Finding Sunshine on the Last Frontier: "O Rugged Land of Gold" by Martha Martin

Last fall my family was introduced to the inter-workings and rich history of Alaskan culture while my Dad spent a week in the Arctic Circle of the Last Frontier for a professional commitment.  From start to finish our entire family was inspired to learn of the culture and grit that is possessed by the people who live there full-time.  It was obvious they make the best of their circumstances including being so far away from food sources out of the lower 48 states, months of darkness and limited resources overall. Fast forward to this summer when my mother shared with me a used book she had purchased for her thrifting ginger because she suspected it would be something I'd really enjoy. It was a book set in Alaska and told a story of a woman who overcame harrowing trials while being stranded (and pregnant) in Alaska.  That book was "O Rugged Land of Gold" by Martha Martin. To say it was moving is definitely an understatement and I'm happy to share it with all of you this week.

"O Rugged Land of Gold" is a fascinating work of writing.  It is 80% factual and 20% fictional.  My mother discovered it because she had watched a movie interpretation of the story and decided to read the book.  The book itself was published in the late 1950s, but the story took place in the 1920s.  The writing style is very much a folksy style and you can tell it was written by someone more in a journalistic style than a commercial authoring style.

Martha Martin is a pen name for the main character, Helen Bolyan.  Helen is the wife of a gold prospector and has found herself stranded at their current prospecting camp. She is also pregnant and winter is setting in quickly.  She embarks on a journey that is absolutely miraculous and heroic.  The book begins with her being injured in a land slide that damages her leg. She is forced to make her own cast and crutch so she can make it back to her cabin where all the food is stored.  Somehow she manages to do all of this and the book is her journal entries of the faith she has that God will help her husband find her and come back before their baby is born.  So many times while I read this book and literally had to stop reading and thank God I wasn't pregnant and alone in Alaska.  Sometimes life can be super sucky and stressful (holy alliterations), but I know that I have it GOOOOOOOD living in the modern age that I do.

Helen shares some really profound thoughts on her relationship with God that I related to so well.  She shared some powerful words about the level of growth and appreciation she found for deity while living in the wilderness of Alaska and being alone.  Quite literally it was her and God on a daily basis.  She would talk to Him and the animals who would come to visit her for scraps. How could anyone survive? Well, she didn't have any other option, but to survive, and she chose to make the best of it.

One particular passage really touched my heart and I shared it on my social media platforms the night I read it.  It's an entire page's worth of text so I will share the photo here for you to read.

Probably my favorite sentence in this passage is, "for me contact with God comes through his creation; air, the creeping things upon the earth and the fishes in the sea, the starry heavens, the loyalty of a friend, love and devotion, faith and work, honor and awe." This is so true for me.  I'm in awe of God's creations every day.  I'm so grateful for spectacular sunsets across the Big Sky of Montana that I can see out my kitchen window that remind me that He is there and He is blessing me with beauty in nature. I'm grateful for friends who give unconditional love and devotion in times when I need it most aka when I'm the conductor of the Hot Mess Express. And most of all, I'm grateful for my faith and honor to a God on high who has kept me safe from my own doubts and fears.

My recommended reading group would be age 16 and above.  It's a PG-13 read with themes of survival and fear while living in the wilderness of Alaska in the 1920s.

The moral of the story: God's creations are all around us. A starry night sky or a breathtaking sunset after a crappy day are his physical reminders that He is there, He cares and He is blessing us all the time.

Happy reading, my amazing, geeky lovelies!
-R

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