A Guide to Alaska: Last American Frontier - American Guide Series

American Guide Series

by Work Projects Administration

Published in 1939 as part of the Federal Writers' Project, this volume introduces readers to the 1930s "Great Land," the Territory of Alaska.

580 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1939

Reviews

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of the WPA Federal Guide Books, of which this is one, despite Alaska only being a territory when this series was produced. I appreciate them as much for the history as for the "dated-ness" in the use of language, description, and transportation options.

One of the more interesting tidbits is the part about the census taking at the end of the 1800s and early 1900s. So many miners were living with native women, and/or women who were not their wives and their concern that their families at home would learn this, lead to the census enumerators listing these Alaskan women as housekeepers.

Included is a bibliography of "Books About Alaska" divided into General Information, Bibliography, Guides and Handbooks, Archeology and Ethnology, Glaciers, Wild Life and Natural History, Sports and Recreation and Fiction and Poetry. The latter section includes authors Rex Beach, James Oliver Curwood, Hamlin Garland, Jack London, Edison Marshall, William MacLeod Raine, Robert Service and Barrett Willoughby.