The history of Alaska would be very different without the criss-crossing trails of thousands of dog teams, for the story of the Last Frontier was in large part written behind a team of sled dogs. 'Alaskan Sled Dog Tales' shares the important history of sled dogs in the Territory of Alaska, and how dogteams were an integral part of events such as the 1925 Serum Run to Nome, explorations of the land before there were roads or railroads, and the thrilling adventures of legendary mushers such as Leonhard Seppala, Harry Karstens, Jujiro Wada, ‘Iron Man” Johnson, Arthur Treadwell Walden, the 'Malemute Kid,' and many others. Included are stories such as Alaskan mail carrier Eli Smith’s epic trip to Washington, D.C., Alaska Nellie’s daring rescue of a lost mail carrier, the Rev. Samuel Hall Young’s 1913 trip over the Iditarod Trail, and Territorial Judge James Wickersham’s 1901 dogsled trip down the frozen Yukon River from Eagle to Rampart. Dozens of old photographs and postcards showcase the history, along with the entire booklet published by Esther Birdsall Darling in 1916, titled 'The Great Dog Races of Nome.' This thin but important booklet details the first eight years of the All Alaska Sweepstakes race, from 1908 to 1916, when the great race made household names of 'Scotty' Allan and Leonhard Seppala. And the dogs! From Baldy to Balto, Togo to Wolf, Chinook to Rembrandt, these are the dogs who blazed across Alaskan trails and into the history books. From the fiercely-argued conflict between sled dogs and reindeer, to the hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold the dog teams hauled along the Iditarod Trail and others, to the one time in sports history when Alaskan sled dogs raced in the Olympics, this book captures the fascinating stories of the brave and intrepid dogs of the north.

Alaskan Sled Dog Tales: True Stories of the Steadfast Companions of the North Country

History

Hegener, Helen

Americas

Northern Light Media

The historic All Alaska Sweepstakes sled dog race is the subject of The All Alaska Sweepstakes: History of the Great Sled Dog Race 1908-2008, by Helen Hegener. Dozens of beautiful photos by Jan DeNapoli, Joe May, Donna Quante and others tell the story of the sixteen Alaskan mushers who entered their teams, each hoping to have their name engraved on the Sweepstakes trophy beside the great mushing legends “Scotty” Allan and Leonhard Seppala; and, of course, they were racing for the richest purse ever offered for a sled dog race: $100,000.00 winner-take-all! The All Alaska Sweepstakes is the oldest organized distance sled dog race in the world, with records kept by the Nome Kennel Club dating back to the first race in 1908. The route from Nome, on the south side of the Seward Peninsula, to the small community of Candle on the north side and return, is 408 miles, following the telegraph lines which linked camps, villages and gold mining settlements on the Peninsula. This route’s established communication lines allowed those betting on the outcome to track the race more easily from the comfort of saloons like the famed Board of Trade in Nome, where the Nome Kennel Club had been founded the previous year. With colorful drivers like “Scotty” Allan and Leonhard Seppala, who each won the race three times, the All Alaska Sweepstakes was an eagerly anticipated annual event until the gold mining dropped off and Nome’s population dwindled, along with local interest in sled dog racing. In 1983 the Nome Kennel Club sponsored the 75th Anniversary race, and Rick Swenson took home the $25,000.00 purse. Then, in 2008, for the 100th Anniversary of the event, the Nome Kennel Club offered the richest purse ever for a sled dog race: $100,000.00 winner-take-all. The All Alaska Sweepstakes: History of the Great Sled Dog Race 1908-2008 begins with a look at the colorful history of the race, tracing its gold rush roots and highlighting the stories of intrepid mushers like Leonhard Seppala and “Scotty” Allan, “Iron Man” Johnson and Fox Maule Ramsay, and the heroic dogs like Baldy, Togo, and Fritz. For the Centennial Race some of Alaska’s best-known mushers entered: Lance Mackey, Jeff King, Mitch Seavey, Sonny Lindner, Ramy Brooks, Jim Lanier, Cim Smyth, Aaron Burmeister, Ed Iten, Hugh Neff, and Mike Santos. And then there were the mushers who entered simply to be a part of the history of the race: Kirsten Bey, Cari Miller, Fred Moe Napoka, Connor Thomas, and Jeff Darling, whose musher profile noted that he’d entered “for the historical value and a chance to see some countryside he might not otherwise be able to see by dogteam.” The photo-rich, full color book covers the race from the preliminary festivities such as the crowning of the Sweepstakes Queen, Janice Doherty, and the mushers’ bib drawing, to the historically-themed finisher’s banquet and the awards, not only of the beautiful championship trophy, but also the Alec “Scotty” Allan Humanitarian Award, and the Percy Blatchford “Spirit of the Race” award. Descriptive commentaries by Race Marshall and Lead Judge Al Crane; leaderboard designer and champion musher Jodi Bailey; and race fan Marcia Claesson, who shared how the race was tracked by mushing enthusiasts from around the world, add depth and perspective to the narrative. “One of the pilots in Candle asked me if I’d seen any wolves, and I said no, and he said there was a big pack of wolves headed this way. I was about two hours out of Candle on my way to Gold Run and I see all these green eyes about fifty feet off the trail, a hundred yards ahead of me. So I had my headlight on bright and I’m looking at these eyes… My .44 was in my sled so I unzipped my sled bag and I’m looking, there’s a lot of sets of eyes looking at me…” ~ musher Aaron Burmeister, telling tales of the trail at the finish banquet.

All Alaska Sweepstakes: History of the Great Sled Dog Race - 1908-2008

Along Alaskan Trails, Adventures in Sled Dog History, by Helen Hegener, is a collection of true stories about Alaskan sled dogs and the role they played in the development of the north, with dozens of historic photos from the archives of the Alaska State Library, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and other sources. Among the tales shared in this book is the story of an intrepid Japanese musher who blazed a wide swath across Alaska, an Archdeacon who wrote the classic Ten Thousand Miles with a Dogsled, legendary mushers such as Scotty Allan and Leonhard Seppala, Arctic explorers like Ernest de Koven Leffingwell, and intrepid adventurers like Slim Williams and Mary Joyce. And the dogs! From Baldy to Balto, Togo to Wolf, Chinook to Rembrandt, these are the dogs who blazed across Alaskan trails and into the history books. From the fiercely-argued conflict between sled dogs and reindeer, to the spooky apparitions along the Iditarod Trail, this book captures the fascinating stories of the dogs of the north.

Along Alaskan Trails: Adventures in Sled Dog History

In 1935 the U.S. Government transported 200 families from the Great Depression-stricken midwest to a valley of unparalleled beauty in Alaska, where they were given the chance to begin new lives as part of a federally-funded social experiment, the Matanuska Colony Project. As part of each family's farmstead, a magnificent barn was raised, a sturdy square structure 32' by 32' and soaring 32' high. Today these Colony barns are an iconic reminder of what has been called the last great pioneering adventure in America. “Anyone who travels through the eastern part of Alaska’s dramatically beautiful Matanuska Valley soon finds a Colony barn enhancing the landscape. These striking Valley landmarks are the enduring legacy of an all-but-forgotten chapter in American history, when the U.S. government took a direct hand in the lives of thousands of its citizens, offering Depression-distraught farm families an opportunity to begin again in a far-off land with government financing and support. Central to every Colony farm was the barn, a core structure integral to the operation of these family farms.” ~from the preface The Matanuska Colony Barns: The Enduring Legacy of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project, by Helen Hegener, photographs by Eric Vercammen, Stewart Amgwert, Albert Marquez, Dave Rose, Joanie Juster, Ron Day and others. Foreword by Barbara Hecker. Introduction by James H. Fox. 140 pages, full color. ISBN 978-0-9843977-4-7. Includes Colonist families listing, maps, bibliography, resources, index.

The Matanuska Colony Barns: The Enduring Legacy of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project

Travel

United States

A photographic exploration of Alaska's Matanuska Valley. The founding, settling, and development, details about the Valley’s geography, geology, transportation, agriculture, mining, recreation, tourism, and history. Highlighted by hundreds of full-color photographs, this book showcases the many wonders of the beautiful Matanuska Valley.

The Beautiful Matanuska Valley: From the Matanuska Glacier to Point Mackenzie, and from the Knik Glacier to the Little Susitna River

Pictorial

Long Hard Trails and Sled Dog Tales is a memoir of sorts, an adventure story to be sure, and a look at what it’s like to follow a winning sled dog team across thousands of miles of Arctic wilderness. Award-winning author Helen Hegener hitched her wagon to a star: The legendary four-time Iditarod and Yukon Quest champion Lance Mackey, beginning with his bid for a fourth Yukon Quest title in 2008. For the next several years she followed Lance and dozens of other mushers, many of whom became close friends, across Alaska and the Yukon Territory. She founded Northern Light Media, which produced the DVD Appetite and Attitude: A Conversation with Lance Mackey, and published the books Yukon Quest Album, All Alaska Sweepstakes, Along Alaskan Trails, and others. But going beyond the exciting sled dog races, she also gives readers the backstory of her life as founder and co-publisher of a leading publication in alternative education, and the riveting nationally-watched lawsuit which cost her that business and much more; the ‘long hard’ part of the trail…

Long Hard Trails and Sled Dog Tales: My adventures in tracking dogteams across Alaska, and what I learned along the way

Sports & Outdoors

Winter Sports

In 1935 the U.S. Government transported 200 families from the Great Depression-stricken upper midwest to a valley of unparalleled beauty in Alaska, where they were given the chance to begin new lives as part of a federally-funded social experiment. The 1935 Matanuska Colony Project, subtitled “The Remarkable History of a New Deal Experiment in Alaska," shares the enduring legacy of this all-but-forgotten chapter in American history, when the U.S. government took a direct hand in the lives of thousands of its citizens, offering Depression-distraught farm families an opportunity to start over in a far-off land with government financing and support. The Matanuska Colony was not the only government rural rehabilitation project; it was in fact only one of a multitude of complex, ambitious and controversial programs initiated under Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal Federal Rural Development Program, and other resettlement projects included Dyess Colony, Arkansas; Arthurdale, West Virginia; the Phoenix Homesteads in Arizona; and similar colonies in over a dozen other states. Although fraught with inevitable bureaucratic entanglements, frustrating delays, and a variety of other distractions, the Matanuska Colony actually thrived for the most part, and nearly 200 families remained to raise their families and make their permanent homes in Alaska. Highways were built, the wide Matanuska and Knik Rivers were bridged, and the town of Palmer became the center of commerce and society in the Valley. By 1948, production from the Colony Project farms provided over half of the total Alaskan agricultural products sold. Today the Matanuska Valley draws worldwide attention for its colorful agricultural heritage and its uniquely orchestrated history. This book tells the story of that history.

The 1935 Matanuska Colony Project: The Remarkable History of a New Deal Experiment in Alaska

In 1935 the U.S. Government transported 203 families from the Great Depression-stricken upper midwest to a valley of unparalleled beauty in Alaska, where they were given the chance to begin new lives as part of a federally-funded social experiment. Willis T. Geisman was the official photographer for the project, and his compelling images of the families, workmen, officials, landscape and more are presented in this collection of his photographs. Willis Geisman traveled to Alaska with the advance guard of officials and workmen for the project, documenting as he went, and he lived among the Matanuska Colony families from May through October, 1935, chronicling their arrival, living in the tent cities built for them, and their farms slowly taking shape over the course of the summer. He photographed the men working to build a community in the Alaskan wilderness, the children playing, the wives going about their daily chores. A line of trucks full of transient workmen setting off for a day's work, a group of children gleefully picking wild raspberries, a proud farm wife showing off her stacked cans of salmon, a farmer harvesting hay behind a team of strong horses. These are the images Willis Geisman captured, and they tell the story of one of the most interesting chapters of Alaskan - and American - history, a time when the U.S. government took a direct hand in the lives of thousands of its citizens. Today the Matanuska Valley, with picturesque Colony farms dotting the landscape, draws worldwide attention for its colorful agricultural heritage and its uniquely orchestrated history. This book of Willis Geisman's enduring photographs tells the story of that history.

The Matanuska Colony Album: Photographs of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project

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