In the pristine wilderness of Alaska, there is a legend of a frontier woman a reclusive widow who embodies the spirit of Alaska. She is known as Mama because of her generosity and hearty home cooked meals. Mama arrived in Alaska in the late 1800's as a dance hall girl hoping to meet a successful miner, begin a family, and find land on which to homestead. She travelled Alaska providing entertainment to weary and thirsty Chechakos looking for their fortune in gold.. She was known from Haines, to Fairbanks and Nome as a rustic beauty with a large heart.

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The sumer of  1897, she found herself dancing on a Chena River paddlewheel, where after many years on the circut she met her love and soon to be husband. He was a swarthy riverboat captain and part time miner who was rough around the edges. One of his luxries in the Arctic and on the river, as a captain, was the comfort of his imported pipe tobacco. One chilly fall night on the river, after the crowd had settled. Mama walked out on to the deck