Overview

True to the Trail is a window into two lives: Arthur Dallimore's journals, reproduced in their entirety, detail his life from 1898 to 1910, as he attempts to make a dollar in Alaska by gold prospecting, selling wood, running a roadhouse and even singing. Intertwined, is Anne's story, as she searches for traces of his life; unearthing precious nuggets and striking her own gold by tramping to his old haunts, talking to locals and studying historic maps and records.

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9780473716226

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Reviews

"True to the Trail is a window into two lives: Arthur Dallimore, a prospector, woodcutter, and roadhouse keeper in the Klondike and Interior Alaska at the turn of the 20th century, and Anne Waight, his great-granddaughter who brings us his story. Arthur's story was preserved in letters he sent back to his father in England, who then transcribed them into journal entries. Preserved in a leather suitcase over the years, they were finally given to Anne in 2005. Pursuing Arthur's story became her passion. She studied the entries and planned trips to the Klondike and Alaska to retrace his travel, documented the location of places where he lived, and recorded the memories of those who could help reconstruct the story. She reviewed old mining records, maps and ledgers, and traveled part of the old trail by dog team to relive and re-locate the roadhouse he built. Arthur's story bridges the well-trod gold-rush accounts with the less well-known stories of those who stayed, the ""settlers"" who made a living in the country. Arthur's letters and Anne's research are a significant contribution to our understanding of the connections between people and places that were important to Arthur during his time in the country. For most of his time in the North, he was on the lower Tanana River, where he had frequent contact with folks in Manley Hot Springs, his Native neighbors, the trail travelers, telegraph personnel, and steamboat personnel. From his wood camp on the Tanana River, Arthur often made 100-mile trips to socialize, acquire supplies, and make business contacts. His trips to the settlement at Fairbanks put him in touch with commercial interests and extended his possibilities for wood sales. In Arthur's accounts, we come to recognize the significance of literacy and the role of mail carriers whose work made mail delivery possible. Arthur's letters tell us a lot about his contacts and business dealings. The letters also contrast his business and social ties with settlers and his relationships with Native neighbors who visited, sold him meat, and shared their lives with him. His Native neighbors are also often the subject of his photographs, where he mentions them by first name. This is in contrast to the telegraph men who are not named. Anne shares her search and connection with history in a very personal way that brings us into her sense of adventure, whether it is four-wheeling over the summer swamps from Eureka to Rampart or deciphering the old postal route maps to see how the mail trail evolved with the development of Fairbanks. Historical research holds no easy or complete answers and often raises more questions, as Anne discovered when she worked through Arthur's story. Yet, in it all, she experienced the excitement of discovery, as when Robin and Charlie Boulding were able to identify the old remains of Arthur's wood camp and his trail leading to the mail trail; the latter faintly visible, yet obvious from ""google earth"". Professor Emeritus William (Bill) Schneider, University of Fairbanks Alaska"

Author Information

Anne Waight has grown up enjoying the New Zealand outdoors, skiing, tramping, river canoeing and farming. She has 4 children (3 living) and 5 grandchildren. Before retiring, Anne worked as a maths teacher, although her original degree was in music. She has enjoyed singing for most of her life and, until recently, also sang with her children and grandchildren. She lives in the Northland, New Zealand with her husband Tom who now cares for her, since being diagnosed with Multiple Systems Atrophy.

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