Maria ReevesMaria Reeves was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska. She grew up at Gold Dredge No. 8, her family business, and loved teaching people about the dredge and how to gold pan. To this day she still enjoys mining for gold and searching for Pleistocene Fssils. Her family sold Gold Dredge No. 8 to the cruise company, Holland America. In 2000, Maria represented Alaska at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in the 50-yard freestyle event, then went to Northwestern on a full-ride swimming scholarship. Maria returned to Alaska and met her husband, an officer and Blackhawk pilot in the U.S. army. She wrote The History of Gold Dredge No. 8 during his first deployment and is eager to hone her writing skills during subsequent deployments. Wherever the army leads her, she will never lose her Independent Alaskan spirit and return home often. Read More Read Less