Category Archives: News & Information

1967 Centennial Race

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Helen Hegener

The 1967 race was billed as ‘the biggest event in racing history,’ with an unprecedented purse of $25,000, richer than any purse offered for a sled dog race until then. It attracted mushers from all around Alaska, respected dog drivers such as George Attla, Gareth Wright, Earl Norris, Jerry Riley, Orville Lake, Herbie Nayokpuk, Dick Mackey, and even two champion sprint mushers from Massachusetts: Dr. Roland Lombard and Dr. Charles Belford. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, News & Information, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races | Tagged 1967, Dick Mackey, Earl Norris, George Attla, Herbie Nayokpuk, Iditarod Trail, Isaac Okleasik, Joe Redington, Joee Redington Jr., Knik, Leonhard Seppala, purchase of Alaska, The First Iditarod | 1 Comment

The Origins of Mushing

Posted on January 5, 2019 by Helen Hegener

“I find in the book, ‘The World of Sled Dogs,’ by Lorna Coppinger, that the earliest historical records of the use of sled dogs in the Siberian subarctic appear in Arabian literature of the tenth century; in writings of Marco Polo in the thirteenth century; and of Francesco de Kollo in the sixteenth.” Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, News & Information, Sled Dog History | Tagged Bering Strait, dog teams, Eskimos, Fridjof Nansen, Frobisher, Historic Navigations, Ibn Batuta, Iditarod, In Northern Mists, Lorna Coppinger, mushing, mushing history, Sled Dog Tales, sledges, Wrangell, Yukon Quest | Leave a comment

1911 Iditarod Sweepstakes

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Helen Hegener

On New Year’s Day, January 1, 1911, 62 years before the inaugural run of today’s race, the First Annual Iditarod Sweepstakes Race was held over a 20-mile course which started in front of the Miners and Merchants Bank in the town of Iditarod. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, Gold Rush History, News & Information, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races | Tagged Alaska Kennel Club, Anchorage Kennel Club, Claude Shea, Eklutna, Flat City, Frank Dixon, George May, Iditarod, Iditarod Trail, Northern Commercial Company, Old Knik, race, sled dog race, Summit Roadhouse, Sweepstakes, The First Iditarod | Leave a comment

The First Iditarod, 2nd Edition

Posted on December 28, 2018 by Helen Hegener

From 2007 to 2012 I travelled across Alaska to visit veteran mushers from the 1973 race who would share their memories of what has since become known as “The Last Great Race on Earth.” The bulk of my book is comprised of the verbatim words of these intrepid men who drove their teams on that first journey to Nome in 1973, captured through recorded and videotaped interviews and many notes and follow-up letters and emails. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Book Reviews, Books, News & Information, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races | Tagged Anchorage, Iditarod, Iditarod Trail, Joe Redington, Nome, sled dog race, sled dogs | Leave a comment

Sled Dog Tales

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Helen Hegener

True stories include Alaskan mail carrier Eli Smith’s epic trip to Washington, D.C., Alaska Nellie’s daring rescue of a lost mail carrier, the Rev. Samuel Hall Young’s 1913 trip over the Iditarod Trail, and Territorial Judge James Wickersham’s 1901 dogsled trip down the frozen Yukon River from Eagle to Rampart. Fascinating stories of Alaska’s history as seen from the runners of a dogsled! Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Book Reviews, Books, Gold Rush History, News & Information, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races | Tagged Alaska Nellie, “Iron Man” Johnson, huskies, Iditarod Trail, James Wickersham, Leonhard Seppala, Nome, Samuel Hall Young, Scotty Allan, Serum Run, sled dogs, Yukon River | 1 Comment

Joe Redington, Sr.

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Helen Hegener

Joe Redington came to Alaska in 1948, settling on a homestead near Knik, south of Wasilla, with his family. He learned about sled dogs and how to handle a dog team from his new neighbors, mail and freight team driver Sharon Fleckenstein and Lee Ellexson, one of the last dog team mail drivers on the Iditarod Trail. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, News & Information, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races | Tagged Dick Mackey, George Attla, Gleo Huyck, Hudson Stuck, Iditarod, Iditarod Trail, Iditarod Trail Committee, Joe Redington, Ken Chase, Knik, Leonhard Seppala, Nome, Raymie Redington, Tom Johnson, Unalakleet, Vi Redington, Wasilla | 2 Comments

Roadhouse Registers

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Helen Hegener

Travelers of the Trail • Seeking Shelter and A Warm Meal W. A. Dikeman and Charles Peterson reported by Iditarod Nugget as “First Mushers Over the Iditarod Trail: Taking 45 Days from Seward to Otter, they meet several others on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Gold Rush History, News & Information, Roadhouse, Roadhouses, Sled Dog History | Tagged Iditarod Trail, Knik, Manley Roadhouse, Pioneer Roadhouse, roadhouse, Roadhouses, Woodchopper Roadhouse | Leave a comment

Trailing and Camping in Alaska

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Helen Hegener

Trailing and Camping in Alaska, subtitled Ten Years Spent Exploring, Hunting and Prospecting in Alaska – 1898 to 1909, was written in 1909 by Addison M. Powell, an adventurer, prospector, hunter, and a former guide for Captain William R. Abercrombie’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, News & Information | Leave a comment

Jujiro Wada, Trailblazer

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Helen Hegener

There are many strange and unusual stories in the annals of northern sled dog travel, but one of the most fascinating concerns an enigmatic Japanese explorer and adventurer named Jujiro Wada. Born in Japan in the 1870s, the second son of a lower-class samurai warrior, he traveled to the U.S. in 1890 and worked as a cabin boy for the Pacific Steam Whaling Company and at Barrow for the renowned Charlie Brower, manager of the Cape Smythe Whaling and Trading Company, which history buffs agree was probably where he learned to handle sled dogs and began learning the Alaska Native languages. Continue reading →