Zack and the Validators: Spirit Bridge
By Wayne Hunt
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About this ebook
When Zack and his donkey friends arrive at Skagway, Alaska, theyre met at the dock by Miss Darlene Divine, Harrys best friend. Shes a moose whos the entertainment manager of Skagways Pack Horse Inn. She provides rooms for Zack and friends for the night, shows them around Skagway the next day, and helps them board a train to travel to Canada. They see a lot of beautiful sights along the White Pass Trail, one of the two trails used by the Klondike gold rushers to cross the coastal mountains into Canada. They also learn about Dead Horse Gulch where 3,000 horses died during the winter of 1897 because of hazardous trail conditions. The horses were also overloaded with supplies, and many were cruelly treated by their owners. Zack learns about how the gold rushers traveled over the Summit with over 1,150 pounds of supplies during cold, winter conditions. He also learned about how they built boats at Lake Bennett so they could float down the Yukon River to Dawson City.
Uncle Harrys eyes were injured in a gold mine explosion near Dawson City and he needs special medical help so his eyes can heal. When Zack and his friends arrive at Dawson City on a paddle-wheeler boat, they soon find Uncle Harry in a Dawson City hospital. They stay in a Catholic churchs rectory with Fr. John Mark and Fr. Christopher Clancy, while Harry recovers enough to travel to Skagway for special medical treatment. While there, Willie and Pedro, two of Zacks donkey friends, travel with Professor Carmacky to Bonanza Creek to pan for gold, while the Professor learns more about the first big Klondike gold discovery. Zack stays in Dawson City with Zelda, another donkey friend, to help Harry regain his strength for travel to Skagway.
Finally, Harry is able to travel. They return up the Yukon River through treacherous white water rapids to the town of Whitehorse. From there, they take a train to Skagway. While traveling to Skagway on the historic White Pass & Yukon Railroad train, Harry sees a foggy image of an old railroad bridge near the White Pass Summit of the coastal mountain range. He learned later, from the local Tlingit Indian chief, that he saw an abandoned steel cantilever bridge that crosses Dead Horse Gulch, a historic gulch where the 3,000 horses died during the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush. The chief explained to Harry his tribes great need to have a bridge across the gulch for migrating caribou to cross. He also told Harry about his tribes belief that the spirits of the dead horses need a bridge in order to cross the gulch to the Great Spirit Land (an animal heaven). With these great needs for a bridge, Harry discovers that his good talent is to become a bridge for others. He decides to stay in Alaska to help the chief renovate the bridge to make it usable for caribou to cross the gulch. The chief also believes the spirits of the dead horses will use it to cross the gulch, on their way to the Great Spirit Land. Thats why the name Spirit Bridge was given to the renovated bridge.
Wayne Hunt
Wayne Hunt had a very successful managerial career with the U.S. Forest Service. Following his retirement, he studied creative writing with the Institute for Children’s Literature. His pre-teen children’s books contain natural resource settings and positive, character building messages. This fourth book in a series, Zack and the Validators: Spirit Bridge, takes his donkey characters from San Francisco, through Alaska, to the Klondike gold rush territory in Canada, where they rescue Zack’s injured uncle. His uncle eventually discovers his good talent of being a ‘bridge for others’, and stays in Alaska to help build the ‘Spirit Bridge’ for migrating caribous to cross over Dead Horse Gulch. Based on some Tlingit Indian beliefs, this bridge will also be used by the spirits of the dead horses, who died during the Klondike gold rush, to cross over to a heavenly, Great Spirit Land. Wayne lives in Madison, Wisconsin, where he enjoys writing his books, among many other activities. He works part-time at the Overture Center for the Performing Arts, and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He’s also an active member of his Catholic church and a volunteer in the spiritual care departments of three hospitals. Information about his books can be viewed at his website: www.waynehunt.us. He can also be found on: www. facebook.com.
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