This story finds the Hollister family off to Alaska with Uncle Russ and their two cousins, Teddy and Jean. Russ Hollister, a commercial artist and cartoonist, has run out of ideas and is trying to think of a new location for his comic strip characters. The children, whose interest in the Far North has been aroused by an encounter with an old man and the totem pole he brought back as a souvenir of his adventurous days as a gold miner, persuade Uncle Russ to make Alaska the background for his new cartoon series. The gold miner has told the children that his totem pole is a replica of a pole that holds a secret, which was lost somewhere near Sitka, Alaska. The Hollisters manage to locate the lost totem pole and find, tucked away inside it, the clue to hidden treasure. A most exciting Hollister story that combines the excitement of solving a mystery and outsmarting a sinister thief with the discovery of new places, different traditions and ways of living. A new story that will certainly please all the Hollister fans who look forward so eagerly to each new book in this popular series.