Balto
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Balto (c. 1922 – 14 March 1933) was a sled dog (a Siberian Husky or Alaskan Malamute, depending on the source) who led his team on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome, in which diphtheria antitoxin was transported from Anchorage, Alaska to Nome by dog sled to combat an outbreak of the disease. [1] [2] [3] The run is commemorated by the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
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[edit] 1925 serum run
In January 1925, doctors realized that a potentially deadly diphtheria epidemic was poised to sweep through Nome's young people. The only serum that could stop the outbreak was in Anchorage, nearly a thousand miles (1,600 km) away. The only two aircraft that could quickly deliver the medicine had been dismantled for the winter; after considering alternatives, officials decided to move the medicine by sled dog. The serum was transported by train from Anchorage to Nenana, where the first musher embarked as part of a relay aimed at delivering the needed serum to Nome. More than 20 mushers took part, facing a blizzard with −53 °F temperatures and strong winds. News coverage of the race was worldwide.
On February 2, 1925, the Norwegian Gunnar Kaasen drove his team, led by Balto (named after Samuel Balto), into Nome. The longest and most hazardous stretch of the run was actually covered by another Norwegian, Leonhard Seppala and his dog team, led by Togo. They came from Nome towards the end of the run and picked up the serum from musher Henry Ivanoff. The serum was later passed to Kaasen.
Kaasen did not consider Balto a particularly good lead dog, but Balto proved himself on the Iditarod trail, saving his team from certain death in the Topkok River. Balto was also able to stay on the trail in near whiteout conditions in which Kaasen admitted he could barely see his hand in front of his face.
[edit] Aftermath
After the mission's success, Balto and Kaasen became celebrities. A statue of Balto, sculpted by Frederick Roth, was erected in New York City's Central Park on December 17, 1925, just 10 months after Balto's arrival in Nome. Balto himself was present for the monument's unveiling. [3] The statue is located on the main path leading north from the Tisch Children’s Zoo. [4] In front of the statue a low-relief slate plaque depicts Balto's sled team, and bears the following inscription:
| “ | Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxins 660 miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the Winter of 1925." [4] | ” |
Balto and his companions were bought by vaudeville sideshow operators and toured the country for the next two years. Hearing of this, Cleveland, Ohio residents raised $2,000 to purchase the seven dogs and gave them a permanent home at the Cleveland Zoo in March 1927. They received a hero's welcome, attracting more than 15,000 visitors on their first day in the zoo. Balto died in Cleveland on March 14, 1933, at 11 years old; his body was stuffed and placed on display in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
On December 22, 1995, Universal Pictures released the animated film Balto. The film was loosely based on the events of the 1925 Serum Run.
[edit] References
- ^ Brooks, Barbara A.; Sherry E. Wallis (1998). The Alaskan Malamute: Yesterday and Today. Loveland, CO: Alpine Publications. ISBN 0-931866-96-0. Page 139.
- ^ Salisbury, Gay; Laney Salisbury (2003). The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race against an Epidemic. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 187. ISBN 0-393-01962-4.
- ^ a b (2001-08-27) "BALTO - Historical Sign," New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Retrieved from http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=10771 on 2007-02-26.
- ^ a b "Balto," The Official Website for Central Park. Retrieved from http://www.centralparknyc.org/virtualpark/southend/balto on 2007-02-28.
