The Hard Road to the Klondike Book

Michael MacGowan was born in 1865 in the parish of Cloghaneely in the Donegal gaeltacht. He was the eldest of twelve children in a poverty-stricken family owning one cow, living in a three-roomed thatched cottage and speaking no English. He ended his days in a large slate-roofed house in the same place. First published in Irish as Rotha Mor an tSaol, this is his account of the fate dealt to him by 'the Wheel of Life'. From the age of nine he was hired out for six consecutive years from May to September at a hiring fee of 30 shillings. After emigration to Scotland and the drudgery of farmwork, he left for America and worked his way across the USA in steelmills and mines to Montana. He then took part in the Klondike gold-rush and vividly recounts the adventures of himself and his 'sourdough' companions, their privations and hardships in the primitive harsh icy wastes of the Yukon. Home on holiday he fell in love and stayed, using the money from the gold to buy some land and the house. This is a fascinating record of life and wanderings in Ireland, Scotland and America in the late 19th century. Told with the certainty and authority of someone who has 'lived' what he describes, it reflects his indomitable spirit and loyalty to his native place and culture.Read More