Cynthia Woolf Strikes Gold!

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Hi everyone,

I don’t know if you know me but I’m Cynthia Woolf. I write historical and contemporary western romance. I have 78 novels so far. 65 historical western romance, mostly mail-order brides and 6 contemporary romances, 2 contemporary western novellas, 2 historical time travel romances featuring angels and a few more stories.

Today I want to talk to you about the Klondike or Yukon Gold Rush. That is where my latest book is set. I also plan on giving away one ebook and one paperback book of The Gold Rush Bride, my latest.

The Klondike Gold Rush was from 1896 to 1899. My books are set in 1898 so basically at the height to the gold rush. It is estimated that about 20,000 men and a few women went north to Alaska and Canada looking for their fortunes. Very few of them actually made a fortune. Most only found enough to pay for their daily needs, if that.

The main town of the rush was Dawson City. It was located at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike rivers. At the time of my books it was home to about 10,000 men. It was literally wall-to-wall people. The town was made of wood and burned down three times and was built back again.

The route to the gold fields took often six months because it was mostly a foot route. Very few animals made it often dying on the journey over the passes. There were two that were used most prevalently. White Pass and Chilkoot Pass. Chilkoot pass was the one used the most often and is the most famous. Thousands of men started up the pass, some with horses. Hundreds of men and many animals died along the way.

The Klondike Gold fields were in the Canadian Territory. Canada required the rushers to have one year of supplies before they could cross into the Canadian Territory. This was thousands of pounds of equipment and food. The men had to traverse the Chilkoot pass at least twice sometimes three times to get that amount of supplies to the Canadian border. Again, many died on route.

Those that made it were treated to a harsh environment with snow nine months out of the year. Days with only four hours of daylight, so they would have to work by lantern light in the dark. They also had days of twenty hours of daylight and they would work as long as their bodies would let them.

The gold rushers also had to protect their claims from claim jumpers. Men who were too lazy to work their own claims to find gold or had not found any. They would try to take over a producing claim and usually this resulted in death for either the claim jumper or the man whose claim was being jumped upon.

Being a Klondike gold rusher was not for the faint of heart. Most women who managed to make it there ended up working in the brothels though a few worked their claims and some actually found gold.

Here is the blurb for The Gold Rush Bride, so you can see a little bit about and that it intrigues you.

Barnaby Drake made a solemn vow to safeguard Sadie at all costs, honoring a promise to his estranged business partner. However, when Sadie rejects his proposal to acquire her father’s share of the mine, Barnaby realizes there’s only one avenue left to ensure her safety: marriage.

Initially conceived as a practical arrangement devoid of emotional entanglements, the union takes an unforeseen turn. Barnaby finds himself captivated by his newfound wife, her presence dominating his every waking thought. The question lingers: why can’t he suppress the intense desire to possess her completely, both body and soul?

As an impending threat from an old adversary looms, will Barnaby’s overwhelming infatuation cloud his judgment, preventing him from discerning the truth? In this tale of commitment and peril, the boundaries between duty and desire blur, leading to unexpected revelations that could alter their lives forever.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading The Gold Rush Bride.

Would you have been brave enough to journey to the Klondike gold fields? If so, what you you have taken to help you survive? Be sure and leave a comment, winners of the books will be chosen from the comments left. And come by and chat with me. I’d love to talk to you.

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53 thoughts on “Cynthia Woolf Strikes Gold!”

  2. I’m not hooked on getting rich, so gold doesn’t have a draw for me. I’d much rather be a farmer or teacher! In real life I’m a musician, so my goal is to bring beauty to others!

  4. There is no way I would have went. I’ve never wanted to be rich and the danger would have stopped me, although the book sounds very interesting.

  5. When I was younger, I might have rushed to Alaska. I like travel and a good adventure. I would have researched what I would have needed, but when I got there and assessed the situation, I might have decided not to make the dangerous trek but watch as others attempted it.

  6. Welcome Cynthia! Loved the history of the gold rush! I doubt I would have gone. Get rich schemes never phased me. I love an adventure and could see me heading west, but gold mining doesn’t even sound like something I would have done! LOL

  7. Hi Cynthia!

    I enjoyed your post.

    I definitely would not have made that trek. I hate the cold and don’t think I could survive so much, darkness.

    Congrats on the new release. I look forward to reading it.

  9. Hi Cynthia – I’m an adventurer at heart. I seriously doubt that I would have endured such a journey. I’ve read a few of your books and will look up the Klondike Brides series. Looks very interesting! Thank you for coming today. Happy New Year!

  10. The adventure sounds fascinating and the setting wonderful. I have read a great deal about that area and find it extremely interesting. I don’t like cold, snow and dark though so that is a problem.

    • You’re absolutely right and many hundreds of men did lose their life during the trek there and then, if they made it, they had to protect their claim from claim jumpers. Many good men and a few bad ones lost their lives because of the these lazy men.
      Cindy

  13. The Klondike and The Yukon interest me greatly as I grew up learning about the area and read stories and poems about the harsh climate and life. Your series sounds wonderful. I haven’t traveled to the area since it is snowy, cold and vast.

    • It is vast and I set my story in the Canadian Territory instead of Alaska because that is where the Klondike gold fields are and they were much larger than the Alaska gold fields.
      Cindy

  14. No, I would not have been brave enough to travel to the Klondike. I don’t think I would have survived the Oregon Trail, much less a trip to Alaska.

    • I’ve written stories set in both places and I don’t think I would have done well on either trek, but I would give the Oregon Trail a try. The Klondike trek was way more dangerous, in my opinion.
      Cindy

  15. I am not a dare devil, nor ever have been. Taking such a challenge is not in my repertoire. Also, I cannot stand the intense cold! Being dirty and tired all the time does not thrill me either. I guess I’m just a whimp!
    Money does not mean that much to me, as it was also too dangerous.

  16. I don’t know that I would have been brave enough to go there. Of course that is based on all the knowledge I have from that time period so back then I might have thought of it as a grand adventure.

  18. Good morning and welcome, wow, I would not have gone either, I would be terrified of Bears or whatever else lurks out there. If I were to go to Alaska it would just have to be a pleasure trip. Your book sounds like a very good read and I love your book cover, it is Stunning! Not entering the ebook giveaway as I am not tech savvy at all, but Thank you. Have a Great weekend.

  19. I would not have gone on the trek. I love the cold but I’m not an outdoors person and I definitely couldn’t handle those days that it was light like 20 hours, the dark wouldn’t have bothered me that much.

    • I don’t know about staying in the dark like that. I need the sunshine to feel good. I guess I have that SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder, but I definitely don’t feel normal without some sunshine.
      Cindy

  20. Yes I would have traveled there. My father was in the Army and I inherited his sense of adventure and traveling to new places.

  23. That’s fascinating. I don’t think I would have wanted to go for the gold rush. It seems way too hard for far too little reward.

  24. I’m with your other commenters. No, I wouldn’t have gone on this trek either. The chance of finding gold would be slim to none. Now, if I could have LOTS OF BOOKS to read during those dark months; I might have survived. Thank you, for coming by P&P & telling us about the Klondike & Gold Rush. I have enjoyed your books for a number of years.

  25. I didn’t mind roughing it in my youth and might have considered it…briefly. I know what those winters could be like and don’t think I would want to attempt to survive them under the conditions that prevailed during the time period. Driving over those passes today is bad enough. I doubt I would have been able to survive the three trips on foot it would take to get the required supplies over.
    If i did decide to try, I would make sure I had sufficient warm clothing, tools for building, prospecting, and cutting/splitting logs. A good supply of salt, sugar, flour, baking soda, bacon, ham, seeds for a vegetable garden, rifles/pistol, and ammunition would be necessary. Household goods like cast iron pans, tin dishes and utensils, blankets, oil lanterns and a supply of oil, matches and a flint striker, and I’d sneak in a book or two. There would be large canvas tarps to cover this all that could act as a tent until (or if) I got a cabin built. I can see where a partner would be a good thing to have if you could find one you could trust.

    • It sounds like you could survive if you chose to. You seem to have it all planned out and I bet you would have done fine.
      Cindy

  26. Even if modern inventions had been around, I wouldn’t have volunteered to be part of the Gold Rush. Who would want to subsist with only 4 hours of daylight per day during the winter while summer’s 20 hours of daylight is the opposite challenge. And that’s not considering the really daunting requirements/exertions…

    • I have to agree with you. I couldn’t live in Alaska even though it was some of the prettiest country I’ve seen and I live in Colorado, so that’s saying something.
      Cindy

  27. thanks for sharing and for the give a way. I do love reading about the Gold Rush times. no I would not be one to take the trek up to the gold mines. one – I am not athletic so it would be an extreme stretch to reach the top and two – I have troubles big time with the cold. I would love to read your book. have written it down so I can come back to it.

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