Movius, a historian, chronicles the motivations, resourcefulness, and accomplishments of five women who settled in Fairbanks, Alaska, between 1903 and 1923, before the opening of the Alaska Railroad and the advent of big mining. Drawing from letters, memoirs, personal papers, club records, oral histories, and the women's published writings, she describes the daily lives and impact of Sarah Ellen Smith Gibson, who worked as a seamstress and launderer; Jessie Spiro Bloom, who supported women's suffrage and introduced the Girl Scout program to the area; Dr. Aline Chenot Baskerville Bradley Beegler, one of the first practicing female doctors in Alaska, who later became a lawyer and was an advocate for the arts; Sarah Margaret Keenan Harrais, a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, superintendent of schools, and a promoter of the Red Cross during World War I; and Mary Lee Caldwell Davis, who wrote several books and articles about Fairbanks life for the newspaper. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)