Leonhard Seppala with Togo

The city's small cache of 6 year old serum had been used up, and the nearest supply was Anchorage, almost 1000 miles away. The Alaska Railroad could take it as far as Nenana, but Nenana was still 658 miles from ice shrouded Nome. There were only three airplanes in all of Alaska, and the three people who knew how to fly them were very sensibly spending winter elsewhere. Furthermore, the planes were in Fairbanks, out of commission. Although three unqualified pilots gamely volunteered to fly the rickety planes to Anchorage and thence to Nome, the 80mph winds and raging blizzards made the authorities wisely decide to attempt a more traditional transport.

Only Huskies could save the day. A 20 pound package of diptheria serum, a supply of 300,000 units, was relayed from Nenana to Nome. Under the able leadership of Leonhard Seppala, 20 expert drivers and over 100 dogs were recruited for the gruelling trip. The drivers included me with names like Wild Bill Shannon, Tommy Patsy, Myles Gonangnan, and Jack Screw.

To make things even more difficult, the mushers had to stop periodically in order to warm the serum, because nobody knew if it would still work if frozen. Reindeer skin, quilt and canvas were used for insulating the serum containers.

Almost beyond belief, the dogs ran 658 miles in five and a half days, sometimes through blizzards and snowdrifts that were waist high. I was snowing so hard that drivers literally could not see the dogs in front of them. At times, the temperature plunged to 62 degrees below zero. Two dogs actually froze to death in harness; their musher, Charlie Evans, took their place and, along with the surviving dogs, pulled the sled himself the remaining miles of his run.

Leonhard Seppala himself drove 340 of thos miles. Seppala's 12 year old lead dog was the great Togo, a dog bred by Seppala himself; in fact he was the son of the resourceful Suggen. Togo was therefore a first generation American. At first, Togo seemed an unpromising specimen; he ran away fromhome, bit th other dogs, and allowed no one but Leonhard's wife, Constance to handle him. Gradually, however he came around, and to everyone's surprise, became one of the greatest racing dogs in history.

Togo was a little dog and not much to look at by today's tandards, but he could leada team like o other dog. Altogether, Seppala estimated that Togo had run over 5000 miles during his distinguished career. Fittingly, the great Serum Run was his last appearance. Aging and injured on the trip, the old hero was permanently retired afterward. He died in Poland Spring, Maine, in 1929, at the age of 14 or 15.

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