During the Alaska gold rush, Mike Heney built the White Pass and Yukon Railroad—the toughest hundred miles of track in the world. Later he constructed the Copper River and Northwestern Railway which unlocked a fabulous fortune in the Bonanza Mountains. His achievements were almost incredible because he had no engineering degree; yet he tackled the hardest jobs in the wildest territory of the North.

At the age of fourteen Mike ran away from his father's farm to work on the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Since he could not afford to study engineering, his genius for building railroads developed through gruelling experience. He drilled tunnels, constructed bridges, dug and clawed into mountains. He fought avalanches, blizzards and quicksands. Hearing of a gold strike in Alaska, he contracted to build a railroad over the torturous Dead Horse Trail which would haul men and supplies into the hectic glory of the gold fields.

Mike's friends were astonished when he was trusted to fulfill such a contract, especially since the project was difficult. Professional engineers marveled as, month by month, Mike's railroad grew out of steel and dynamite and human heroism. Thirty-five men gave their lives to it; three thousand pack horses perished. Temperatures were often sixty degrees below zero. When gold fever struck the camps, fifteen hundred workers took their picks and shovels and deserted into the hills. But Mike's passionate persistence smashed every obstacle. When the railroad was completed, he began plans for another.

Mike Heney was a gentle man, but he thrived on danger. He loved the violent, elemental world of the wilderness as he loved the thunder of trains in mountain canyons. His story is an enthralling blend of supreme achievement and superb adventure.

From the dust jacket