Balto and the Great Race

Nome, Alaska is isolated from the rest of Alaska and the world, lying on the far western edge of the state. It was developed in 1899 as a frontier town for mining gold, and was largely abandoned after the Gold Rush, aside from a few people. Alaska was an American territory at the time, becoming a state in 1959 and is large and sparsely populated, making it the perfect place for huskies like Balto. In 1925, dog sledding was a common method of transporting goods and entertainment, with mushers taking teams of dogs across the state on difficult terrain and through treacherous weather. They also participated in dog racing, which continues today.

A deep bond was forged 2,000 years ago when Siberian huskies began to be bred and work alongside humans in Siberia. By 1925, they had become a fiercely loyal breed eager to help their human partners. Balto was owned by a musher named Leonhard Seppala who was a sled dog trainer and used his skills to work for the Hammon Consolidated Gold Fields Company and race dogs. Seppala trained several teams and he credited this to the Siberian husky breed. Seppala’s most precious dog, Togo, was only a puppy when he first broke out of his pen and followed Seppala and his team out into the night. Seppala was too far away from the city to go back, and when he put Togo on the line, he proved himself to be capable of keeping up with fully grown dogs. Like Togo, Balto was trained and owned by Seppala. Seppala was good friends with another dog racer, Gunnar Kaasen. Kaasen was allowed to borrow Balto whenever he liked, and “this agreement was about to make a difference to a lot of people” (8).

The winter of 1925 was a particularly fierce one for Nome, and the excess of snowfall led to the town becoming more isolated from the world even than usual. A diphtheria epidemic struck the town during this winter, and it was not long before children all through the city were falling severely ill. Diphtheria, a disease that attacks the respiratory system, can quickly become deadly if untreated. While the disease is prevented with vaccination today, in 1925, “the only cure was an antitoxin serum” (12). Nome’s only doctor, Dr. Curtis Welch, is illustrated sitting in a large room staring at a bottle of serum, surrounded by sick children in beds and a pocket watch on his table symbolizing the urgency of the matter. With no telephones in the city, Dr. Welch relied on the telegraph to get the message out about the shortage of serum in Nome. A supply of serum was located in Anchorage, and it was sent by train to a town called Nenana—the end of the tracks. With the serum stranded in Nenana, 650 miles away from Nome, it was the mushers of dog teams who devised a way to transport the serum. Many of these mushers worked for the Northern Commercial mail system, using dog sleds to transport mail from point to point through parts of the north that were unconnected by roads. The mushers planned to use paths well known to them and their dogs. Teams across Alaska began volunteering to help, and soon enough, a plan was devised by telegraph to transport the serum across the 650 miles to Nome.

In Nome, both Seppala and Kaasen answer the call to transport the serum. Seppala has a personal connection to the problem; his daughter had the illness years before and overcame it. He knows the resolve of children and is determined to match it with his best team of dogs, and heads east to join the chain of transportation. Seppala left Balto behind, believing him to be strong, but not necessarily fast. Kaasen on the other hand, saw Balto as the perfect dog to join his team, and enlists Balto’s help to take his dogs to Bluff, a town over 60 miles away from Nome. There, Kaasen and his team are instructed to wait for the relayed serum, which could arrive at any time. Kaasen quickly readies his team of dogs and chooses a lead dog who has successfully led his team many times before and knows that a lead dog must be able to respond to commands, read the trail, avoid obstacles while towing a sled, assert himself above the other dogs, and “most important of all, a lead dog must have intuition—a natural inner knowledge of what to do” (22-23). Although Balto possesses all of these qualities, it is not yet known. Kaasen knows Balto to be a wise dog but is not yet aware of the extent. At this point, the medicine is said to arrive in two weeks, which is too long; three children and one adult have already died, and many more have been exposed. The severity of the winter adds to the treacherousness of the journey. Balto, Kaasen, and the rest of the dogs set off toward Bluff.

When Kaasen’s team pulls into the small town of Bluff, it is alive with activity as a result of black sand found nearby (thought to be an indicator of gold). Kaasen tends to the dogs’ paws with ointment to prevent infection of any cuts they have acquired, and news comes in by telegraph from Nome that another person has died and many more are infected, including a disproportionate number of children and Inuit people. Inuit people were particularly susceptible to European diseases. News is also coming in from the east, and the serum, packed in glass bottles, has been passed to the fourth team. The next part of the journey involves trekking along the frozen Yukon River, which can include violent, freezing winds. Mushers and their dogs must also be weary of the many wild predators that roam the Alaskan wilderness. In particular, moose are known to attack dog teams with no provocation and with enough force to kill many, if not all of them. People theorize that moose may confuse the dogs with wolves. Word arrives that Seppala and his dog team, led by the brave Togo, is on its way to collect the serum from the team on the Yukon River. Kaasen stays awake through the night, constantly checking his equipment, tending to his dogs, and awaiting the arrival of Seppala’s team.