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Tag Archives: Iditarod Trail
Adventures on the Iditarod Trail
Adventures on the Iditarod Trail: Fast Dogs, Freezing Mushers and the Alaska Wild, by Lew Freedman, features engaging interviews with mushers from several decades of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. In his introduction, Lew Freedman writes, “March in Alaska belongs to the Iditarod. The throwback nature of the event in a hurry-up world, the romance of the wilderness, the challenge of conquering the elements, all figure into why the Iditarod is so popular.” Continue reading
Posted in Alaska History, Books, Iditarod, News & Information, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races
Tagged Alaska, Anna and Kristy Berington, Bob Chlupach, Brent Sass, Bruce Lee, Burt Bomhoff, Cindy Abbott, Dave Monson, Dick Mackey, Frank Teasley, Iditarod, Iditarod Trail, Jeff King, Jessie Holmes, Joe May, John Baker, Last Great Race, Lew Freedman, Libby Riddles, Martin Buser, Mille Porsild, mushing, mushing history, Nicholas Petit, Northern Light Media, Ramey Smyth, Raymie Redington, Richard Burmeister, Ritchie Diehl, Rod Perry, sled dog race, sled dogs, Sonny Lindner, Susan Whiton, Vern Halter
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Togo’s Serum Run
As the worldwide fight against the coronavirus goes on we are reminded almost daily that pandemics and epidemics have happened before, and we have struggled through them with far fewer resources and much less medical and scientific knowledge than we have now. That is a very real comfort, and lends a bit of perspective to what we are facing. One such epidemic was a deadly diphtheria outbreak which raged across Alaska almost 100 years ago. Continue reading
Posted in Alaska History, News & Information, Sled Dog History
Tagged Bering Sea, Bluff Roadhouse, Dexter Roadhouse, diphtheria, Dr. Curtis Welch, Elizabeth Ricker, Golovin, Governor Bone, Iditarod Trail, Isaac's Point, Kaltag, Leonhard Seppala, Manley Roadhouse, Minto Roadhouse, Nenana, Nome, Nulato, Olson Roadhouse, Port Safety Roadhouse, Scott Bone, Seppala, Serum Run, Shaktoolik, Siberian huskies, Solomon Roadhouse, The Cruelest Miles, Togo, Tolovana Roadhouse, Unalakleet, Unlakleet
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Sled Dog Mail
Dogs were capable of covering long distances, day or night, and could travel over frozen lakes and rivers and pass through dense forests. By 1901, a network of mail trails throughout Alaska was in use, including a system that followed almost the entire length of the Yukon River. The historic 2,300-mile Iditarod Trail was the main dog trail that carried mail from Seward to Nome. Continue reading
Iditarod National Historic Trail
Nationally, our Historic Trails commemorate major routes of exploration, migration, trade, communications, and military actions that formed America, and only 16 trails in the U.S. have been honored as National Historic Trails. The Iditarod is the only Alaskan trail in the National system, and the only Historic Trail celebrating the indispensable role played by man’s best friend in America’s Last Great Gold Rush. Without dependable sled dogs hauling freight, passengers, mail and more, the history of Alaska and the north country would have been quite different. Continue reading
1967 Centennial Race
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
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1911 Iditarod Sweepstakes
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
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The First Iditarod, 2nd Edition
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
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Sled Dog Tales
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
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Joe Redington, Sr.
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
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