Taku
by Karen Bell and Janet Shelfer

This is the story of an Alaskan wilderness lodge, but more than that, it is the story of the people who were the early owners of the lodge. Their tragedies and loss of hope, their accomplishments and victories, are brought to life in the fascinating biographies of Dr. Harry Carlos DeVighne, Leigh Hackley “Hack” Smith, Erie Smith, and Mary Joyce.

Taku is an exciting tale of the march to the Alaskan frontier, of the rugged individualism and ambition of four people who came together in an unexpected venture.  They include: a millionaire playboy who distinguished himself on the battlefields of World War I and twice received France's highest military honor, the Croix de Guerre; a girl who was an indentured servant but became an heiress with her own private yacht; a surgical nurse who took a 1,000-mile dogsled journey in the winter of 1935; a Cuban orphan who became an Alaskan Frontier Doctor.

Karen Bell and Janet Shelfer have compiled an enormous amount of research in this one-of-a-kind adventure story. This book covers some of the most important history of the 49th state in a way that makes exciting reading...makes me almost wish I had been able to take part in the early days of Alaska . The purchase of Alaska from the Russians, the Alaska gold rush, and the influx of a different breed of immigrants, mad with the lust for gold, the diphtheria outbreak that became the forerunner of today's Iditarod Dog Sled Race, and taming the forbidding wilderness that was the new home of these people and the Taku Lodge all make enthralling reading.