| Music of the Alaska-Klondike Gold Rush: |
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Music of the Alaska-Klondike Gold Rush: Songs and History. By Jean A. Murray. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 1999. Pp. xviii + 440. Index, biographical glosses, bibliography, photos, sheet music, map. $54.95 cloth. Music of the Alaska-Klondike Gold Rush provides previously missing documentation about facets of social life in the North. While journals of goldseekers commonly refer to music and Alaskan history books often contain photographs of marching bands and dance hall girls, very few musical documents of the gold rush survived the harsh travel conditions and the rapid migrations out of the North in the early twentieth century. To reconstruct the music of the gold rush, Jean A. Murray traveled to archives throughout North America and interviewed descendants of gold rush participants and other settlers. The result is an impressive collection of songs and sheet music that includes songs the miners wrote themselves, tunes remembered and passed on to later generations, piano compositions composed outside of Alaska and the Klondike during the Klondike craze, and popular songs mentioned in the journals of gold rush settlers and authors. The book typically describes the history and background of a particular tune and then provides sheet music for it. In addition, photographs allow the reader to take a musical journey into the Alaska-Klondike region of the 1890s and early 1900s. Chapter one is titled "Songs and Parodies by the Gold Seekers." Miners and dance hall girls sang transformations of popular songs such as "Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight," changing the lyrics to reflect Northern (and often humorous) concerns, such as "When the Ice Worms Nest Again." Pianos accompanied many of the tunes even in Alaska, and Murray includes journal entries about pianos that were hauled through the grueling Chilkoot Pass, a dangerous route that many took as an affordable alternate to steamboat travel. "The Chilkoot March," for example, was composed by a miner before he went on the journey. Chapter two includes piano works that were commissioned in places like Chicago, New York, and Boston, composed by professional musicians who never set foot in the Sub-Arctic (though in some cases the sheet music made the journey). Titles include "Arctic Brotherhood Two-Step," "The Klondike March of the Gold Miners," and "Klondike Rag." Whether written in the North or outside it, gold rush compositions were often inspired by the popular music of the day, including that of Scott Joplin and Stephen Foster. Chapter three is a collection of the most popular songs recalled in settlers' journals, including "The Washington Post March" by Sousa and "The Beautiful Blue Danube" by Strauss. Songs written by the miners themselves often feature legendary figures of the gold rush, including George Carmack (the man who made the first big strike on the Klondike), Soapy Smith (the infamous outlaw who cheated many a gold seeker out of his fortunes in Skagway), and "Klondike" Kate Rockwell (the most famous entertainer and singer of the gold rush). Some fiddle tunes are also included in the collection, and Murray notes that today the Athabascan inhabitants of the Alaska-Klondike region continue to perform fiddle tunes and dances that the miners and settlers brought with them over one hundred years ago. Thus, although most of the settlers left the Klondike shortly after the gold rush, their influences are still found throughout the region. Because of its accessible scores, Music of the Alaska-Klondike Gold Rush is certain to be a popular book among musicians in Dawson, Fairbanks, Skagway, and Nome today who perform for tourists. The book is also useful for scholars and others interested in the gold rush as an historical American phenomenon, complete with musical expression and romantic idealism. Chris Geyer |
