High adventure, men vs. the wilderness, history and the gold rushes of the North spring to life in this lost gold mine story set in Southeast Alaska and the Cassiar Mining district of Northern British Columbia. Cassiar's Elusive Gold is, however, more than just a lost gold mine story. The book provides a rare in-depth look into early-day wilderness transportation, steamboating Northern rivers, the struggle to reach nearly inaccessible gold fields, geography, Indians of Northern British Columbia and pioneer aviation in Southeast Alaska and Canada. In Cassiar's Elusive Gold , a rich placer deposit discovered in 1874 promises to make experienced miners Scotty and Cass rich. Instead they wind up lugging 60 pounds of gold on their backs through unknown wilderness. The trip costs Cass his life and Scotty a leg, fingers and toes and ruins his chances of returning to the mine forever. Decades later Scotty, on his deathbed in Ketchikan, Alaska, passes the location of the mine to his best friend Joe. More years pass before Joe and partner Hugo attempte to locate the mine. Disappointed, without finding any gold, they too are forced to flee the frozen Stikine Plateau. A rich, lost placer mine in the wilds of British Columbia. "A great gripping tale of gold seekers and greed by an author who knows the north." Besides putting in 40 seasons as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, Francis E. Caldwell is a full-time, established photojournalist, with hundreds of magazine articles and five books published. He has traveled extensively on four continents pursuing stock photography, specializing in travel and wildlife/nature. He and his wife Donna operate AFFORDABLE PHOTO STOCK, a library containing 100,000 images, based in Port Angeles, Washington.