Togo vs. Balto: The Sled Dog Who Did the Work and Didn't Get the Statue

In January 1925, a diphtheria outbreak swept through Nome, Alaska. The nearest antitoxin serum was 938 miles away in Anchorage. The town was locked in winter. Roads were impassable. Planes could not fly. The only option was a relay of dog sled teams.

Twenty mushers and about 150 dogs ran the serum from Nenana to Nome in 127 hours and 30 minutes. It was one of the most celebrated events in Alaska's history. One dog got nearly all the credit. He didn't deserve most of it. Another dog did.

The Relay

The serum left Nenana on January 27. Teams passed it in relay, each covering their own section of the Iditarod Trail. The conditions were brutal. Temperatures reached minus 85 degrees Fahrenheit with windchill. Trails were drifted shut. Visibility was near zero.

The mushers who took the most difficult stretches were Leonhard Seppala and his lead dog, a Siberian Husky named Togo. Seppala was assigned the longest and most dangerous section of the entire relay: 261 miles through some of the most treacherous terrain in Alaska, including a crossing of Norton Sound at night in a storm.

Norton Sound

Norton Sound is a body of open water that freezes in winter. The ice crossing saves more than 70 miles compared to going around the coast. It is also extremely dangerous. The ice can shift and break at any time.

Togo led Seppala's team across Norton Sound on the night of January 29. A storm came in. The ice they were on broke free from the shore and began drifting into open water. Togo swam across open ocean to reach the shore-fast ice, pulling the towline with him. He pulled the whole team to safety.

He was 12 years old.

The Finish Line

The final 55-mile stretch into Nome was run by a musher named Gunnar Kaasen and his lead dog, Balto. Kaasen arrived in Nome at 5:30 in the morning. Reporters were waiting. Photographers were there. Balto, who ran the final leg and crossed the finish line, became the face of the whole relay.

A statue of Balto was erected in Central Park in New York City in December 1925. Balto was taken on tour. Balto got the book deal. Balto got the animated film in 1995.

Seppala, who had done the hardest work, was furious. He spent years trying to set the record straight.

What the Record Shows

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, which commemorates the 1925 relay, inducted Togo into its Trail Hall of Fame in 1984. Seppala himself called Togo the most intelligent and courageous animal he had ever known. His stuffed remains are on display at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska. A 2019 film finally told the story from Togo's perspective.

Balto covered 55 miles. Togo covered 261. History just takes a while to catch up.

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Sources

• Wikipedia — 1925 serum run to Nome
• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race — History
• Smithsonian Magazine — The True Story of Togo
• National Park Service — The 1925 Nome Serum Run
• History.com — Balto vs. Togo

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