Local writer Jean Meaux on Wednesday will give a slide show of historic photos and discuss her book, “In Pursuit of Alaska: An Anthology of Travelers’ Tales, 1879-1900.” The presentation begins 11 a.m. at the public library.
Published by University of Washington Press in 2013, the book includes 27 first-person accounts by outsiders who arrived in Alaska following the U.S. purchase of the territory, “before anybody knew about the place,” Meaux said.
Thirty years later, the world knew about Alaska because of their stories, Meaux said.
Meaux was at the University of Alaska-Anchorage in the 1980s, working on a master’s degree in English when a professor told her to look at the library’s rare book collection. “I started reading them and loved them,” Meaux said.
Meaux estimates she read 200-300 books before gleaning what she considers the most compelling accounts. “What I was after were stories, more than just the people who came. For example, (Explorer Frederick) Schwatka was important, but his writing wasn’t that interesting.”
One of her favorite stories is William Abercrombie’s harrowing account of crossing Valdez Glacier, a doomed route used by some prospectors seeking a fast route to the Klondike gold fields.
A freelance writer and newspaper worker after getting her English degree, Meaux went on to law school and practiced family law in Louisiana for 25 years before returning to the Alaska stories and writing the book.
Alaska historian Stephen Haycox writes in the book’s foreword: “Together (the stories) provide the reader with arresting and insightful impressions of the territory’s Native life, geography and economic development, and with stories of the challenges faced by travelers and settlers alike in that transitory period.”
Meaux introduces each of the accounts, providing context and background. Her book includes historic maps and photos.