( dedicated to many of the earliest female pioneers during the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush--1896-1900)

ankle length petticoats and whale bone corsettes
both clothing and symbol of the supposed weaker sex
denied an education and a decent wage
i saw how it withered my mother and i refused to grow old that way

my family called me lazy and a foolish child
i never let their phrases phase me
out where the living was wild
i set out to make some gravy

as a single lady out staking a claim
i got laughed at , pushed over, and shoved down the lane
so i weighed my options--got me a crib on "the line"
and let those fellows call me 'baby' as long as they could pay me fine

i felt like i was crazy
the klondike too wild
my calculating eye turned hazy
out where the living was wild
i hoped my stamina could save me

dame fortune soon shone down on me
in the shape of diamond tooth lil and georgia lee
those 4th street parties and all the energy they took
we replenished ourselves telling stories
the ones that'd never make the books

diamond tooth lil, she saved georgia' s hide
when like so many other demimondes , she was crushed by some guy
gave her one sharp piece of advice as she wept
'don't make him glad you were something he got rid of,
make him wish you were something he'd kept'
a single piece of wisdom it was a pearl
from a slightly jaded golden dreamer
out where the living was wild
both cursed and loved the rush that freed her

georgia lee, she went to invest money well
with the wisdom that she'd gained from blanche cascaden and mrs. belle
soon she had some places and she taught me how
to double my money and branch out beyond the title of a good time girl

my family called me lazy and a foolish child
i never let their phrases phase me
out where the living was wild
i made me a tone of gravy

now i don't mean to suggest it was an easy float to the top
i worked hard for almost every nugget i got
and when i speak of loss i mean i lost a lot
when i speak of loss
i lost a lot