many of these races Liz Ricker raced the second team and often came in right His eight-year-old daughter Sigrid was in Nome, in danger of contracting diphtheria herself. The prestigious Alaska Airlines Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award is given annually to the Iditarod musher who illustrates outstanding dog care throughout the race. Whos the richest Dog Musher in the world. The only planes they had were water-cooled aircraft from World War I, which didn't perform well in cold weather. His wife, Constance, died a few years later aged 85. They were laughed at and given 100-to-1 odds To hasten delivery of the serum, more mushers were added to the relay. According to The Cruelest Miles, although Togo was the only puppy in his litter, he was indeed smaller than average, and worse, he had a painful condition that made his throat swell. Subsequently he It was also the longest by roughly 200 miles. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. Seppala also won the All Alaska Sweepstakes in 1916 and 1917, before the race was canceled until 1983. By the time Seppala arrives at home, Togo has been moved to the lead position, and Seppala is marveling at Togos speed. In 1946, he and his wife Constance moved to Seattle, Washington. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, The 9 Best Northern Lights Viewing Spots Near Anchorage, How to Travel to Alaska in January and February, The Best Large Family & Group Vacations in Alaska, How to Get from Anchorage to Your Cruise Port in Whittier or Seward (or the reverse! Siberia by a Russian fur trader. The Story of Leonhard Seppala Husband of Constance M Seppala. Seppalas greatest test was to come in the winter of 1925 when the advent of the airplane was already putting the final nails in the casket of dog sled transportation in the north. racing teams were fielded, dominated the 1910 third All-Alaska Sweepstakes, Sign-up for any of the following email series to help plan your Alaska trip. The famous serum run he took part in is commemorated yearly in Alaska with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, formerly the Iditarod Trail Seppala Memorial Race. Ivanoff had just left Shaktoolik with the serum. In researching the Togo true story, we learned that in real life Leonhard and his wife Constance had a daughter named Sigrid, who was eight years old at the time of the 1925 Serum Run to Nome. This film sequence is an excerpt of AAF-2240 from the Seppala-Hanks collection held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of the Alaska \u0026 Polar Regions Department in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks.The Alaska Film Archives appreciates your support. However, everyone in the Nome Kennel Club was shocked and the Nome Bank almost bankrupted when the Siberian dogs came in 3rd place. The most intimate multi-day cruise option. Seppala had taken the shortcut across the Sound several times in his career; a less-experienced musher was likelier to lose not only his life and the lives of his dogs, but also the urgently needed serum. Leonhard Seppala. As for Seppala, he lived to be 89. Seppala tosses Togo ashore, and the dog somehow manages to tow the floe close enough to the coast to enable the rest of the team to follow. According to The Cruelest Miles, Seppala wrote: I hope I shall never be the man to take away credit from any dog or driver who participated in that run. His mounted skin is currently on display at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters museum in Wasilla, Alaska. Unlike the movie, Leonhard Seppala eventually decided that he wanted Togo to live out the remainder of his life in comfort. Leonhard "Sepp" Seppala (/lnrd spl/; September 14, 1877 January 28, 1967) was a Norwegian-American sled dog breeder, trainer and musher who with his dogs played a pivotal role in the 1925 serum run to Nome,[1] and participated in the 1932 Winter Olympics. It was only in the previous February that the first airmail flight in Alaska took place. alongside his sprinting team, keeping pace effortlessly. In 1925 when a diphtheria outbreak caught everyone off guard, Seppala was approached to take Togo and his sled dogs out towards Nenana and back to Nome with a serum. Alaska Airlines has established the Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award. Nome City Cemetery, Nome, Nome Census Area, Alaska, USA Gunnar Kasson, however, did not hand over the serum to the next waiting musher but brought it the rest of the way into Nome. Maynard is all in favor of getting the diphtheria antitoxin flown in by airplane, weather notwithstanding. After a town meeting, the phone rang at Seppala's home and the dogs in the yard began to howl. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Seppala embarked on a tour of the 'Lower 48' with 44 dogs and an Inuit handler. Sepp returned to Skjervy to work in his father's smithy. The same year the AAS was first run, 1908, Seppala married his wife Constance, a Belgian girl who had come to Nome in 1905. As the puppy grew up, he became more and more excitable and messy, infuriating Seppala who wanted nothing to do with it. Welch had ordered more diphtheria antitoxin from the health commissioner in Juneau, but the port closed for the winter before the shipment arrived. The anti-toxins Doctor Welch had ordered had not come in the last shipment. Club in Canada in 1939 as the 'Siberian Huskie.' In Disneys telling, Togos beginnings are an underdog story. Regardless, Seppala could tell that Togo wanted to press on. Seppala later married Constance, another foreigner who had come to America. He nursed them back to health for most of the remainder of that year; they were not ready to train again until autumn. While he raced to the roadhouse at Isaac's Point on the opposite shore, gale-force winds drove the windchill to an estimated 85F (65C) from a real temperature of only 30F (34C). The Ramsay import dogs, from which three His skeleton is in the Peabody Museum of Natural History's collection at Yale University. (Color/Silent/16mm film). Both are buried in Nome, Alaska. They wanted the 640 miles between the two towns to be traversed by the dog team. As principal musher, Seppala battled blizzard conditions and icy terrain, eventually traveling more than twice as far as his colleagues. [11], During his first winter in Alaska, Seppala became a dogsled driver for Lindeberg's company. First Name Leonhard. After he reached his adult weight of only about 48 pounds, the real Togo had a brown, black, and gray coat that made him look constantly dirty. In researching the. [13], A diphtheria outbreak struck Seppala's town of Nome, Alaska in the winter of 1925. Impressed, Leonhard decided to keep him. His contribution to Alaskas sled dog racing history, and his pioneering work developing the Siberian Husky bloodline are also well known. His dog Togo would earn his place in the history books and a place at the Yales Peabody Institute. His friend Jafet Lindeberg had returned from Alaska and convinced Seppala to come to work for his mining company in Nome. Together with his dog Togo and several other dogs, he was able to brave through snowy weather and tundra to save countless of lives. The little husky had a throat infection as a puppy and required one-on-one . Seppala felt he had abused the dogs' loyalty by putting them in danger of death and injury, and withdrew from the race in shame. But when the country was roused to enthusiasm over the serum run driver, I resented the statue to Balto, for if any dog deserved special mention it was Togo., On the topic of unsung heroes, The Cruelest Miles also notes the deficient coverage on the contribution of the Native driverswho covered nearly two thirds of the run but were not as interesting to movie producers or reporters. Leonhard Seppala was born in Norway. Sleddog breed in the 1990s. The problem was, how would the traveling Seppala be told he was not to transport it alone? Constance Seppala (wife) The mutual trust between Seppala and Togo was also as depicted. Early on, it was believed that the individual attention led to his rowdiness and mischievous behavior. When Amundsen cancelled his trip a few weeks after the puppies arrived in Nome, Lindeberg gave them to Seppala. Poland Spring against Arthur Walden, breeder of 'Chinook' dogs and author of In 1931 the SeppalaRicker partnership ended. Learn more about Leonhard Seppala at the Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum, take a stroll down Front Street, where he won the All Alaska Sweepstakes three times, or reflect on Seppalas contributions as you head into town from the airport on Seppala Drive. He had forced all of his dogs to push through stormy weather and many of them wound up injured. Despite doing most of the work, the credit instead largely went to the Gunnar Kaasen-controlled sled dog Balto, who completed the last, 55-mile stretch of the Serum Run through a blizzard. However, it was too late to inform Seppala that he would be meeting the relay closer to Nome than had originally been planned. Please visit the About section of our YouTube channel to learn how you can help today. They asked him to begin traveling toward Nenana. Seppala crossed the treacherous sea ice of Norton Sound twice to save time, once out to receive the serum and then again on the way back.. This was possibly filmed in Chatanika, Alaska. Leonhard is a "musher" (AKA a dogsled driver) and Togo is his lead dog. Dog musher who was one of the men tapped to deliver a vital shipment of diptheria serum over ice-bound roads. The Wheeler dogs became the foundation He immediately began the trek back across Norton Sound without pausing to rest.The conditions on the return trip were even worse. Its worth mentioning that Togos own lineage wasnt too shabby: His father was Suggen, who had led Seppalas team to victory in the 1914 All Alaska Sweepstakes race. They encountered each other while Ivanoff was untangling his team on a trail outside of town, at which time Seppala took possession of the serum. Also along on the Serum run was the ageing Diphtheria can attack healthy tissues in the respiratory system. These three wins made himself and his Siberian Huskies famous. The same year the AAS was first run, 1908, The whole trail was 674 miles from Nenana to Nome, and Seppala was initially selected to cover the more than 400 miles from Nome to Nulato and back. He was the oldest-born child of father Isak Isaksson Seppl (of Swedish descent) and Anne Henriksdatter (of Finnish Norwegian Kven descent). I responded by reminding him that Leonhard Seppala often ran as many as 24 dogs on snow and ice! day, yet they almost won an upset victory at the second Nome Sweepstakes race Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Dallas Seavey. Seppala won the race, and afterward They asked him to begin traveling toward Nenana. The acquisition in 1931 by Harry R. Wheeler of the three mongrels were the best way to travel in this frozen tundra. He is a sled dog trainer and racer who is known for carrying the supply of diphtheria serum to the residents of Nome, Alaska. Seppala died in 1967 at age 90, and his ashes were scattered along the Iditarod Trail by his wife, Constance. Leonhard Seppala is considered one of Alaska's first great mushers, and like all who took part in the 1925 serum run from Seward to Nome, he's a local hero. By that time, he had already been a lead sled dog for seven years. The Togo true story reveals that as a young puppy Togo required excessive care from Leonhard Seppala's wife Constance. over. Both are buried in Nome, Alaska. And while the movie Seppala gets the date of Togos death right (He left us on a Thursday in December), in reality Seppala decided to put Togo to sleep, given Togos joint pain and partial blindness. Lindeberg, his friend and supervisor at Pioneer Mining Company, had brought the puppies from Siberia as a gift for the explorer Roald Amundsen, whom he hoped would use them for his upcoming expedition to the North Pole. Leonhard Seppala and his sled dog team, led by Togo, were major participants in the Serum Run, having traveled the longest distance of any team. Dislikes 'Sepp' entered the 1914 The darkness and a blizzard also made it impossible for Leonhard Seppala to see where he was going. He was famous for being a Dog Musher. Leonhards education details are not available at this time. One competitor described his communion with dogs as unnatural control or hypnotism.. Leonhard Seppala Popularity . Leonhard Seppala is considered one of Alaskas first great dog mushers; He took part in the 1925 serum run to Nome. Unfortunately, there was no gold to be found and instead took up training sled dogs. 1947. Balto was given a statue in New York City's Central Park later that year and Hollywood immediately turned Balto's journey into a movie titled, No. a warm reception from the Alaskan people. However, Seppala does not care and instead is more concerned for Togo's health. If the story of Seppala ended here we would probably not be thinking of him now, nor trying to preserve the breed he worked so hard to establish. Memorials 68 added (7% photographed). Indeed, it arrived there the next day, Monday, February 2, at approximately 5:30 A.M., and was thawed and ready for use by 11 am. Mining Company. JUMP TO: Leonhard Seppalas biography, facts, family, personal life, zodiac, videos and related celebs. Highlights plus less visited destinations. History vs. Hollywood visited the headquarters in 2013 and captured the photo of Togo displayed below. Previously unexposed children as well as adults were at risk of dying from the infection. The Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award, which honors excellence in sled dog care, is named in honour of him. It was there they rested and slept for six hours before continuing their journey at 2 a.m., heading into another bad storm. 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