Late last December, Disney released their new film “Togo,” about the 1925 Nome Serum Run, exclusively on their Disney+ streaming service. AnimalWised will now tell you the true story of Balto, the dog that became a hero. In the years following the serum run, Seppala made trips to the Lower 48 states with his heroic sled dogs. Seppala’s 12-year-old sled dog and companion Togo led the pack. BABY NAME WIZARD. Desperate, the only doctor in town placed sick children into quarantine and radioed for help. To Seppala’s deep ire, another dog, Balto, received glory after the race.PHOTO BY GEORGE RINHART/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGESOn a dawnless morning in the winter of 1925, a sled dog named Balto became an American hero. Click to attach a photo related to your comment. Alaska’s Digital Archives, vilda.alaska.edu. A journey that long using dogsleds usually takes about a month to complete the journey. The indomitable dog was finally put to rest in 1929 at the age of 16. After the race, Kaasen, Seppala and their lead dogs became celebrities, touring the country. During this time, the future owner of Balto, Leonhard Seppala, was an experienced musher and participated in various competitions and races. Balto died on March 14, 1933. Leonhard Seppala, already a dog racing legend, set out to retrieve the serum from Nenana. The Heroic Dog Who Inspired A Hit Animated Movie Has An Incredible True Story. But when Nome needed life in little packages of serum, it took the dogs to bring it through.”, Leonhard Seppala: The Siberian Dog and The Golden Age of Sleddog Racing 1908-1941 by Bob & Pam Thomas, The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against An Epidemic by Gay & Laney Salisbury, Togo’s Fireside Reflections by Elizabeth M. Ricker. As for his thoughts on Togo and the “Great Race of Mercy”, which changed the course of his own life and dog sledding forevermore, Seppala summed it up thusly in his unpublished autobiography before his passing: “Afterwards, I thought of the ice and the darkness and the terrible wind and the irony that men could build planes and ships. After cutting across the treacherously frozen Norton Sound to save time and distance, Seppala miraculously ran right into the team of Henry Ivanoff, one of the relay’s late additions, which was carrying the serum westward. Most famous among modern dog sled races, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is held each year in March, with parts of the route traversing the same 1925 serum run trails taken all those years ago. Having lost four of his dogs along his journey, and with a nose which had blackened upon succumbing to frostbite, Shannon handed off the serum, which was relayed several times before reaching a team led by Leonhard Seppala. Of the 674 miles that 20 mushers and around 150 dogs traveled, Balto and Kaasen only journeyed the last 55. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Amazingly, in just five and a half days, the “Great Race of Mercy” was completed and the lifesaving serum was delivered to Nome. While whelping records from the era are scant, it’s generally accepted that Togo was born in 1913 to a dam named Dolly, who is regarded as a foundation bitch in the breed’s development. Heroic dogs are beloved cultural icons, as we know from the popularity of television shows and movies about courageous pooches. Telegrams from rendezvous points along the way kept the American public riveted to this days-long ordeal. Balto even received his very own statue in Central Park. Nome, an Alaskan mining town past its heyday, teetered on the brink of a diphtheria outbreak. She had some wonderful stories to tell about the dogs when she worked at the zoo as a teen. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1930. As deaths from the disease mounted, the decision to act was made. The serum run led to the creation of Alaska’s Iditarod sled dog race, which is an annual long-distance sled dog … Mushing is a term for sport or transport powered by dogs. Please contact us at Rights@LittleThings.com. While some smaller aspects were altered for the sake of the movie, what might be considered some of the more sensational aspects of the movie are historically accurate. Find out Everything about this Hybrid, The 10 Most Solitary Animals in the World, What Does It Mean When a Cat Shows Up at My Door, Differences Between Deer, Elk, Moose and Reindeer, The Origin of the German Shepherd: History and Fun Facts, Top 10 Unbelievable Animals that Saved People's Lives, Who Are the Christmas Reindeer? He also posts daily Alaska history on Twitter (@ANC_Historian). Part of a continuing weekly series on local history by local historian David Reamer. Just the basic facts of the Nome Serum Run make for a thriller, including sick children, gale-force winds, whiteout conditions, cracking ice, and dogs and men pushed beyond their limits. He became a household name in almost no time, and the city of New York honored him with a statue bearing his likeness in Manhattan’s Central Park a year after his return, which still stands today. For the most dangerous leg of the journey, famed musher Leonhard Seppala and his incredible team of dogs, led by the intrepid Togo, make the second-to-last run of the journey, passing through incredible storms and treacherous ice floes. That’s not to say Balto didn’t earn his praise. Any opportunity is a good opportunity to spread the worthy truth of Togo. All the while, the outbreak worsened back in Nome. In short, diphtheria victims can choke to death as infected tissue expands and block airways. Balto was a Siberian husky who was born in Nome, a small town in Alaska in 1923. Kaasen’s team, led by the relatively untried sled dog Balto, had far less experience than Seppala with the dangerous conditions, but proved themselves on the road. There are several theories about what happened with the last group of dogs, guided by Gunner. Ultimately, Seppala and New England musher Elizabeth Ricker chose to open a kennel of Siberians in Poland Spring, Maine. Around that time, the first known Siberian Huskies in America were brought to Nome by Russian fur trader William Goosak. The Real Story of Balto, Hero Dog of Alaska The animated film, Balto, tells the true story of a heroic sled dog. In a 1927 New York Times article, he claimed that a forgotten dog named Fox has been co-lead with Balto on Kaasen’s team. In the winter of 1925, a deadly outbreak of diphtheria in the remote port of Nome, Alaska, threatened the lives of the 10,000-plus living in the area. At one point caught in a blizzard too devastating for Kaasen to see through, Balto led the way and never once steered off course. Except, Nome isn’t directly surrounded by wooded mountains but by treeless tundra. Togo’s story isn’t some form of hidden history. While the animated film from the ’90s takes quite a few liberties with the real-life story, the original Balto was a sled dog in Alaska who helped save hundreds of lives back in 1925. Ten Jackie Kennedy Quotes We Still Need To Hear, The Scary Truth Behind The Phantom Social Worker Legend, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, Universal Pictures released an animated children’s film depicting his journey. In January of that fateful year, physicians in Nome began to witness symptoms of diphtheria among some of the townspeople. Neither do we. In his view, the papers had the wrong champion. In 2001, Togo received his own statue in NYC’s Seward Park. So much so, Balto's adventure hit movie screens in 1995, in the eponymous film, Balto. History and Names. The dog he thought deserved praise, instead of Balto, was Togo. In only five and a half days, squadron B finally arrived at Nome with the diphtheria vaccine. All rights reserved. “Balto Not Nome Hero Dog; Seppala Says Husky Named Fox Was Leader of His Team.” New York Times, March 9, 1927. And most importantly for the sake of an accurate narrative, Balto is limited to seconds on screen, a memorable but lesser aspect of a far grander story. The visible Nome businesses, including the Sideboard, Golden Gate Hotel and Dexter Saloon, match the names if not the exact appearance of their historical inspirations. By the time the diphtheria outbreak struck in 1925, Togo was 12 years old and Seppala 47, both seemingly past their primes. From then on, every March, Iditarod's polar dog race, which runs from Anchorage to Nome. This statue is dedicated exclusively to this four-legged hero, who is considered to have saved the lives of many children of Nome. In the winter of 1925, when the … An antitoxin was located, but the nearest point which the serum could reach by rail was Nenana, located 674 miles from Nome. . Multiple teams of sled dogs came to their rescue, and residents continue to celebrate one unlikely hero to this day. If you want to read similar articles to The True Story of Balto, the Dog that Became a Hero, we recommend you visit our Facts about the animal kingdom category. Children had begun to succumb to the disease, a bacterial infection that coats the esophagus in a suffocating layer of necrotic tissue. With temperatures hovering around -30 degrees, Seppala and his dogs made incredible time in their mad dash east, covering over 170 miles in just three days. Compared to more outrageous and offensively inaccurate portrayals of history, like “Braveheart” or “Pocahontas,” “Togo” is almost a documentary, perfectly suitable for classroom use. Please help us improve LittleThings by taking our short survey. It took over 100 sled dogs for the mission to look for the injections. On December 17, 1925, in recognition of such bravery, a statue of Balto was erected in New York City’s Central Park sculpted by Frederick Roth. Diphtheria is a serious bacterial disease that can be fatal and is usually seen in young children. AKC actively advocates for responsible dog ownership and is dedicated to advancing dog sports. Children were especially at risk, and Nome’s isolation created a nightmare scenario. Unbeknownst to Seppala as he raced in minus 40-degree weather, his efforts were a national sensation. However, with the fate of Nome in the balance, locals knew the aging yet experienced duo was their last, best hope. An earlier order for a resupply went unfulfilled with the arrival of winter. REVELIST - A relay of drivers was built after his departure, and he would still drive the longest and most dangerous leg. I married and moved to San Diego in 1958. (Erik Hill / ADN), Famous 1925 Serum Run dogs Togo, left, and Balto are displayed in the exhibit Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia on Friday, March 10, 2017, at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center. With a blizzard approaching, air travel was ruled out. Located 2 degrees south of the Arctic Circle, Nome was home to 455 Alaskan Natives and 975 European settlers. At one point, Balto saved the whole team from plunging into a river at the last second, somehow sensing the edge even in total darkness. With Togo in the lead in what would be his final race, the much-smaller Siberians triumphed. Over the years, Togo became known across Alaska for his tenacity, strength, endurance, and intelligence as Seppala’s prized lead dog. The quick-thinking Seppala tied a lead to Togo, his only hope, and tossed the dog across five feet of water. Most recently, Togo was featured in the AKC Museum of the Dog exhibition “Mush! (Stefannaumovv via Creative Commons), Famous 1925 Serum Run dog Togo is displayed in the exhibit Polar Bear Garden: The Place Between Alaska and Russia on Friday, March 10, 2017, at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center. He was given this name in memory of the Norwegian explorer Samuel Balto, popular in Nome during the gold rush. I maybe encourage his history and I will remember his story no matter what. After reading about Balto the dog, learn about the very first guide dogs. It’s an ugly way to die, throats filling with a grey mass and throats swelling as the patient asphyxiates. However, they were never “pets.” One other interesting fact, The Reynolds family lived across the street from my husband’s brother and his family for a period of five years, but they never met.
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