Grit, Grief and Gold is an eyewitness account of pioneering railroad building in Alaska. Dr. Fenton B. Whiting was chief surgeon during the construction of the White Pass & Yukon Route, built during the Yukon Gold Rush by his friend M.J. Heney. He later served in the same capacity during Heney's construction of the Copper River & Northwestern Railway. The story includes construction through some of the most impassable terrain imaginable, encounters with outlaw Soapy Smith and prospector George Carmack, the successful completion of both lines and Heney's tragic death after a shipwreck in Alaska's waters.

This reprinting of Grit, Grief and Gold has been enriched with over seventy additional photographs and includes an appendix that expands on Dr. Whiting's account.