Balto and his team waited anxiously with driver Gunnar Kaasen to carry the desperately needed serum over the second to last leg of the relay to Nome while Leonhard Seppala, the heroic Toga, and his team arrived on the northern coast of Norton Sound just ahead of the ice breaking up behind them. Seppala handed the precious package to Charlie Olson who took it another 25 miles to Kassen.
As Kassen’s team, led by Balto, one of Seppala’s dogs, raced west and north, falling snow created such a thick curtain that Kaasen couldn’t even see Balto out ahead of the sled. Balto unable to see any better than his driver, followed the trail by scent.
Out of nowhere, a sudden 80 mile an hour wind gust flipped the sled and sent the precious serum package flying into a snowbank. Kassen ripped off his gloves and dug it out. And Balto and the team raced on.
At Port Safety, finding the team for the last leg not ready, Kassen and Balto just kept going, and at 5:30 am they raced down Front Street toward Dr. Welch’s hospital.
The relay took five and a half days, set a new speed record for the trail known as the Iditarod Trail. Four dogs died.
Togo died four years later; and, should you find yourself in Wasilla, Alaska, you can drop by Iditarod Headquarters and view his preserved remains.
Balto visited New York City with Kassen in late 1925; watched the erection of a statue of Balto in Central Park. But he went from there to a sideshow where he lived in horrible conditions until a fundraising campaign by the children of Cleveland, Ohio raised enough money to buy his freedom.
Should you visit the Cleveland Museum of Natural History today, you can view Balto’s preserved remains.
Today the famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, held annually, commemorates the serum run that rescued Nome.
(Note: this story used information from history.com and from Wikipedia, 1925 serum run to Nome.)