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Tag Archives: sled dogs
Hudson Stuck’s Sled Bag
The Episcopalian minister Hudson Stuck, known as the Archdeacon of the Yukon, published five books about his travels and adventures in Alaska, including Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled, published in 1914.
In that book a photograph appears, and a sled bag can be seen hanging from the handlebars. That sled bag is on permanent display at the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks. Continue reading
The Yukon Quest Trail
The 2020 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race begins in Fairbanks at 11:00 am on February 1, and runs to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory; the Yukon Quest 300 starts at 3:00 pm the same day and runs to Circle, on the Yukon River. There are many exciting books about the race, and many written by the mushers who have run the race, but one book focuses on the trail between Fairbanks and Whitehorse, highlighting the incredible route followed by those mushers who accept the very real challenge of the Yukon Quest. Continue reading
Posted in Alaska History, Book Reviews, Books, News & Information, Sled Dog Races, Yukon Quest
Tagged Alaska, Dawson City, Eric Vercammen, Fairbanks, Helen Hegener, Lance Mackey, mushing, mushing history, Northern Light Media, Robert Service, Scott Chesney, sled dog race, sled dog racing, sled dogs, The Spell of the Yukon, Whitehorse, Yukon Quest
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Sled Dog Movies
Last year, 2018, was noted by the Chinese calendar’s zodiac as being the Year of the Dog, but this year, 2019, seems to be the Year of the Sled Dog, as film after film featuring heroic sled dogs is released to movie theaters and home streaming services. There are two movies about the great Serum Run to Nome during the 1925 diphtheria epidemic, one focusing on the champion musher Leonhard Seppala, and the other on his favorite lead dog, Togo. One is an independent production, the other is from the powerhouse film company Disney Studios, but both are absorbing stories, beautifully filmed. Another champion musher, the sprint racing legend George Attla, is the subject of a new PBS documentary, and one of the greatest dog stories of all time is brought to life by a great film legend, Harrison Ford. Pass the popcorn! Continue reading
Posted in Alaska History, DVD & Video, Movies, News & Information, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races, Videos
Tagged Attla, Brian Presley, Disney, George Attla, Harrison Ford, Huslia, Joe Bifelt, Leonhard Seppala, Nenana, Nome, Serum Run, Siberian huskies, sled dogs, The Call of the Wild, The Great Alaskan Race, Togo
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Mush with PRIDE
The organization Mush with P.R.I.D.E., established in 1991 as an organization of mushers who were concerned about the care of sled dogs and public perceptions of mushing, supports the responsible care and humane treatment of all dogs, and is dedicated to enhancing the care and treatment of sled dogs in their traditional and modern uses. Continue reading
Tribute to a Sled Dog
Prologue: Tribute to a Sled Dog, from “Sled dog : and other poems of the North,” by Charles E. Gillham, associate editor of Field & Stream magazine, an outdoor writer and game biologist. In 1934 he transferred to the Canadian Arctic as a Federal waterfowl biologist, and his arctic service resulted in four books, “The Raw North,” “Sled Dog,” “Beyond the Clapping Mountains” and “Medicine Men of Hooper Bay.” He left Alaska in 1945. Continue reading
Posted in Alaska History, Book Reviews, Books, News & Information, Sled Dog History
Tagged Charles E. Gillham, gold rush, huskies, husky, Nome, Peary, Sled Dog, sled dogs
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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
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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Icebound
The documentary ‘Icebound’ is the story of the 1925 Serum Run, a heroic testament to the human spirit, and to the dogs of the far north. But beyond the legend lies a complex tale, filled with irony, tragedy, and myth. Continue reading
Posted in Alaska History, Alaska Railroad, Sled Dog History
Tagged Daniel Anker, diphtheria, dog teams, epidemic, Icebound, Leonhard Seppala, Nenana, Nome, Serum Run, sled dogs, Togo, Wild Bill Shannon
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