Alaska’s Skyboys: Cowboy Pilots and the Myth of the Last Frontier

Alaska author Katherine Ringsmuth balances popular history and academic research in her fascinating new book, “Alaska’s Skyboys: Cowboy Pilots and the Myth of the Last Frontier.”

Focusing on the pilots of the eastern region, Ringsmuth writes of their exploits in the Wrangell, Chugach and St. Elias mountain ranges and the towns of Valdez and Cordova. By her own admission, this is only a small geographic part of the Alaska aviation story, but it is a critical one, full of intriguing characters whose adventures more than fill the pages.

Ringsmuth is concerned with more than recounting mercy flights and life-and-death struggles against the elements.

Read Colleen Mondor’s book review in the Alaska Despatch News.