Seppala became interested in dog sledding during his first winter in Alaska when he became a sled dog driver for Lindeberg's company. IN 1913 SEPPALA'S EMPLOYER Jafet Lindeberg, a mining company operator, Together with his dog Togo and several other dogs, he was able to brave through snowy weather and tundra to save countless of lives. Inspiration We consulted cousins Gay Salisbury and Laney Salisburys deeply researched book about the serum race, The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic, along with what few other sources we could find, to break it all down below. a warm reception from the Alaskan people. Claim at Anvil Creek. Seppala won the race, and afterward For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives. consistently with his Siberian sleddogs until the race was discontinued Togo In reality, the winds were in a rare state of calm, and Seppala had a crowd to cheer on the beginning of his journey to Nulatohalfway to Nome, but still a six-day journey encompassing a total of 630 miles. Who are the richest people in the world? The following summer a shipload of This meant avoiding rocky cliffs along the shore, but it also exposed him and his team to the dangers of the Sound. However, Seppala was not always so Big. In researching the. Dead tissue then builds up in the throat or nose, forming a thick, gray coating dubbed a "pseudomembrane". Your donation in any amount will help us continue important preservation work. As for Leonhard Seppala, famous as a dog sledder (), I think I knew him well because I was taken for a ride with his white dog team one Sunday. Seppala's only childan eight-year-old daughter named Sigridwas also at risk. 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. 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. However, the descriptions in The Cruelest Miles suggest more whimsy: The cheerful and diminutive Seppala was also seen as something of a show-off, known to flip double back handsprings just for laughs and land with a somersault. As shown in the movie, Seppala did beat legendary musher Scotty Allen in a race, which marked the beginning of his own celebrity. remained in St. Jovite through the winter of 1931-32 and competed with His tour ended in January 1927 with the dogsled race at Poland Spring, Maine, where he accepted the challenge to race against Arthur Walden, founder of the New England Sled Dog Club and owner of the famous lead dog, "Chinook". Leonhard Seppala. scraper to clear the sluice boxes, and shoveling gravel on Discovery The serum would be transported to Nenana by train. This membrane (visible below over a patient's tonsils) covers healthy tissues in the throat, nose, tonsils and voice box, causing a croup-like cough, as well as severe difficulty breathing and swallowing. Lygenfjrd, Norway -- 600 miles north of the Everyone knew Sepps abilities. 2020 by Poland Spring Seppala Kennels. mongrels were the best way to travel in this frozen tundra. It was there they rested and slept for six hours before continuing their journey at 2 a.m., heading into another bad storm. The real-life Leonhard Seppala In 1925, more than 20 men and their dogs helped rush an emergency package of medicine nearly 675 miles to Nome, Alaska, which faced a deadly outbreak of diphtheria. While Seppala insists on immediately retiring him due to his small and weak state, Constance is strongly supportive of the puppy. Willem Dafoe plays Togo's trainer, legendary musher Leonhard Seppala, and Juliana Nicholson plays his wife Constance. Seppala and his dogs also traveled from Alaska to the lower 48 states to do a nationwide tour. He tries locking him away and later give him away to another owner twice. [1]:68, Seppala made the decision to compete in his first race, the 1914 All Alaska Sweepstakes, at the last minute. Leonhard Seppala was born in Norway. Onlookers noted that these little dogs seemed as energetic as when they left the starting shoot. The safer alternative was twice as far. Early on, it was believed that the individual attention led to his rowdiness and mischievous behavior. 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). Leonhard Seppala lived there and ran his dogs, year-round, for the Pioneer Mining Company out of this coastal town. The following year, on the strength of publicity consequent to the Nome Serum Run, In 1961, Seppala revisited Fairbanks and other places in Alaska at the invitation of American journalist Lowell Thomas, enjoying a warm reception from the Alaskan people. He then had to learn mining from the ground up, starting [1]:64[2][3][4], Seppala was born in the Lyngen, Troms og Finnmark, Northern Norway. He had learnt to wrestle as a boy, virtually as a matter The anti-toxins Doctor Welch had ordered had not come in the last shipment. - Unlike Balto, whom Seppala had neutered at six months of age, Togo sired many litters of puppies for Sepp's breeding program, and today is widely considered one of the fathers of the modern Siberian Husky breed (as well as a strong contributor to the much older "Seppala . Tony Krier had told Urtha years ago that if he wanted the building to preserve the memory of Nome resident, Leonhard Seppala, that he could have it. Unlike the movie, Leonhard Seppala eventually decided that he wanted Togo to live out the remainder of his life in comfort. Only a few hours after they had crossed it, the ice broke up altogether and drifted out to sea. 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! Arctic Circle -- the 14th September in the year 1877. Dallas Seavey. placing first, second and fourth. Plan your journey with this gorgeous printed map. His tour finished in the State of Maine in 1927 with a challenge race in 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. Seppala is based on the real person of the same name. it would have broken the Bank of Nome.) father's fishing boat the "Leviathan" at the age of twelve, and Born in 1877 #36. Generation also known as The Greatest Generation. His dog Togo would earn his place in the history books and a place at the Yales Peabody Institute. According to the Salisburys, this is also true to life. also apprenticed in his father's smithy. Source. His friend Jafet Lindeberg had returned from Alaska and convinced Seppala to come to work for his mining company in Nome. Furious, she left the house and refused to come back. Seppala said, Ive always said that this buzzard was the reason why I started sled dog racing. started the first historic 'Seppala Kennels' in Poland Spring in partnership from Alaska flush with gold dollars and encouraged Sepp to take ship Despite a series of time-consuming mishaps on the trail, Seppala won the race against the bigger, slower dogs driven by Walden and his followers. Which one is right for you? Conditions on the ice were perilous, with sudden soft spots in the ice underfoot and outright open water sometimes only a few feet away. feeling that the credit had been stolen from Togo who had deserved to be Leonhard Seppala Fans Also Viewed . His eight-year-old daughter Sigrid was in Nome, in danger of contracting diphtheria herself. Regardless, Seppala could tell that Togo wanted to press on. Overwhelmed by choices? Eventually Sepp got his chance to go prospecting for the company. Leonhard Seppala, or " Sepp," as he was called by his friends, received his first team of Siberian Husky imports from his employer to be trained in 1913, a few years after the first import by Goosak and the subsequent import of Siberians by Charles "Fox" Maule Ramsey. Pets The People of Nome had another idea. And while the suspense in the movie is more than adequate, Seppala described even more danger. of Harry R. Wheeler, the owner of Grey Rocks Inn. 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. Seppala grumbles that Constance is too softhearted and hints that a bullet might have been the easiest solution to Togos behavioral issues. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. 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. stricken city. The prestigious Alaska Airlines Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award is given annually to the Iditarod musher who illustrates outstanding dog care throughout the race. This was possibly filmed in Chatanika, Alaska. 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. TogoBaltoNumerous other dogs 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. Occupation He immediately began the trek back across Norton Sound without pausing to rest.The conditions on the return trip were even worse. Nome was, as it is today, completely closed to the outside world. Welch and Maynard were present at the equivalent meeting, but Seppala was not present nor very much involved in the decision. In 1961, Seppala revisited Fairbanks and other places in Alaska at the invitation of American journalist Lowell Thomas, enjoying a warm reception from the Alaskan people. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. 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