HERO DOG SAVED TOWN

Hero sled dogs saved townsfolk from death

Hero sled dogs saved townsfolk from death

Remembering Siberian husky Balto (above) who died on March 14, 1933 — and also remembering Togo.

Hero sled dog Balto.
Togo, the other hero sled dog.

A courageous sled dog named Balto led a team of huskies on the final leg of a 670-mile mercy mission across brutal Alaskan terrain in 1925 to deliver life-saving medicine to the stricken residents of Nome.

In the dreadful winter of 1924-25, a diphtheria epidemic had already killed 15,000 people in the U.S.

It took 20 mushers and 150 sled dogs to get the needed medicine to the town of Nome and surrounding communities.

Balto was on the sled team of Norwegian musher Gunnar Kassen, and a dog named Togo was on a team mushed by another Norwegian, Leonhard Seppala.

Hero sled dog Balto.
Leonhard Seppala and six of his Siberian huskies, with Togo on the far left. (Photos courtesy of Sigrid Seppala Hanks Collection, Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum.)

All of the dogs in the famous 1925 serum run to Nome showed incredible courage and stamina, but it was Balto who ended up getting most of the credit because his team led the dogs over the final stretch.

TOP DOG CONTROVERSY

Seppala, who owned both Balto and Togo, believed Togo was the real hero of the serum run.

“I never had a better dog than Togo,” Seppala said. “His stamina, loyalty, and intelligence could not be improved upon. Togo was the best dog that ever traveled the Alaska trail.”

Hero sled dog Balto.
Leonhard Seppala and his beloved Togo.

Time magazine writer Katy Steinmetz also thought that Togo was the best sled dog of all time and the real hero of the serum run.

“The dog that gets credit for eventually saving the town is Balto, but he just happened to run the last 55 miles,” she wrote. “The sled dog who did the lion’s share of the work was Togo. His journey, fraught with white-out storms, was the longest by 200 miles and included a traverse across perilous Norton Sound, where he saved his team and driver in a courageous swim through ice floes.”

Either way, all the dogs were heroes in Nome and throughout Alaska.

Nome EARLY 1920s
Nome, Alaska, early 1920s.

EPIDEMIC RAGED IN NOME

There was only one doctor in Nome in those early 1920s, Curtis Welch, and four nurses at the Maynard Columbus Hospital.

Several months before the mercy run, all the diphtheria antitoxin in Dr. Welch’s hospital had expired. More supplies would normally have been transported by ship, but early ice had closed the port for the winter and more antibiotics could not be shipped until spring.

Dr. Welch sent out an urgent radio message for help:

AN EPIDEMIC OF DIPHTHERIA IS INEVITABLE HERE. I AM IN URGENT NEED OF ONE MILLION UNITS OF DIPHTHERIA ANTITOXIN.

Hero sled dog Balto.

And so began the five-day relay by dog sled across 674 miles (1,085 km) of rough ice, through treacherous waters and Arctic blizzards.

HERO DOGS TOUR U.S.

Following the success of the serum run, Seppala toured the U.S. with Togo, drawing huge crowds from Seattle to New England. They were celebrated at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, and Togo received a gold medal from Norwegian explorer and South Pole hero Roald Amundsen.

Togo went on to sire many litters, but on December 5, 1929 at the age of 16, he was euthanized, with Seppala by his side. After his death, Togo was preserved and mounted, and today is on display in a glass case at the Iditarod museum in Wasilla, Alaska.

Hero sled dog Balto.

Balto was euthanised on March 14, 1933, at the age of 14. He was mounted and placed on display in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Balto is also commemorated in a statue in New York City’s Central Park.

Statue of balto CENTRAL PARK NY
Statue of Balto in Central Park, New York.

*Historical note: The practice of using dogs to pull sleds dates back to at least 2000 BC and was originated by native cultures in Siberia and North America.

Back to the front page

6 thoughts on “Hero sled dogs saved townsfolk from death”

  2. Thank you. I love those dogs, and all animals, more courage and dignity than most people. That’s why God, who “saw how corrupt the earth had become for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways” (Genesis 6:12) told Noah whom he found righteous to build an ark and save the birds and the animals and to hell with people “and the waters of the flood were upon the earth forty days and nights” etc etc — an interesting and rather exciting myth, think thee?

  4. He was younger then. Now He’s old and crotchety, a God of ill temper. One day He’s going to say Fukit and swallow the Sun.

  6. I kinda like that idea — Banner headline in NY Post: Angry God Eats Sun. I’ll post a story about it today.

Comment