The Frontierado holiday is about the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality. This year it will be observed on Friday August 2nd. Here’s another seasonal post.
THE ALASKANS (1959-1960) – The gold rushes in Alaska during the late 1890s and early 1900s provided the usual tableaus of boom towns, claim-jumping, gambling and gunslinging. Unlike such rushes in the Continental United States, the frigid temperatures and monumental snows of Alaska added unique twists to the wild west feel of gold-seeking.
Previously, Balladeer’s Blog covered Alaskan prospectors, gunslingers and gamblers like the Montana Kid, Swiftwater Bill, Klondike Kate, One-Eyed Riley, Silent Sam Bonnifield and others HERE. The Alaskans starred Roger Moore, Dorothy Provine, Ray Danton, John Dehner and Claude Akins searching for gold in the 1890s.
The series was produced by the same outfit behind James Garner’s iconic series Maverick and featured Roger Moore’s character Silky Harris, who ran con games and gambled with as much skill as he displayed at gunplay. Dorothy Provine’s Rocky Shaw was a Klondike Kate-style saloon entertainer who knew how to handle herself in rough company.
John Dehner appeared as the real-life figure Soapy Smith, infamous crime lord of the frozen north. Balladeer’s Blog examined Soapy’s career of crime in Denver and later in Alaska HERE.
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