"...It was dogs and dog traction, for centuries the mainstay of Eskimo survival, that made this new world run. During the gold rushes, dogs brought the modern world to Alaska, hauling food, mining supplies, medicine, passengers, and gold across the network of rivers and trails that Eskimos and Athabaskans had been following for hundreds of years."
One of the most compelling books ever written about sled dog travel in the north is was published in 2003 by W.W. Norton & Company. "The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic," by cousins Gay Salisbury and Laney Salisbury, details the heroic relay dash of 20 men and more than 200 dogs who raced across 674 miles of Alaskan backcountry to deliver lifesaving serum and save the citizens of Nome from a diphtheria outbreak. The book includes important history of the North, and the Salisbury cousins fully acknowledge the central role of sled dogs in the history and development of the territory of Alaska.
But the Salisburys also report a little-known aspect of Alaskan history: "In addition to trade goods, the gold rush brought some strange ideas to Alaska, and the most bizarre may have been the belief of some U.S. government officials that Alaskans would be better off living in Alaska without dogs. Ambitious entrepreneurs tried many alternative forms of transportation and communication that they hoped would be superior to dogs, including horses, goats, hot-air balloons, bicycles, ice skates, ice boats, ice trains. and passenger pigeons. But the favorite choice of several key officials was the reindeer."
Incredibly, the primary proponent for reindeer was Dr. Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian minister and the head of Alaska's fledgling education system at the turn of the century. A staunch supporter of reindeer who argued their qualities far and wide, Jackson even testified before Congress that dogs were treacherous and unreliable beasts, and claimed that they "require considerable food for their support, while reindeer are gentle, timid and eat little, foraging on the moss and spruce of the tundra."
Fortunately for our canine friends, the respected Archdeacon Hudson Stuck challenged Jackson's assertions. He'd written compellingly in his 1913 book "Ten Thousand Miles With a Dogsled" that the husky dog was prized and called "the Friend of Man," and he observed "There is not a dog the less in Alaska because of the reindeer, nor ever will be..." When the Canadian government introduced reindeer into Labrador under the direction of Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, who stated his hope they would "eliminate that scourge of the country, the husky dog," the Archdeacon Stuck responded, "Instead of the reindeer eliminating the dog, there is far greater likelihood of the dog eliminating the reindeer..."
After a few side paragraphs on feeding and caring for reindeer as opposed to dogs, the Archdeacon went on, warming to the argument: "Speaking broadly, the reindeer is a stupid, unwieldy, and intractable brute, not comparing for a moment with the dog in intelligence or adaptability." He did, however, admit to the reindeer's usefulness in one regard: "Wherein lies the success of the reindeer experiment in Alaska? Chiefly in the provision of a regular meat supply..."
More information about sled dogs can be found at these links:
• Sled Dog Info • “Our goal is to increase awareness of mushing and sled dog sports as an active and healthy lifestyle for both mushers and their dogs; especially for the dogs, as they were born and bred to run!”
• Mush with P.R.I.D.E. • “Upholding and modernizing standards of sled dog care since 1991”
• Sled Dog Central • “To provide access to sled dog products and information for all levels of mushing experience, across the spectrum of mushing activities.”
More about the popularity and use of reindeer in Alaska, which continues today, can be found at these links:
• Reindeer as Mail Carriers • November 1901 • Newspaper article: Boston College's The Sacred Heart Review
• Alaska Reindeer Chronology • by The International Sami Journal
• Alaska Reindeer Herdsmen: A Study of Native Management in Transition
by Dean F. Olson, Institute of Social, Economic and Government Research, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1969
• Reindeer Research Program, “dedicated to the development and promotion of the reindeer industry on the Seward Peninsula and throughout Alaska.” University of Alaska Fairbanks
• History of Reindeer in Alaska, University of Alaska Fairbanks Newsroom
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