In 1897 Fred Best had been working aboard ships (he had a mate's license), but wrote to his brother John H. (Jack) Best of his interest in going North. Both brothers went to the Klondike to seek their fortunes. Some of-the letters in this collection were also written by John Best until his departure in 1901.

Fred's letters and journals reflect his love of the North and his appreciation of the opportunity to improve one's lot and to be one's own boss. He returned to Massachusetts to visit on several occasions, but returned North to seek his stake in various ways: -through mining, freighting, fishing, trapping, cutting wood for steamers, operating a roadhouse, and working in stores and sawmills.

In letters to his parents in Stoneham, Massachusetts, Fred wrote in detail of his activities and of the people with whom he associated. His personal standards are also evident throughout his writings. In August 1899 he wrote,

Since I finished working at the brickyard, I had a good job offered me in a gambling house, but-would not take it as I don't want to get mixed-up in that business. A fellow I knew well in Forty Mile runs the place and offered me the job, but I can make a living some other way even if I have to work harder, so don't worry about my morale as I have been around the world plenty and am getting too old now to learn bad habits.

And in March 1901 he wrote this letter:

In your last letter you say that Jack blames you because he went out. Well, when he left Forty Mile you couldn't have held him back with a 5-inch hawser, for he was heartily sick of this country. If Jack keeps on, he'll be a chronic kicker, and no mistake.

On May 26, 1902, (Journal) Fred Best and Annie, a native woman, were married at a mission near Forty Mile, They have various problems, Later, Annie's fifteen year-old daughter, Lily, who had been living with missionaries down South came to live with them.

In June 1903 Fred Best and Frank Purdy purchased the Cassiar Road House, 16 miles above Forty Mile and 36 miles below Dawson, They put in gardens, and Annie and Frank did the cooking for Road House guests. The last letters written from Cassiar Road House are in 1906 (?). There are a number of photographs of Cassiar House, and of Fred, Annie, and Lily.

Through 1911 Annie and Fred were seldom together and Annie was often ill. They were divorced in May 1912. In June 1912 Annie was locked up in Dawson as insane, and then taken outside to an asylum. Fred wrote of his concern for Annie and Lily, who was on her own.

Fred and his partners--N.P. Nelson and Billy James--traveled up the White Pass River to Scolai Pass, hunting and living off the land. The journey took them from September to December of 1912.

In August of 1913 newspaper articles documented gold strikes from Shushanna and Fred Best is listed. Letters home in 1914 tell of life in the gold camp at Bonanza Creek near Shushanna and tell of Fred's claims.

During October 1914 Fred leaves the North to visit his folks in Massachusetts, returns to Shushanna until 1917, and then goes back East to stay and to attend the navigation school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A 1935 newspaper article in the Stoneham Independent tells of Fred's experiences in the North; Captain Best later travels around the world and these experiences are reported also.