 merrie says: Serum was located in Seattle and flown to Anchorage, then shipped to Nenana, but that was as far as it could go. A relay of dog teams was the answer. It took 5 1/2 days — 127 1/2 hours and 674 miles to get the needed serum to Nome. This was a trip that normally takes 3 weeks. Even though there were 20 musher teams and over 100 dogs, two dogs standout in name and fame, Balto and Togo. Balto was the lead dog of the final relay team with Gunnar Kaasen as musher. Balto was a young dog, and not a speedy racer. If Kaasen had known the storm and blizzard was so bad, he would not have chosen Balto as lead dog. There was such storms, creating new snow, and winds, creating white outs. It was often hard to see the dogs or your hands. Temperatures were often 50 degrees below zero. Balto and Kaasen and the team of dogs arrived February 1, at Safety Shelter, 21 miles from Nome, but the next driver, was sleeping, thinking Kaasen was being held up by the storm. However the team was progressing so well and the conditions were letting up, Kaasen decided to work the last relay. February 2, daybreak, 5:30 AM, they arrived in Nome. The serum had arrived. Balto became famous immediately, but one dog, deserves great honor as well, Togo, also a Siberian Husky, a 12 year old when he was part of the serum run. He was led by Leonhard Seppala a very seasoned musher, the best in Nome. They covered the longest distance and the most hazardous leg of the run, a round trip of 261 miles, delivering the serum, a total of 91 miles, almost double of any other team. Original plans were for the two to do half of the entire relay, but Governor Bone of Alaska wanted ... In October 1925, Seppala and his team too went out on tour, and ran many local sled races, easily winning them. Seppala sold most of his team to a kennel in Maine. Togo lived to age 16, and acer his death, Seppala had Togo preserved and now he is displayed in Alaska, in the Iditarod Museum. Many Siberian Huskie dog trainers and owners can trace their dogs lineage back to Togo. Both Balto and Togo are dog heros and have definitely found their place in history towards helping man. Balto the dog on the final team coming in, and Togo, the dog that traveled the toughest and the longest part of the journey, to getting the much needed serum to the children affected by diphtheria, in Nome, Alaska. I watched the Disney movie about this, Balto. I think Togo needs more credit too. I cry when they get the medicine to the kids. I'm a sucker for a story like this one. I'm a sucker for a story like this one. . . . me too, I love any story about dogs & horses, especially. History Channel has the story on the diphtheria outbreak and it highlighted Togo's amazing ability to track the trail during the blizzard and also, Seppala took an amazing gamble by taking a shortcut across sea ice! |
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