The word "Iditarod" comes from the Indian word haiditarod that means "far distant place." Traditionally, the Idtiatrod Race begins the first Saturday in March, in downtown Anchorage. Anchorage isn't even on the official Iditarod Trail (20 miles off) , but is more the race's ceremonial start than actual start since it's Alaska's largest city and so logistically makes good sense.
At dawn, the day before race day, there is a "ceremonial" run of 20 miles through the city of Anchorage. (See below at Iditariders also) The run begins at Fourth Avenue in Anchorage, winding through it's streets and going out of town to end at Checkpoint No. 2 Eagle River. The next day, all the teams meet at Wasilla, the Iditarod headquarters to begin the real race to Nome.
Let me begin by clearing up a common misconception about the Iditarod. It was NOT started to honor the "Great Race of Mercy" (drivers and dogs) to Nome, Alaska that brought the diphtheria serum to those in need! This notion has been perpetuated by the media over the years. The original name of the race was the "Iditarod Trail Seppala Memorial Race" in honor of mushing legend Leonhard Seppala (who I'll discuss more later on.) The race could have also been named after another famous musher named Scotty Allen (another guy I'll discuss later on). But, the Iditarod Race was really patterned after the All-Alaska Sweepstakes of 1907-8. But, without a doubt, the Iditarod Trail peaked during the Alaskan gold rush from the late 1880's to the mid 1920's.
I think it's best if I begin with the dogs, since they are just as much a part of the history of the Iditarod Race as the mushers. So, let's start with the word "mush." It comes from the French word 'march' as in to march (not the month of March). The word has been around for over 150 years. However, the word "dog musher" is fairly new. In the olde days it was "dog driver" or "dog puncher." And, the phrase of actually traveling by dog sled was called "dog sledding." Today it's also called "mushing." Modern dog sled drivers very rarely start their teams off by saying "Mush!" They now say either "Let's go!" or "Hike!"
No one is really sure when using dogs to pull sleds began. The practice is believed to begin with the people of northern Eurasia, who crossed the Bering Land Bridge into Alaska. It is here that the oldest evidence of dog sled use has been discovered (old parts and materials).
The first sled dogs were descendants from the wolf and were very husky weighing up to 80 lbs. or more. They had thick necks and chests, with short but strong legs. A breed of dog that we know of today called the Alaskan Mahlemut is believed to have been developed by the Mahlemut Eskimos. These dogs are large, gentle, thick-coated, with wolf-like features that can endure extreme cold weather.
Henry Bannister, a European-American explorer visited Alaska in the 1860's. In his records he noted seeing Eskimo teams (5 to 7 dogs) that could pull loads of up to 1,000 lbs. When Euro-Americans arrived in Alaska, the use of sled dogs expanded. From the 18th to early 20th century, sled dogs were used for transportation, exploration, trapping, hunting, hauling supplies, mining, and mail delivery. Trappers would work together in "dog trains" covering Alaska's interior. They would average 25 to 50 miles per day and would cover thousands of miles in a single winter.
By the end of the 19th century, Alaska's gold miners felt dogs were invaluable. Mushers would haul food, freight, mail and mining equipment to gold claims. Then they'd pack gold on their return trips. As the demand for gold went up, so did the price of dogs. A big, strong, durable dog could be as high as $1,000.
Sled dogs were very very important to Alaska's mail service in the early 1900's. And, one of the most important mail routes was....the Iditarod Trail!
Iditarod dogs will burn up to 11,000 calories a day! So, it's important to feed them well. Traditional dry dog food doesn't work for them. These dogs need a specially formulated mix of meats, fats, vitamins and bone meal.
To protect the dogs' feet from cuts and abrasions (mostly from ice) they wear dog booties. Surprisingly, putting on these booties is a task because it must be done with bare hands to work the Velcro straps. Also, because the booties are made of soft material, they don't last very long. The dogs can chew on them or they wear out after so many miles. The booties cost about 50 cents each. And, during the Iditarod, a driver may need up to 1,500 booties for his team. So, do the multiplication. That can be $750 just in dog booties!
The Iditarod Trail was primarily a winter pathway because in the summer it was nothing but swamps, bogs and lowland tundra making crossing it literally impossible! The trail was mainly for transportation and communication to connect mining camps and trading posts (and other settlements that sprang up during the gold rush era). The Iditarod wasn't just one trail. It was a network of trails that started in Seward, Alaska and ended up in the big gold boom town of Nome, Alaska on the Bering Sea Coast. Included it's side trails, the entire transportation system was more than 2,200 miles long.
The first gold strike in Alaska was made at Resurrection Creek in 1891. Within 5 years, 3,000 people had poured into the area. Then a second gold rush happened in 1898, causing thousands to stampede and settle in Cook Inlet and towns like Hope, Sunrise, Knik and Susitna. Later on that year, gold was found on the shores near Cape Nome, triggering the biggest gold rush stampede in US history. Within two years, 30,000 people moved to Alaska to seek their fortune. More than $2 million was extracted from Nome's "golden sands" and the city got a reputation of being one of the wildest towns in the area (corrupt officials, claim jumping, violence).
But, many failed to find gold. So, by 1905 Nome's population fell to 5,000. And, the town was basically isolated in the winter (October to June) when the Bering Sea was frozen and contact with the outside world was cut off. So, the US Army's Alaska Road Commission ordered a route be surveyed from Seward to Nome.
Walter Goodwin, plus a 4-man team started to survey the area in January 1908. In 3 months these men blazed a path miles long. But, Goodwin said that this trail would only make sense economically if more gold was discovered along it to increase traffic. Low and behold, on Christmas Day in 1908 W.A. Dikeman and John Beaton, two prospectors, found gold on a tributary of the Haiditarod River, approximately 60 miles southwest of the route Goodwin had blazed. This gold discovery created Alaska's last major gold rush. By 1912 more than 10,000 gold hunters were lured to the Inland Empire, mostly setting in either Ruby or Iditarod.
This gold strike prompted the completion of the Seward to Nome US Army project. So, a work crew of 9 men and 6 dog teams (lead by Goodwin) cleared, marked, and improved nearly 1,000 miles of trail during the winter of 1910-11.
Through the 1920's thousands traveled the Iditarod's network of trails in the winter. Most traveled by dog teams. A few rode horse-drawn sleds. Others walked, snowshoed or bicycled (because they couldn't afford a dog team).
How you used the Iditarod trail depended a lot on the distance between the rest areas known as roadhouses. Dozens of these sprouted up along the trail, usually a day's journey apart (approximately 14 to 20 miles). These inns were crucial to travelers because they meant food, shelter, warm fires and a place to sleep protected from the weather. It was also mandatory that all roadhouse owners keep a list of their guests. This was to help if anyone got lost.
Of all the people that traveled along the Iditarod, the "Kings of the Trail" were the mail carriers (until airplanes replaced them). U.S. laws required that mail teams be given the right-of-way. And, mail carriers be given special treatment at all the roadhouses. The mail mushers were given the best seats at the table, the first servings of food and the best bunks for sleeping in.
The mail mushers fought blinding blizzards, extreme cold and 70 mph winds to deliver the mail on schedule.
Pete Curran, Jr. delivered mail (1924 to 1938) from Solomon to Golovin on the Bering Sea with a team of 21 to 23 dogs, sufficient to haul 500-600 lbs. of mail. He was expected to maintain a weekly route from November to early May. [3 days to Golovin, 3 days back to Solomon, 1 day rest] You were required to be on time regardless of the weather. If you lost a day, you'd have to double up the next day.
Bill McCarty, carried mail from the Yukon River to Ruby and Nine Mile Point said, "There were days the poor dogs, they just hated to go."
For their services, mail carriers made $150 per month. This was a lot of money back in those days when things were cheaper. It would be like making $100,000 today."
