Balto
A future Clevelander was the hero of the run that inspired the Iditarod. Or so legend has it.
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race first ran to Nome in 1973, in honor of the route that was Alaska's central artery when dog team was the main means of travel. The trail's last burst of glory came in 1925, when serum delivered by a relay of teams saved icebound Nome from a diphtheria epidemic.
Musher Leonhard Seppala and his lead dog, Togo, ran the longest and most dangerous leg of the six-day, 674-mile relay. But it was Gunnar Kaasen, blinded by a raging blizzard, who drove the final two legs behind his lead dog, Balto. They won worldwide fame.
Two years later, Cleveland businessman George Kimble found Balto and his team tied to a sled, underfed and abused, in a "dime museum" sideshow in Los Angeles. Outraged, he organized a campaign with The Plain Dealer that saw school kids raise $2,000 in 10 days to buy the dogs.
A month later, Cleveland gave the team a heroes welcome and parade, and a fitting home at the Brookside (now Metroparks) Zoo. After Balto died in March 1933, his body was mounted and given to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where it remains.
In Alaska, Togo is considered "the true heroic lead dog of the run," musher Emil Churchin said. "To some, Balto had more of a purebred look and enjoyed people. Others say Balto's owner was more savvy, and Seppala was bitter that Togo didn't get the fame. Togo looks scrawny in comparison, but Togo is more like the modern racing dog."
