The Right Way On: Adventures in the Klondyke of 1898. Memoirs of W.H.T. Olive.
Langley: Timberholme Books, 1999. First Printing of the First Canadian Edition. A Fine tight copy in a Fine dust jacket . W.H.T. Olive's memoir is his record of the year he spent as manager of the boats for the Bennett Lake & Klondyke Navigation Company in the Yukon Gold Rush of 1898. In the untamed North, where travellers had only one thing on their minds, Gold! Olive's day-to-day life was nothing but extraordinary. He acted as onboard diplomat for both seasoned prospectors and greenhorns, shot the White Horse Rapids, and in addition to passengers and their provisions, was responsible for two all-important kinds of shipment: mail and liquor. His adventures included rescuing damsels in distress, guiding his employer, the architect Frank Rattenbury, through a disastrous, mosquito-infested expedition, and defending his strongbox at gunpoint from thieves. Sam Steele, of the North West Mounted Police, William Ogilvie, first commissioner of the Yukon, Machine-gun Joe Boyle, and the notorious gangster Soapy Smith all make an appearance here. Olive's account of his adventures is complemented by his fond remembrance of the sourdoughs on the trail he met during this short but intense period in history. Item #26762
Price: $75.00