The Rim of the Desert

At a Seattle supper for men with ties to Alaska, a demand for railroads and control of northern resources draws a measured reply from Hollis Tisdale. His experience in government service and prospecting gives him a different view of the interests at stake. Ada Woodruff Anderson places this novel among forests, mountain passes and the dry country east of the upper Columbia, where sage plains and hidden coulees border valleys made fertile by irrigation.

Public arguments about land and coal run alongside private questions of loyalty and trust. Aboard the Aquila, a woman explains why she concealed her identity during a drive through the mountains, connecting her need to pay a debt with Tisdale's interest in desert land. Her appeal tests his devotion to a friend. The detailed scenery and exchanges over development give readers a view of regional ambitions, while the strained conversation on the boat puts their shared mountain trip in a different light.