Skagway

PROLOG

Copyright 1997 by McKinley Chaney All rights reserved

The pre-Cowboy West, except for a few glimpses into the life and times of the mountain man, seems lost to many of our western writers. McKinley Chaney explores this new territory and opens up that period between the Louis and Clark trek across the western lands and the post-Civil War era. In this novel, he spans the continent, rides west and north to find gold and weaves a fabric of hope from words left on the dying lips of a mountain man. The old man’s words held a secret that would shape the North Country, long before the Alaska gold rush.
Skagway, little more than a windswept bay on a jagged coastline of Russian Alaska, lay cloaked in mystery. The Tsar of Russia ruled supremely, and with an iron fist, not only his people, but the people under his outstretched thumb. His hold on Alaska stands a rather mute note in history, and rightly so. Gold does strange things to people.
The Georgia gold rush, the Colorado gold rush, the California gold rush, the Nevada gold rush – they all beat the drum for gold rushes. They all shifted people from one area of the continent to another. Each rush had those who faced fame and a little fortune, but much danger. Those who knew about gold and those who planned to find gold but mostly it was those who had initiative that drove them to take risks that stand out. A young couple acted out their plan, fought the dangers, faced the undaunted perils and eventually came out with the yellow metal,
In Skagway, Old Goins, Hugh Payne, and Amelia Madewell sneaked into and out of Russian Alaska. Thumbing their noses at the Tsar, and at the indigenous people, they fought against all odds. They planned, they acted and they countered the forces of nature and of nations. They fought the elements, they fought the predators, and they fought the hardships of the trail, but most of all, they bound themselves to a resolve and acted upon their convictions to locate, to mine, and to ride out with gold. Learning that the hazards of gold weigh heavy upon a man, they worked through the thrills and dashed dreams wrought by greedy men.
Their attitude parallels the American dream. When people work together to reach common purpose, and act upon moral conviction, they succeed. Their original goals, though sweet at the time, left a bland taste when compared to the growing relationships they find on their journey. These goals, along with the realization of new dreams developed when they shared their minds brought an awe of the country they came to love and appreciate.
A man’s dreams change with the influence of new friends, with the revelation of knowledge and with the love of a beautiful woman. Hugh Payne had all three. Country as fried okra, he rode west to receive an education while caring for an old man. The old man, realizing his benefactor’s care in his old age, spoke casually of gold. In seeking that gold, Hugh Payne found Amelia Madewell, a fitting companion and re-fixing his dreams, he found a new purpose in life.