History of Iditarod

HEROIC DOGS AND MUSHERS RUSH TO RELIEF TO NOME;
AVIATORS READY TOMAKE FLIGHT TO NOME IF NECESSARY

Long before Seward’s legendary mushing Seaveys ran the first Iditarod Trail Race, and a generation later became the first into Nome, Seward had ties that bound it tightly to the history of the world’s greatest dog sled race.

The bronze statue of Iditarod hero lead dog Balto, which once stood at the Jesse Lee Home, has been missing for decades; but its pedestal still proudly proclaims “Mile Zero.” Gone, but not forgotten, the cultural afterglow of the story’s drama lingers on.

A diphtheria epidemic had been raging in Nome for weeks. According to the Alaska Trail Blazer’s February, 1925 edition, “ Locked in between Arctic tundra and frozen sea, four hundred miles from the railhead, this little city which now remains of the once-great mining camp, was stricken with the dreaded disease during the last week of January.”

There was only one doctor in Nome, and no serum, as a result the entire town was under quarantine. They wirelessed for help. Twenty of Alaska’s best mushers and their teams relayed the serum 674 miles from Nenana to Nome.

Four and a half days later, Gunnar Kasaan pulled into Nome with the serum and four frozen dogs. His last relay was completed through seventy-eight miles of blinding blizzard. The serum was frozen, but thawed without damage. Half of it was used up in the first day.

A passenger steamer crowned on the steam between Seattle and Seward, with another supply of the desperately needed serum. It was met by a special train which rushed the shipment through to Nenana.

Half the shipment was to be trusted to Roy Darling and Ralph Mackie. The veteran fliers from Anchorage volunteered to make the flight from Fairbanks to Nome, risking their lives in attempting the flight with an open machine in temperatures that had been averaging fifty below for over a month. Their plane was put into condition; woolen clothing and furs were improvised to substitute for the electrically heated suits normally worn in high altitudes.

The other half was trusted to the dogs, “for Alaskans still have deep faith in their huskies,” suggested the Alaska Trail Blazer. The situation cleared in Nome, the first shipment of serum had turned the corner of the epidemic. An additional supply was sent via the usual dog team mail.

“The interest of the world has been centered upon Nome;” the Alaska Trailblazer concluded. “One result is the prompt action of congress in extending airmail service to Alaska.”