In 1904, the Canadian Bank of Commerce transferred teller Robert W. Service to the remote, rough-and-tumble town of Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. Although the heyday of the Yukon gold rush was winding down, the well-worn yarns of wizened "Sourdoughs" were still being told around fireplaces and in saloons. Less than five years after his arrival, Service was famous as the poet who chronicled the rip-roaring Klondike gold rush and the savage beauty of the frozen Canadian north. In this collection of his best-known works, Service's verses from The Spell of the Yukon and Ballads of a Cheechako are assembled chronologically, allowing readers to encounter the myth and saga of the Yukon frontier as it unfolded. Service's "land of the northern lights" is inhabited by the unforget-table legends of such colorful characters as One-Eyed Mike, Hard-Luck Henry, Sam McGee from Tennessee, dangerous Dan McGrew, and the lady known as Lou.