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Balto (1919 – March 14, 1933) was a black and white Siberian husky sled dog 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 Nenana, Alaska, by train and then to Nome by dog sled to combat an outbreak of the disease. The run is commemorated by the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Balto was named after the Sami explorer Samuel Balto. Balto died of old age at 14.
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 Seattle, Washington. The engine of the only aircraft that could quickly
deliver the medicine was frozen and would not start. After considering all of
the alternatives, officials decided to move the medicine via multiple dog sled
teams. The serum was transported by train from Seattle 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 −23 °F (-31 °C)
temperatures and strong winds. Katie Pryor interviewed each musher after he had
finished. News coverage of the event was worldwide.
On February 2,
1925, the Norwegian Gunnar Kaasen drove his team, led by 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.
Balto proved
himself on the Iditarod trail, saving his team in the Topkok River. Balto was
also able to stay on the trail in near whiteout conditions; Kaasen stated he
could barely see his hand in front of his face. Balto's team did their leg of
the run almost entirely in the dark. The final team and its sledder were asleep
when Balto and Kaasen made it to the final stop, so Kaasen decided to continue
on. At Nome, everybody wanted to thank Kaasen at first, but he suggested giving
fame to Balto as well.
Togo was the star
dog for Leonhard Seppala even before the great 1925 Serum Run. Instead of
celebrating the triumph together as one huge team, many became jealous of the
publicity Balto received, especially from President Calvin Coolidge and the
press. Seppala favored Togo, but the general public loved the story behind
Balto, and so they would take a far different path after the celebrations were
over. Balto was not welcomed at the ceremony in New York in which Seppala and
Togo received awards from the explorer Roald Amundsen who disappeared in June
1928.
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. The statue is located on the main
path leading north from the Tisch Children's Zoo. 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 antitoxin six hundred miles
over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from Nenana
to the relief of stricken Nome in the Winter of 1925.
Endurance ·
Fidelity · Intelligence”
Balto was not
destined to be a star in the breeding shed since he was neutered at a young
age, hence he was relegated to being neglected on the vaudeville circuit with
his team. When Kaasen wished to return home to Alaska, his dogs were sold to
the highest bidder by the company who sponsored his tour. The dogs ended up
chained in a small area in a novelty museum and freak show in Los Angeles.
While visiting
Los Angeles, George Kimble, a former prize fighter turned businessman from
Cleveland, was shocked to discover the dogs were unhealthy and badly treated.
Mr. Kimble worked together with the newspaper, The Plain Dealer, to bring Balto
and his team to Cleveland, Ohio. On March 19, 1927, Balto and six companions
were brought to Cleveland and given a hero's welcome in a triumphant parade.
The dogs were then taken to the Brookside Zoo (now the Cleveland Metroparks
Zoo).
After Balto died
in 1933, his remains were mounted by a taxidermist, and donated to the Cleveland
Museum of Natural History.
Balto. (2015,
November 23). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:41,
December 4, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Balto&oldid=692000527
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