Sled Dog Heroes of WWI

During WWI the French army launched a secret mission involving sled dogs. Just recently, almost 100 years later, did the French reveal information about the mission for the benefit of the documentary Sled Dog Soldiers.

Sled dogs in the French army.

The winter of 1914 was incredibly hard on the French soldiers in the Vosges mountains due to heavy snowfall. Traveling by vehicle or horse was impossible, meaning the troops could not receive important supplies such as food, warm clothes and ammunition. It also meant they could not transport their wounded soldiers.

Captain Louis Joseph Moufflet and Lieutenant Rene Robert Haas, who use to work as gold diggers in Alaska, knew sled dogs would be the perfect solution in preventing another disastrous winter. After convincing the French army to use the dogs, a secret mission was organized to bring 400 of the best sled dogs to France. They only had a few months to accomplish this feat before the winter of 1915 set in.

Moufflet went to Quebec City, Canada to find the majority of the dogs and Haas, who also happened to be an experienced musher, went to Nome, Alaska. After countless trials and tribulations, the two men found over 400 dogs.

Getting the dogs to France was not an easy task. First, Haas had to get his 100 plus dogs to Quebec. They took a boat from Nome to Vancouver, Canada, then a train to Quebec. All the dogs survived the long trip. Until the two Officers were able to find a boat to get them to France, which turned out to be quite a challenge at that time, they hid the dogs in a hangar - next to an explosive-testing facility that ended up benefiting the dogs by getting them use to explosions. Fortunately they were able to find a boat just in the nick of time. In fact, their boat was the last to leave Quebec City that winter before the St. Laurence River froze over. They arrived on the Vosges Front on December 15, 1915. Four dogs lost their lives during the 6,000 mile journey.

The dogs definitely proved to be helpful. The best distance achieved, with only nine dogs and close to 700 pounds of weight on the sled, was almost 75 miles in one day. In another successful mission, the sled dogs were able to transport 90 tons of ammunition in four days.

The sled dogs went on to help the French soldiers survive the winters and win multiple battles throughout WWI, but like humans, many died in combat.

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Dog Sled Team Travels Thousands of Miles to Help Alaska

Eli Smith and his team of sled dogs traveled from Nome to Washington DC (almost 8,000 miles round trip) so he could make Congress aware of Alaska's needs for roads and railways.

Wolf is the second on the right

Eli Smith was a musher and prospector of gold. He had a good team of dogs and not a whole lot of luck with the gold. He was in Klondike before moving on to Nome for search of more gold. Before he left, Smith bought an injured wolf pup from a man who was not treating the animal good. Wolf healed nicely and was trained to pull the sled. Over time, his abilities made him team leader.

In late 1898 Smith, Wolf and the dogs (some huskies and some regular dogs) headed to Nome. Smith took very good care of his team, and the team took good care of him. Smith would take the time to make leather booties for the regular dogs to protect their paws from the ice, and during one exceptionally bad storm Wolf and the dogs pulled Eli safely through a fierce storm.

Smith's luck with finding gold in Nome was not good so he took a job delivering mail via mushing. The 350 mile route was rough and prone to storms, but Smith and his team managed. When Smith learned of an offer, with a large amount of money, he went for it. He knew they could do it - travel from Nome to Washington DC.

Alaska was in need of roads and railways, and though Alaska was not a territory at that time, the District of Alaska had a representative in Congress. Therefore, someone offered a $10,000 reward for any musher to make the trip to DC. In order to collect the money, he had to make it there by February 22, 1907 (before Congress adjourned), he had to meet with the president to discuss Alaska's needs, and he had to bring back a signed note from the president.

Smith, Wolf and his dogs left Nome on November 14, 1905. Except for the boat ride from Valdez to Seattle, the entire trip was done by dog sled. On the long trip, the dog sled team attracted much attention from the people and press. One farmer even offered to add wheels to the sled to make travel easier during the warm months. Smith accepted the offer.

On February 2, 1907 - almost 15 months later - the dog sled team arrived at the White House. Smith met President Teddy Roosevelt and the President met Wolf and the dogs. He could be heard by the press saying "Bully, Bully! Fine."

Roosevelt wrote the note so Smith could claim the reward, but it is unsure whether he collected it. After the journey, not much else is known about him. However, his obituary in a Fresno, California newspaper states that he died poor.

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Taro and Jiro: Antarctica's Survivors

Taro and Jiro became famous dogs in history for their will to live when left behind in Antarctica, having survived on their own for 11 months in extremely harsh conditions.

Taro and Jiro greeted by the men from the expedition that found them.

Taro and Jiro, three year old male siblings, were the youngest of 15 sled dogs of the first Japanese expedition to Antarctica that started in January 1957. The dogs were Sakhalin huskies, known in Japan as Karafuto-ken, a beloved Japanese dog that was well-suited to snowy climates.

The first team, consisting of 11 researchers, were to be replaced by another team in February 1958. However, before the second team could arrive a strong and unexpected storm approached causing the first team to be evacuated by helicopter and the second team to be suspended. Unfortunately, the dogs had to be left behind. They were chained and given food to last them for a few days, when the team had hoped to return for them. Sadly, the men could not return until the following year.

On January 14, 1959, the expedition returned to the base in Antarctica. The men were expecting to find the 15 dogs dead but only seven (Aka, Goro, Pochi, Moku, Kuro, Pesu and Kuma from Monbetsu) lost their lives while still chained. The other eight dogs had managed to break free from the chains. Amazingly two of the dogs, Taro and Jiro, were found alive near the base. The remaining six (Riki, Anko, Deri, Jakku, Shiro and Kuma from Furen - this Kuma was the father of Taro and Jiro) were never found.

Taro and Jiro were able to survive the 11 months in extreme conditions without human support, and apparently did not resort to eating the bodies of their fellow dogs. Yasukazu Kitamura, Professor Emeritus of Kyushu University and caretaker of the dogs, described "The stored foods for human and dog in Showa base were intact. Some types of dogs have to cannibalism during the famine. Seven dogs were found in dead which were connected to chains, while the bodies were intact. I think that Sakhalin dogs ate penguins, feces of seal, seabirds and fishes (trapped in the ice)."

Taro and Jiro stayed in Antarctica to pull sleds for the new expedition. In 1960 Jiro died of a disease in Antarctica and in 1961 Taro returned to his hometown Sapporo and lived at Hokkaido University until he died of old age in 1970. Taro's body was embalmed and is on display at the Museum of National Treasures at the Botanical Garden of Hokkaido University, and Jiro's body was embalmed and is on display at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo - the same museum where Hachiko (Japan's most loyal dog) is on display.

One of the monuments (part of it) honoring the dogs that were left behind.

Monuments were erected in Japan honoring Taro, Jiro and the dogs who lost their lives, and two movies were made based on their story - Nankyoku Monogatari in 1983 and Eight Below in 2006.

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Alaska Dog Team at Mount Rainier Park

Alaskan dogs became famous in Mount Rainier National Park in the early 1900s, attracting visitors and helping to keep telephone lines working.

Alaska dog team in front of Paradise Inn

In 1899 Mount Rainier in Washington state became the fifth national park in the US. The wildlife and spectacular views of wildflowers, waterfalls and glaciers the mountain offered attracted visitors from all around, and by 1917 the Paradise Inn (which still stands today) was built to provide comfortable accommodations to the tourists.

Despite the harsh winters, where snow amounts could easily total 20-30 feet, people continued to visit on skis and snowshoes. In the early 1920s, the Rainier National Park Company (RNPC) decided to keep the national park open during the winter season. To attract more visitors, the RNPC brought in a team of Alaskan sled dogs. The dogs would pull a sleigh carrying tourists through the Douglas fir and hemlock forest - an adventurous and beautiful ride to never be forgotten. This was continued for several years.

The original team was brought from Nome, Alaska by an Eskimo musher named Kakisenoruk. The team consisted of 13 dogs, a mix of malamutes and huskies: Jerry (the lead dog), Speedy, Sport, Mutt, Jimmie, Jack, Tommy, Thor, Tip, Smoky, Happy, Blanco and Dick. Not only were the dogs an attraction, they were beneficial in keeping the telephone lines working during the winter seasons.

"Soon all that will connect Paradise with the rest of the world will be the thin threads of the government telephone line. But when the lashing winds come roaring down from off the jagged ridges of the Tatoosh Mountains, the telephone wires will snap, and poles will be broken in two, like matches," wrote Edward J Crosby in an article "Whose Snows Halt All But Dogs" in the American Kennel Club Gazette (November 27, 1927).

Instead of waiting for the spring thaw to fix broken lines, Kakisenoruk and his team of dogs would get a government lineman to the site to make the repairs. The trips could sometimes take days and the loads were often heavy with provisions but the dogs were able to get the men there and back safely despite the fierce weather. According to Crosby, "Jerry is the leader and sets the pace and keeps his team mates in line - if a dog gets fractious he will double back and show him his place in furious fashion."

Other dogs were bred and trained to pull a sleigh of passengers along the forest trails, and the rides continued into the summer months. "Although summer suns become quite warm, there is snow a plenty for the wonderful sport... It has long been the opinion that an Alaska dog team could not be maintained and operated in lands south of the Arctic Circle during summer, but with patient training and arduous labor one of the finest teams in the country has been raised in Rainier National Park." - Milwaukee Road Magazine, January 1929

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Sled Dog Heroes: The 1925 Serum Run

Over 100 sled dogs became famous in history when they delivered a much needed serum to stop a deadly disease.

1925 Serum Run dog sled team

In the winter of 1925, an outbreak of diphtheria in Nome, Alaska was taking the lives of young children and threatening to take hundreds of more lives if the one and only doctor couldn't get the serum needed to treat and prevent the illness. The closest large supply of serum was almost 700 miles away in Nenana. During the harsh weather conditions, the only means of transportation was the dog sled via the Iditarod Trail. The people who made this run during the winter months were the postmen, which normally took two to three weeks to complete. The serum had to get there faster, so Alaska's Territorial Governor approved a relay of the 20 best sled dog drivers and about 150 dogs.

The temperatures were at 20 year lows due to a high pressure system from the Arctic. The journey began January 27. Teams traveled day and night through rough terrain and blizzards, handing off the package of serum to fresh teams. Temperatures reached down to -50°F. Wind speeds got as high as 85 mph, causing the temperature to feel -70°F. The lifesaving serum reached Nome on February 2. The run was completed in a record 5 days and 7 hours.

All sled dogs (and mushers) were heroes. Four dogs died from the cold. Two notable dogs who survived the run were Togo and Balto, both Siberian huskies.

Seppala & Togo

Togo was the lead sled dog of Leonhard Seppala (a musher and a Siberian husky breeder). Togo was smaller than the usual size of a Siberian husky. He was sick as a puppy, was difficult and mischievous, and did not seem suited to be a sled dog. Seppala gave him away when he was six months old to be a pet dog at a house several miles from his home. A few weeks later, Togo escaped and ran back to be with Seppala. This devotion impressed Seppala, so he kept him. After much training, and problems, Togo filled the lead dog position and became one of Seppala's most treasured dogs. At the time of the serum run, Togo was 12 years old and had been a lead dog for 7 years. Seppala and Togo covered 91 miles, the longest distance of the relay and the most dangerous part of the journey. Togo died at the age of 16 in 1929. His body was stuffed and mounted, and is displayed at the Iditarod Trail Headquarters Museum in Wasilla, Alaska.

Kaasen & Balto

Balto (owned by Seppala) was the lead sled dog of Gunner Kaasen (a musher). Balto was larger than Togo but did not "cut" a racing profile. He was considered to be a scrub dog, meaning an inferior or slow-working dog. Seppala did not consider him breeding material so he had him neutered when he was six months old. Balto was a strong dog, and was used as a freighting dog at the mining company where Seppala worked - he was part of a dog team that transported heavy supplies to the miners. Balto's first chance as a lead dog was with the serum run. Kaasen and Balto covered the last 53 miles of the relay. Balto proved himself to be an excellent leader. He was able to stay on the trail in near whiteout conditions, and was credited for saving the lives of the team on more than one occasion. Balto died at the age of 14 in 1933. His body was stuffed and mounted, and is displayed at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

The publicity from the 1925 Serum Run helped spur an inoculation campaign in the US that dramatically reduced the threat of diphtheria. Since 1973, the Iditarod Trail Race has been run annually in memory of this original sled dog relay. Alaska uses the Iditarod race to promote immunization and other local public health activities.

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