A gold miner turned author, Rex Beach spent years in Nome, soaking up the scandal, the sorrow and the salaciousness of Nome’s miners, business folk, claim jumpers, criminals, and crooked leaders. He turned those observations into pulp fiction novels that became quite popular. While not high literature, his stories were certainly compelling to readers who had heard of Nome and were entertained by the drama. Beach’s most famous novel, The Spoilers, was made into a movie five times, including one version starring John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich.
