Hunter Fitzhugh left St. Louis in 1897 dreaming of fortune and adventure, bound for the Yukon Territory, where it was rumored that nuggets of gold simply littered the ground, waiting to make a man rich. Hunter soon discovered the reality of the land about which he had only read, and, blessed with keen intelligence and an eye for detail, he recreated that land in his writing. Cut off from his family and friends back home, he poured his thoughts and feelings into letters, which form a riveting narrative of the adventurous life he led in the far north. Seeking riches, he found them not in the nuggets he dug from the frozen mountains but in the human relationships he mined in the tiny gold-rush towns and camps. Hunter searched not only for fame and fortune, but also for an understanding of his place in this world. His letters reveal one individual’s quest for purpose and meaning in life. His determination and hope in the face of daunting obstacles, both physical and spiritual, is a testament to man’s courage. Hunter Fitzhugh’s poignant and observant letters evoke the spirit of his time, the daunting challenges in a prospector’s daily life, and the endless fascination that Alaska holds. -- James A. Michener Hunter Fitzhugh’s poignant and observant letters evoke the spirit of his time, the daunting challenges in a prospector’s daily life, and the endless fascination that Alaska holds. ANN CARLISLE CARMICHAEL was a native of Montgomery, Alabama. She was a graduate of Sidney Lanier High School and a 1985 Cum Laude graduate of Huntingdon College, with a BA degree in English and art. Ann and her husband, Bernard, were real estate appraisers, practicing with their partner, Maurice Mitchell, as Carmichael, Carmichael, and Mitchell, LLC. Her major writing experience was in the form of real estate appraisal narratives. However, ever since typed copies of some of Robert Hunter Fitzhugh’s letters were given to her sixty years ago, Ann was determined to acquire copies of the originals, edit them, obtain more of Hunter’s family history, and put the letters into book form to share this wealth of history with others.