“Hike! All Right! Let’s Go!” The Origins of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
During the early hours on February 2, 1925, in the small town of Nome, Alaska, Dr. Curtis Welch anxiously awaited the delivery of a life-saving serum to treat his patients suffering from diphtheria. Without it, the diphtheria’s severe respiratory bacterial infection would claim the lives of many of Nome’s residents.
Battling through snow and all of nature’s deterrents, musher Gunnar Kaasen and his sled dogs arrived that morning with the intact but frozen antitoxin vials. With very little time on his side, Dr. Welch hastily got to work dethawing the serum and administering it to his patients.[1] Hundreds of lives were saved, all thanks to the 20 courageous mushers and their sled dogs who braved subzero temperatures, blizzards, and frostbite along the Iditarod Trail.
The 1925 Serum Run is just one of the Iditraod Trail’s many significant contributions to Alaska’s history. Its historical and cultural ties to the land and its people are the reasons why mushers from around the nation and world gather each March to race in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, which will take place this year from March 1-16.
Learn more about the Iditarod Trail’s history, the 100th anniversary of the Serum Run, and cross-curricular ideas for incorporating these “Historical Happenings” into your lesson plans.
Iditarod Trail’s History
Nicknamed “The Last Frontier,” Alaska was the 49th state to join the Union on January 3, 1959, but Alaska’s ties to the U.S. go further back. It was purchased from Russia in 1867 for about two cents an acre, which came to $7.2 million.[2] This purchase paid off when gold was discovered in the late 1890s, igniting Alaska’s gold rush in 1896.[3]
Over 30 gold bonanzas (a large and rich deposit of gold in an area) took place during Alaska’s gold rush,[4] and more than 50 gold mining camps were established.[3] Port towns used steamboats to transport gold and much-needed supplies; however, these towns were inaccessible by steamboat from October to May when the rivers and seas were frozen. To solve this issue, the federal government constructed the Iditarod Trail so that mail and freight services could reach miners and townspeople.
The original trail began in Seward and snaked through several towns, covering over 1,150 miles across Alaska’s frozen landscape before ending in Nome. Freight mushers led teams of sled dogs across the Iditarod Trail to transport cargo. Sled dogs’ strength, stamina, and speed made them excellent draft animals for the frozen terrain. Malamutes, Siberian Huskies, various domestic breeds, and even wolves have been used by mushers in the early days on the Alaskan frontier.[4]
Teaching Resources:
ELA | “Land Acknowledgements” by Juli Westrich, 2023 Teacher on the Trail (Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race): Before the arrival of European settlers, Alaskan Indigenous people traveled the land that became known as the Iditarod Trail for hundreds of years.[5] The sled dog breed Malamute is named after the Malemiut Inupiat people of the Seward Peninsula who bred them for the purpose of sled teams.[4]
In this lesson plan, developed by Iditarod’s 2023 Teacher on the Trail, students will learn more about the history of the Alaskan Indigenous people, the names of Native mushers, and what a land acknowledgment is by watching videos and reading articles. Afterwards, students will learn about the Native people who lived in their state and write a land acknowledgement for their region. Click here to view the lesson plan.
Social Studies | “How Big is Alaska?” By Alaska.org: Alaska is the largest state in the nation with a land area of 571,022.38 square miles. For a fun geography lesson, click here to check out this interactive map of Alaska. You can choose your state from the dropdown menu and see its size in comparison to Alaska, plus learn facts about your state and Alaska’s population density, water and coastline, high point, road density, and air travel. Students can then draw a map of Alaska and their state. Instruct them to label major cities, landmarks, highways, waterways, and bodies of water.
The 1925 Serum Run
In January 1925 in Nome, Alaska, Dr. Curtis Welch treated young patients exhibiting symptoms of diphtheria, a bacterial infection that spreads through coughing and sneezing. Two children died from the infection on January 21, and more kids fell sick every day. Nome’s mayor and city council imposed a quarantine to slow the spread of the disease, but Nome’s 1,400 residents were already at risk of catching diphtheria from prior exposure. Without antitoxins, death was imminent for those infected with the disease.[1]
Dr. Welch sent telegrams to the U.S. Public Health Service asking for the antitoxins. There were cases of serum in Anchorage, but it was 1,000 miles away from Nome. The plan was to take it to Nenana by train, and from there a relay of dog sled teams would travel a combined total of 674 miles to bring it to Nome. Volunteers stepped forward to help in the rescue mission, knowing the severity of the harsh weather conditions. Snow, wind, and subzero temperatures would make the journey not only difficult but also dangerous.[1]
Each musher and his team would be stationed at one of the roadhouses along the Iditarod Trail. These roadhouses were approximately 20 miles apart and served as rest stops for dog sled teams. The first musher, “Wild Bill” Shannon, loaded the serum off the train in Nenana and onto his sled on January 27. He then headed to the roadhouse where the next musher would meet him.[1]
Over the next few days, a team of mushers relayed the serum along the Iditarod Trail until the last musher, Gunnar Kaasen, arrived in Nome on February 2 with the serum. With time dwindling, Dr. Welch administered the antitoxin to his patients, and the people of Nome were saved![1]
Leonhard Seppala, one of the most experienced mushers who ran the most dangerous leg of the relay, later wrote of his experience during the Serum Run: “Afterwards, I thought of the ice and the darkness and the terrible wind and the irony that men could build planes and ships. But when Nome needed life in little packages of serum, it took the dogs to bring it through.” [6]
Teaching Resources:
STEM | Viruses and Bacteria: To help your students understand the importance of the 1925 Serum Run, integrate STEM activities into your lesson plan to teach them about bacterial infections, like the diphtheria epidemic in Nome.
Diphtheria is caused by bacteria called Corynebacterium diphtheriae, or C. diphtheria, which typically affects the mucous membranes of the nose and throat. It is spread through contaminated airborne droplets and items touched by infected people. It can cause toxins that damage tissue in infected areas, such as the nose and throat. These toxins can also damage the heart muscle and cause severe nerve damage. Thankfully, as we learned with the 1925 Serum Run, antitoxins can treat diphtheria, and vaccines are also available for children and adults.[7]
These free worksheets from our Germ-Wise book teach students about vaccines, antibiotics, viruses, and bacteria. Click here to download your sample copy.
After reading about the differences and similarities between viruses and bacterial infections, students can play the CDC’s Solve the Outbreak game to apply their newfound knowledge. This interactive digital game gives players different scenarios to choose from. It’s up to them to become a “Disease Detective” and discern where the disease originated from and how to best treat infected people. Click here to play.
Social Studies | 1925 Serum Run Primary Sources: Using these primary sources from the Alaska Mushing School, students can gain a deeper understanding of the 1925 diphtheria epidemic and the relay race. These sources include images of the package that contained the diphtheria antitoxin, a newspaper article announcing the success of the serum relay, a telegram sent to Washington, D.C. asking for aid to bring the serum, and photographs of the mushers and their sled dogs. Click here to view the documents. For ideas of ways to teach using primary sources, click here to download our free “Teacher’s Guide for Primary Sources.”
ELA | The Story of Togo: We would be remiss to not mention one of the main heroes of the 1925 Serum Run: Togo. Togo was a sled dog who belonged to musher Leonhard Seppala. As Seppala’s lead dog, Togo directed his pack along the trail. His intelligence, stamina, and strength saved his team when they became stranded on an ice floe on the Norton Sound, a large inlet of the Bering Sea. Crossing the Norton Sound in the winter was dangerous due to strong winds and shifting ice, but cutting across the frozen inlet saved Seppala much-needed time. Without Togo’s quick-thinking to pull the sled across the water, his team — and the serum — would have been lost.[6]
Seppala later remarked, “I never had a better dog than Togo. His stamina, loyalty and intelligence could not be improved upon. Togo was the best dog that ever traveled the Alaska trail."
Print out copies of Togo’s biography, written by the National Park Service, and then ask your students to write a poem or short story about Togo’s heroism. Click here to read the article.
Leonhard Seppala and his sled dogs were heroes who braved dangerous conditions to save the people of Nome. His lead dog, Togo, is on the far left. (This photo is courtesy of Carrie McLain Museum / AlaskaStock and is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication through Wikimedia Commons.)
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
Dog teams played a crucial role in Alaska as freight transporters for both short and medium distances, but airplanes and snowmobiles led to the decline of sled dog teams.[8] The historic Iditarod Trail had, sadly, become a relic of Alaska’s frontier days.
This changed in 1964 when the Wasilla-Knik Centennial Committee was founded to research and review Alaska’s significant historical events to commemorate the upcoming centennial anniversary of the United States’ purchase of Alaska from Russia. Chairwoman Dorothy Page, known as the “Mother of the Iditarod,” had the idea to hold a race along the historic Iditarod Trail to celebrate its importance in Alaska’s history. Joe Redington, Sr., the “Father of the Iditarod,” and his wife, Vi, supported Page’s idea and helped her kickstart the race.[8]
Volunteers cleared nine miles of the Iditarod Trail in preparation of a medium-length race, which was held in 1967 and 1969 between Knik and Big Lake. Plans were made to extend the race’s length, and the U.S. Army and the Nome Kennel Club pitched in to remove debris from the trail. In 1973, the first long-distance race was held, thanks to Redington and fellow mushers Tom Johnson and Gleo Huyc.[8]
Redington’s goal to bring national attention to the Iditarod Trail’s historical significance and preserve it coincided with his desire to protect the culture of sled dogs. The achievement of his goal led to the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, where today’s mushers travel the same route previous mushers took to Nome in the early 20th century. Along the way are checkpoints, where race participants stop and rest, mimicking the original checkpoints early mushers used. Originally, the trail started at Seward and ended at Nome. Today, the race begins near Anchorage and follows a route to Nome that alternates each year — the Northern Route in even years and the Southern Route in odd years. The Iditarod Trail is only accessible in the winter months.[8]
Teaching Resources:
Social Studies | Iditarod Maps of Southern and Northern Routes: For a geography lesson, show your students the 2025 Iditarod Trail map that mushers will use during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Ask them to compare this map of the Northern Route (used in even years) and list the different cities and checkpoints the routes go through. Click here to view the maps.
ELA | “Mushing Terminology” by Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race: These common phrases for mushing and commands for sled dogs are a great introduction to the sport. For younger elementary students, you can assign a couple of terms and instruct students to draw pictures that describe the meaning of the commands and turn these phrases into a picture book. Older elementary and middle schoolers can write short stories from the perspective of a musher or a sled dog and integrate the mushing terminology into their writing. Click here to learn the definitions of mushing terms.
STEM | “Classroom Connections: Mush Madness!” by Iditarod EDU: Combining STEM, March Madness basketball brackets, and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, students are challenged to build a sled and then compete in a class-wide tournament (complete with brackets) to see whose sled is the fastest. This lesson plan was developed by Jim Deprez and Sherri Bauserman from Iditarod EDU (a division of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race). Click here to learn more.
For more resources related to the Iditarod Trail, be sure to check out our Iditarod titles. To discover more historical tidbits, lesson plan ideas, and free activities, follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Also, check out our other blogs for even more “Historical Happenings.”
Sources:
[1] “The 1925 Serum Run.” Alaska Mushing School, https://www.alaskamushingschool.com/learn/1925-serum-run-to-nome/. Accessed 25 February 2025.
[2] “Alaska admitted into Union.” HISTORY, 9 February 2010, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/alaska-admitted-into-union. Accessed 22 December 2022.
[3] “Gold Rush.” Meeting of Frontiers, Library of Congress, 2000, https://www.loc.gov/collections/meeting-of-frontiers/articles-and-essays/alaska/gold-rush/#:~:text=Alaska's%20gold%20rush%20began%20in,Alaska%2C%20demanding%20goods%20and%20services. Accessed 26 February 2025.
[4] Bowers, Don. “Booms and Busts: Iditarod Trail History.” Iditarod: The Last Great Race, February 2012, https://iditarod.com/booms-and-busts-iditarod-trail-history/. Accessed 21 February 2025.
[5] “Iditarod National Historic Trail.” Forest Service | U.S. Department of Agriculture, https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/chugach/home/?cid=fseprd580520. Accessed 26 February 2025.
[6] Hank, Will. “The True Story of Togo: Siberian Husky Sled Dog Hero of 1925 Nome Serum Run.” American Kennel Club, 27 August 2021, https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/togo-siberian-husky-sled-dog-hero-of-1925/. Accessed 24 February 2025.
[7] “Diphtheria.” Mayo Clinic, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diphtheria/symptoms-causes/syc-20351897. Accessed 25 February 2025.
[8] Bowers, Don. “Iditarod Race History.” Iditarod: The Last Great Race, 2020, https://iditarod.com/race-history/. Accessed 24 February 2024.
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