked side-by-side with men like Jack McQuesten, Arthur Harper, and Al Mayo as prospector, trader, miner, and promoter of the Yukon Valley. When gold was discovered in the Klondike, Ladue was there. He founded Dawson City, one of the most important commercial centers during the heady days of the Klondike Gold Rush. Tenacious, generous, self-effacing, Joe Ladue typified that kind of pioneer who wants his fellows to succeed, too. In 1897, Leslie’s Weekly Magazine dubbed Ladue “The Original King of the Klondike.” He is that-and more. Living in Dawson City and Santa Fe, New Mexico, Ed and Star Jones have, for forty years, retraced Ladue’s steps in Canada and the United States, and their painstaking efforts in research and interviews have resulted in the first biography of this historic figure.”