Balto
Balto (c. 1922 – 14 March, 1933) was a Siberian Husky sled dog (although some sources incorrectly state that he is an Alaskan Malamute) 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. [1] [2] [3] The run is commemorated by the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Balto was named after the Sámi explorer Samuel Balto.
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 aircraft that could quickly deliver the medicine was taken out of winter storage, but its engine was frozen and would not start; 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 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. During a blizzard, Kaasen and his team missed the last sled dog team and had to take the medicine twice as far, which was what eventually brought them to fame.Balto WAS a good lead dog.And deserves to be a role model for you!!!
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 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[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 based on the events of the 1925 Serum Run.
See also
Outdoor sculpture in New York City
References
- ^ Brooks, Barbara A. (1998). The Alaskan Malamute: Yesterday and Today. Loveland, CO: Alpine Publications. ISBN 0-931866-96-0.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) Page 139. - ^ Salisbury, Gay (2003). The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race against an Epidemic. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 187. ISBN 0-393-01962-4.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ 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", Central Park Conservancy: Official Website for Central Park. Retrieved from http://www.centralparknyc.org/site/PageServer?pagename=virtualpark_southend_balto on 2008-01-05.
External links
- A German Fan-Project about the Movies and the Serum Run
- Listen to the story of Balto online - The American Storyteller Radio Journal
- Iditarod background from the Iditarod Trail Committee
- Balto's True Story - The History of the 1925 Serum Run
- "The story of the REAL Balto"
- Balto in the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
- Balto at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History
- [http://www.baltoonline.piczo.com "The Main Independant Balto Site"}
