Michigan-born Rex Beach was on his way to becoming a lawyer before the Alaska Gold Rush caught his attention and he headed there to make his fortune. Unfortunately, five years later he was still looking for it and, realizing that he wasn't going to find it in gold prospecting, he turned to writing. His first and probably best-known novel, "The Spoilers", was published in 1906 and was based on incidents that he had seen as a prospector of crooked officials swindling prospectors out of gold mines. The book was a best-seller and was followed by a string of adventure books, all of which were hugely popular at the time. Many of his books were adapted into plays and later into films ("The Spoilers" has been remade at least five times since 1914). He also dabbled in film production and wrote several plays.

His wife Edith died in 1947, a loss he never quite got over, and two years later he shot himself to death at his home in Sebring, Florida.