Martha Black was a determined and courageous woman whose adventures rival those of other remarkable individuals who left lives of luxury and privilege to participate in the settlement of the Canadian Northwest. A society belle from Chicago, she caught Gold Rush fever and set out with other members of her family for the Klondike. Shedding her husband along the way but discovering, after making the arduous crossing of the Chilkoot Pass and the river trip to Dawson, that she was pregnant, she gave birth unaided to her son Lyman in the middle of her first Arctic winter. Martha’s energy and resourcefulness enabled her not only to survive in the harsh environment and rugged conditions, but to make the most of them. She set up and managed a sawmill, undertook significant collections and exhibitions of Yukon wildflowers, and moved freely through the different social strata of the community with cheer and compassion. After marrying George Black, a lawyer who later became Yukon High Commissioner, Martha became involved in politics, and was eventually elected as the second woman to sit in the House of Commons.

Carol Martin gives a sympathetic and often engaging account of her colourful subject, using direct quotations from Martha’s own autobiographies. Martin’s writing can be rather stilted, however, and the sequence and relationship of events is sometimes confusing. The opening, for example, shifts back and forth between a general account of the causes and destruction of the great Chicago fire of 1871 and a more specific account of Martha’s family as they rush to collect treasured belongings from their home before fleeing the fire. More careful editing might have eliminated awkward shifts like this. However, Martin does effectively link formative experiences of Martha’s early life with the attitudes and behaviour that characterized her as an adult.

Martha Black: Gold Rush Pioneer makes generous use of photographs, newspaper clippings, advertisements, and other documents of the era – some of which reproduce more clearly than others – to set a context for the biography. Historical notes, boxed and set into the main text, provide valuable background information, although their placement sometimes interrupts the flow of the narrative. A glossary and bibliography are well prepared, and add to the usefulness of this biography.