In 1898 Englishman Arthur Dallimore joined the Klondike Gold Rush. He tried his hand at a claim near Dawson City, then in 1902, hearing of a new strike, he traveled down the Yukon River to Alaska. Dallimore prospected on Preacher Creek in the Birch Creek Mining District northeast of Fairbanks, spent several winters cutting firewood for the many steamships which traveled the Tanana River in the summer months, and he built a popular roadhouse when a new trail was put in northwest of Fairbanks.
100 years later Arthur’s great-granddaughter Anne journeyed to the far North three times, beginning in 2008, to retrace his steps with his journal writings in hand. By foot, by dogteam, by canoe and by airplane, she followed his trails across the northland. “I had read and re-read Arthur’s stories and was excited. I wanted to go to those places he had described and have adventures like he did.”
In his Foreword to the book, Professor Emeritus William Schneider of the University of Alaska Fairbanks writes,
“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 relocate the roadhouse he built.”
True to the Trail was written to preserve the history of Arthur Dallimore’s travels, and his great-granddaughter writes, “I hope that Arthur’s experiences shed new light on the experiences of those who came to Alaska at the time of the gold rush.”
To that end, a website for the book shares the front matter, the Epilogue, maps, charts, and many historic photos from Arthur’s trail across the North.
True to the Trail, A Great-Granddaughter’s Alaskan Quest a Century On, by Anne Verdonk
468 pages, 6″x 9″ b/w format, with dozens of photographs, images, maps and charts. Published in July, 2025 by Northern Light Media. $29.95 plus $6.00 shipping.
$34.95
Northern Light Media 