1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:04,519 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from housework 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcasts. I'm Tracy 3 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: and I'm Holly Frying. So today's episode is a listener 4 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:20,440 Speaker 1: request from a whole lot of people, but I'm pretty 5 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: sure the first person to ask for it since you 6 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: and I came on the show, Holly was Emily and 7 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: a dog named Balto became famous for leading a team 8 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: of sled dogs in Nome, Alaska, in delivering desperately needed 9 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: life saving medicine to the city, which at that point 10 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: was completely ice bound. There's a statue of this dog 11 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: in New York City Central Park and another one in Anchorage, 12 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: near the starting line for the Iditarod. He was the 13 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: subject of a highly fictionalized animated film that came out 14 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: in and the dog himself was mounted by a taxi 15 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: or missed after his death and is now an exhibit 16 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. But Balto was 17 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: just one of the lead dogs that relayed serum across 18 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: Alaska to no All. In all, there were more than 19 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,760 Speaker 1: twenty mushers with more than twenty teams of dogs, and 20 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: they ran a six hundred and seventy four mile route, 21 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: which took them nearly five and a half days to finish. 22 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: And that is the story that we're going to tell today. 23 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:28,679 Speaker 1: And as a fair warning, this is it's got some 24 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: very sad elements. The entire crisis in Nome, Alaska started 25 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: with the deaths of children from diphtheria. And if this 26 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,119 Speaker 1: episode were made into a movie, which it has been, 27 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: as we just said, uh, the the website does the 28 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: Dog Died dot com would have the crying puppy because 29 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: not all of the dogs made it to the end unfortunately. 30 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: So if those things cause you distress, this is your 31 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: fair warning. Yeah. When Racy started researching this episode, she 32 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: shot me and I am and said will you be 33 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: able to handle this? So the answer is hopefully yeah. Well, 34 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: and because there's so much this this could have been 35 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: a multipart episode, but it is not. And uh, because 36 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: there's so much other stuff to talk about as as 37 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: part of this story. Fortunately, that is not the majority 38 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:26,679 Speaker 1: of what we'll be talking about today. So we don't 39 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: hear much about DIP theory nowadays because in most of 40 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: the world it is prevented through vaccines. World Health Organization 41 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: member states reported fewer than five thousand cases, although there 42 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: were certainly some that existed outside that number that just 43 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: went unreported. Most of these were in developing nations and 44 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: in places where there's some sort of strain on the 45 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: health care infrastructure, such as wars or other strife going 46 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: on that are preventing vaccinations or health care from happening. 47 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: But this was not the case at all before a 48 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 1: vaccine against dip theory was developed in the nineteen twenties. 49 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty one, more than two hundred thousand people 50 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,520 Speaker 1: got diphtheria and more than fifteen thousand people died of 51 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: it in the United States alone, and without treatment. The 52 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: mortality rate for dip theoria was up to fift and 53 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:20,920 Speaker 1: it's a terrifying disease that often strikes children under the 54 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: age of ten. It starts with a sore throat in 55 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: a fever, just like numerous other relatively harmless illnesses, but 56 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: as it progresses, dip theoria produces toxins that cause a 57 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: membrane and sores to develop in the throat, and so 58 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: the throat slowly closes off until the patient can no 59 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: longer breathe. This is why the very dreadful nickname of 60 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: this disease is the strangling angel of children, and diphtheria 61 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 1: also affects other mucus membranes. It's not just the throat, 62 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: so even when doctors started intimating patients to maintain their airways, 63 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: sometimes the patients would still die as other parts of 64 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: their bodies shut down in the wake of the toxin. 65 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: The first effective treatment for dip theory was anti toxin, 66 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: which was developed in the eighteen nineties, and essentially doctors 67 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: figured out that the blood of animals that had been 68 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: exposed to dip theoria contained substances that prevented the toxin's effects. 69 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: Emil von Bearing won the Nobel Prize for this discovery 70 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:26,919 Speaker 1: in nineteen o one. In five, when this story takes place, 71 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: there was already a vaccine for diphtheria in the United States. 72 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: It was a combination of serum toxin and anti toxin. Usually, 73 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:37,480 Speaker 1: e children would be given a test called the Ship 74 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: test to see if they had already been exposed to 75 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: dip theorius at some point in their past. If not, 76 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 1: they'd be injected with a combination of toxin and anti toxin, 77 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: which gave them immunity for a few years. However, the 78 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: vaccine had not become widely used. Yeah, like many new 79 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,039 Speaker 1: major medical developments, it just took a while for it 80 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,479 Speaker 1: to catch on. And the ship test was a lot 81 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: like if anyone remembers getting a TV time test. Um. 82 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:05,799 Speaker 1: I know a lot of us got them as children, 83 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: and teachers continue to get them because they're around children. 84 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: It was a lot like that. They would stick you 85 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,039 Speaker 1: and if it turned red, then they knew that you 86 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: had been exposed. So now for a little context about Nome, Alaska. 87 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: The Native Alaska and New Piat people had lived in 88 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: northern Alaska for thousands of years, and then prospectors from 89 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: Europe and other parts of North America just flooded to 90 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: the area during a gold rush in the late eighteen nineties, 91 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: and the town's population just exploded. The promise of gold 92 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: as far as the eye could see did not turn 93 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: out to be true, though, so many of these people 94 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: moved on and left Nome. By the nine twenties, nost 95 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: population was left at only a couple of thousand, but 96 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,039 Speaker 1: those who stayed and lived there built a close knit community. 97 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:56,919 Speaker 1: Counting outlying villages and mining camps, there were probably about 98 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: ten thousand people in that area of Alaska, so it's 99 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: a pretty wide area we're looking at this point. Although 100 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: there were a number of marriages between the newcomers and 101 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:11,280 Speaker 1: the Inupiak, in the two communities, things were largely segregated. 102 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:14,840 Speaker 1: In the nineteen twenties, many of the Inupiak made their 103 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: homes at a camp along a stretch of waterfront that 104 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: was known as the sand Spit. And in g Nome 105 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 1: had exactly one doctor and his name was Dr. Curtis Welch. 106 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: He and four nurses staff to hospital that provided care 107 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,039 Speaker 1: for Nome and the surrounding population. So all of those 108 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 1: people had five healthcare providers total. Yeah, and the hospital 109 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: was the most well equipped in all of northern Alaska. 110 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:45,160 Speaker 1: But well equipped in this sentence is extremely relative. The 111 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: electricity was not particularly reliable, and the hospital didn't have 112 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,480 Speaker 1: a lab or an incubator for growing cultures, so they 113 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: couldn't take a culture of a sample to figure out 114 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 1: whether anything particular is growing in it. They just did 115 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 1: not have the means to do that. And Gnome was 116 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: also completely ice bound for several months of the year, 117 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 1: so once the last supply ship for the season dropped 118 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 1: off its cargo, that was it. That's the end. Of 119 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: the the end of the supply line. Anything else would 120 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: have to come by the mail, which was carried across 121 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: Alaska by teams of sled dogs. So in the summer 122 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: of Nineto, Dr Welch had noticed that the hospital's supply 123 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: of dip diphtheria anti toxin had expired. He wrote to 124 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: Juno Alaska's who request more of it, but none of 125 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: it came on the last supply ship to stop in 126 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: Nome before the water froze completely over. Dr Welch hadn't 127 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: seen a confirmed case of diph theoria and all the 128 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: time that he had been working in Nome, so he 129 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: thought it would probably be okay. Unfortunately that changed pretty quickly. 130 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: But before we get into that part of the story, 131 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: do you want to take a word from a sponsor. 132 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: Let's do that. So to return to the world of Nome, Alaska. 133 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: In December of Dr Weltch treated a child for a 134 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: sore throat, which he thought was probably Tom's elitis. And 135 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: part of this conclusion was because diphtheria is highly highly contagious, 136 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: and so he would expect that if he saw one 137 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: case of diphtheria, he would also see more of them, 138 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: and so Since there was only one child who got sick, 139 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: he did not think diphtheria was the cause. But then 140 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: more children did get sick and some of them did 141 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,680 Speaker 1: not survive. He started to see the membranes and lesions 142 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: were that were the telltale signs of diphtheria. The first 143 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: case he was sure of with the diphtheria diagnosis was 144 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 1: a three year old named Billy Barnett. Dr Welch was 145 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,080 Speaker 1: afraid that using expired anti toxin could just make the 146 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:51,319 Speaker 1: boy worse, but Billy did die regardless. The next confirmed 147 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 1: case of diphtheria he encountered, Dr Welch did try the 148 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: anti toxin, but unfortunately that trial that child died also, 149 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: and so at this point uh Dr Welch was realizing 150 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: that the situation was quite serious. So on January two, 151 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 1: he sent this telegram to towns all over Alaska and 152 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:14,559 Speaker 1: to Washington, d C. Quote, an epidemic of diphtheria is 153 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: almost inevitable here stop I am in urgent need of 154 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:22,319 Speaker 1: one million units of diphtheria anti toxin. Stop mail is 155 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 1: only form of transportation. Stop I have made application to 156 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:30,200 Speaker 1: Commissioner of Health of the Territories for anti toxin already. 157 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 1: He then called the town's leaders together to discuss what 158 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:38,679 Speaker 1: to do. They acted immediately to implement a quarantine. All 159 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,719 Speaker 1: the public gathering places were shut down and anyone who 160 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 1: was displaying symptoms of diphtheria was kept at home with 161 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: a quarantine sign posted on the door, and Dr Welch 162 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: and his nurses made daily rounds around Nome and through 163 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 1: the sand spit. They were tracking new cases, administering care 164 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:57,719 Speaker 1: where they could, and they were comforting the families of 165 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: children who had died. Particular cularly important in this work 166 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: was head nurse Emily Morgan, who was born in Kansas 167 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: and had come to Alaska as part of a mission. 168 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: Even though he was still really worried about its efficacy, 169 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:13,560 Speaker 1: Dr Welch did started using his limited supply of expired 170 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 1: anti toxin, and he knew that if the outbreak spread 171 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 1: at all, they were going to completely run out. So 172 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: basically the Nome area was brought to a standstill. On 173 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:28,960 Speaker 1: top of the seriousness of the outbreak itself, the nineteen 174 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,960 Speaker 1: eighteen influenza pandemic was still a very recent memory, and 175 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: as we talked about in our episode on that pandemic, 176 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: it had been absolutely devastating to the Alaska Native population. 177 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: They had no natural immunity to it whatsoever. The Alaska 178 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:47,559 Speaker 1: Native population also had no natural immunity at all to diphtheria. 179 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,839 Speaker 1: So Dr. Welch, his staff and everyone else knew that 180 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:56,199 Speaker 1: without effective treatment, the Innupiac population would probably be destroyed. Fortunately, 181 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: the powers that be also recognized that this was a crisis. 182 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:04,320 Speaker 1: Health personnel around Alaska and the Pacific Northwest started gathering 183 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: up all the anti tax and that they could find. 184 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:10,680 Speaker 1: Mark Summer, who was the superintendent of the Territorial Board 185 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 1: of Health Alaska was not a state yet, concocted a 186 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: plan to get the anti taxin where it needed to go. 187 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 1: They would gather up all the anti toxin and send 188 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: it to Anchorage, Alaska, and then it would go by 189 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: train to Nanana, Alaska, and then a musher with a 190 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: team of dogs would set out from there while another 191 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: musher left from Nome. They would meet in the town 192 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: of Nulatto and then hand over the serum and go 193 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,720 Speaker 1: back the way they came. And these names I looked 194 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:42,959 Speaker 1: for pronunciations of they looked very obvious how they should 195 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:46,680 Speaker 1: be pronounced, and I did not find audio files pronouncing 196 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 1: them so very much apologize if we have gotten any 197 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:53,479 Speaker 1: of them wrong. So Leonard's to Paula was an experienced 198 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:56,960 Speaker 1: musher and a three time winner of the All Alaska Sweepstakes, 199 00:11:57,000 --> 00:11:59,679 Speaker 1: which is a long distance dog sled race, and he 200 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:02,440 Speaker 1: was elected to go from Nome to Nilatto and back. 201 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: Governor Scott Bone, who was an appointed official and not 202 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: an elected one at this point in Alaska's history, expanded 203 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 1: on the original plan by turning the dogs led delivery 204 00:12:14,559 --> 00:12:17,679 Speaker 1: into a relay, using many of the same mushers who 205 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 1: carried the mail. The total distance would be the same, 206 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,959 Speaker 1: but since each musher and his dogs had less distance 207 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 1: to cover, they could easily make better time because they 208 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 1: could push themselves harder. They worked with Edward Wetsler, who 209 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:34,319 Speaker 1: was the postal inspector, to put this plan into place, 210 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: and throughout all of these preparations and plans, there was 211 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:41,000 Speaker 1: an entire second plan that was running in the background, 212 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:44,960 Speaker 1: and that was to try to deliver the serum by air. However, 213 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: air travel in and around Alaska was in its infancy 214 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 1: at this point. The only airplanes available were of the 215 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: open cockpit variety, and they would have to be flown 216 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,559 Speaker 1: in fifty degrees below zero temperatures in a blizzard. Uh, 217 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: they were water cooled and ssequently unreliable, and temperatures that 218 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,080 Speaker 1: were that cold. Some of the people advocating for this 219 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:08,560 Speaker 1: plan also wanted to kick start the air industry in Alaska, 220 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: so they definitely had an agenda behind pushing for the 221 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 1: air delivery. And the reason that we're not going to 222 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: go into all of that part of the story, which 223 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,640 Speaker 1: is its own little encapsulated drama, is that this particular 224 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: event that we're talking about is really about the dog race. Yeah, 225 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: all of the resources that I read kind of had 226 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,840 Speaker 1: this running parallel tangent of what was happening with the airplanes, 227 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:34,319 Speaker 1: and basically there was continual talk about airplanes that did 228 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: not work out. So to sum all that up, before 229 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: we talk about the actual dog sled relay, let's take 230 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: another brief moment for a word from a sponsor. Yes please, 231 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:48,720 Speaker 1: And now let's reach the conclusion of the Gnome Serium run. 232 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 1: The dog sled relay from Nanana to Gnome became known 233 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,679 Speaker 1: as the Great Race of Mercy, and it got kind 234 00:13:56,679 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: of a rolling start when three hundred thousand units of 235 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: Syria from the Alaska Railroad hospital departed Anchorage by train. 236 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:07,200 Speaker 1: They were packed in a cylinder and wrapped in a 237 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: quiote for insulation. Another million units were also on the 238 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:13,560 Speaker 1: way from Seattle, but it was going to take a 239 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:17,560 Speaker 1: lot longer for them to arrive. So in Casey's numbers 240 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: sound insane to you, Uh, it sounds like a lot 241 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: when we're talking about millions and three hundred thousands, But 242 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:27,520 Speaker 1: a dose, a single dose actually included thousands of units, 243 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: so it wasn't single unit, single dose. So when we're 244 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 1: talking about all of these thousands, it's really not enough 245 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: dosage for a whole lot of people. So the weather 246 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: for this relay was horrible. A lot of the running 247 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 1: of the dogs took place in wide out blizzard conditions 248 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 1: with temperatures well below fifty degrees below zero. I cannot 249 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: even imagine how cold that is, knowing how much I 250 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 1: hate cold, you can bet I cannot imagine it either. Yeah, 251 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: I feel like the coldest I have personally experienced has 252 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: been like in the teens below zero, and that was 253 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: just a freak occurrence. It hurt me to be outside. Yeah, 254 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 1: it was utter misery the one time I've been in 255 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:17,440 Speaker 1: that as well, So I can't imagine below. Yeah, So 256 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 1: a lot of the route was marked. It ran along 257 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: the Iditarod Trail, which was a marked and used trail. 258 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: Uh There were roadhouses that had been built by the 259 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 1: Northern Commercial Company along the way where people could rest 260 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 1: and take shelter the going. The going was still going 261 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: to be extremely rough for all of the men and 262 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: the dogs involved. Uh Musha Williams Shannon, also known as 263 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: wild Bill, and his lead dog Blackie, met the train 264 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: in Nanana and they hit the trail at nine pm 265 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: on January The going was immediately rough. There's a rule 266 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,200 Speaker 1: of thumb called the rule of forties in the world 267 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 1: of sled dogs, and that rule is that you don't 268 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: run a dog team when it's colder than forty below 269 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 1: or warmer than forty above zero fahrenheit. The temperature as 270 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: wild Bill left the train station was at least fifty below, 271 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 1: but it really had no other choice. He had to 272 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 1: carry the serum fifty two miles to tal Avanna, where 273 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 1: he would pass it off to another musher named Edgar Kellen's. 274 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: On his way to tal Havanna, wild Bill realized that 275 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:27,960 Speaker 1: he was getting hypothermia. He started taking steps to try 276 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 1: to keep himself warm. He was moving his arms around, 277 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: he was jogging beside the dog sled, doing anything he 278 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:35,320 Speaker 1: could think of to try to keep his body temperature up. 279 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 1: But by the time he got to a roadhouse in Minto, 280 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,680 Speaker 1: his face had become so frostbitten that his skin had 281 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: turned black, and four of his dogs had blood around 282 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: their mouths. He thought himself out, and he thought the 283 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: serum by the fire. It was a comparatively warm fifty 284 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,600 Speaker 1: ish degrees in the roadhouse, and he tried to get 285 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: everything working again before moving on. I will pause to say, 286 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 1: as I was reading an account of this, I was 287 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 1: sort of imagining him walking into a place that's what 288 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 1: I think of is warm, which is like between sixty 289 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:12,680 Speaker 1: eight and seventy two degrees in the winter. And so 290 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,440 Speaker 1: learning that this warm place he had gotten to take 291 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,120 Speaker 1: refuge was only fifty degrees kind of made my heart 292 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:22,879 Speaker 1: hurt a little bit. So before a while Bill continued 293 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,439 Speaker 1: on on his leg of the relay. He had to 294 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:29,120 Speaker 1: unhook three of his dogs from the harnesses they were 295 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:33,119 Speaker 1: suffering from a condition that mushers called lung scorching, which 296 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:35,560 Speaker 1: actually has more to do with the effect of really 297 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: cold air on their lung tissue, and he left them 298 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: behind to return for them later, but unfortunately they didn't survive. 299 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,400 Speaker 1: At about the same time, Leonard Suppala and his lead 300 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:49,639 Speaker 1: dog Togo left no and they were on route to 301 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,919 Speaker 1: the rendezvous point to pick up the serum. His planned 302 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:55,720 Speaker 1: route was around three hundred and fifteen miles each way, 303 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: and it included one of the most dangerous parts of 304 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:01,439 Speaker 1: the route, the North Norton Sound. He set off with 305 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: his dogs, harnessing more than he needed so he could 306 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,159 Speaker 1: leave some at roadhouses along the way so that he 307 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 1: could trade them out on the way back. Norton Sound 308 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,400 Speaker 1: was for the most part frozen over at this point, 309 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: but the currents under the ice meant that the surface 310 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: of the sound was constantly shifting and rebuilding itself. Entire 311 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: chunks of the sound could break off and float away, 312 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: and big chasms in the ice could open unexpectedly. So 313 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,240 Speaker 1: Paula had to cross over this twice, once in each direction. 314 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:34,879 Speaker 1: I mean, he could if he really wanted to go 315 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 1: around parts of it, but that was going to add 316 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:41,439 Speaker 1: a significant amount of time to the journey. Meanwhile, the 317 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: inbound serum shipment continued to pass from Musher to musher, 318 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: some of them completing their leg of the journey more 319 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:52,399 Speaker 1: easily than others. While all of this was happening, things 320 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:55,199 Speaker 1: and Nome got a lot worse. The disease was just 321 00:18:55,280 --> 00:19:00,440 Speaker 1: spreading really quickly. People were extremely ill and alarmingly. One 322 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: of the new cases was someone who had been working 323 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: in a neighboring town shortly before she developed symptoms. So 324 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,240 Speaker 1: Dr Welch was terrified that the outbreak was going to 325 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: spread beyond Gnome and into the outlying community. Because of 326 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 1: the worsening conditions in Nome, there was another change of plans, 327 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: which was the addition of more mushers to the relay 328 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:23,720 Speaker 1: in the hopes that they would be able to get 329 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,919 Speaker 1: the serum to Nome just a little bit faster. The 330 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: trouble was there was no way to reach so Paula. 331 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 1: Much of his route didn't go past roadhouses that were 332 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,960 Speaker 1: equipped with telegraphs or telephones, so everyone just had to 333 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: hope that someone would be able to flag him down 334 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 1: at the handoff point. And meanwhile, the relay continued. On 335 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:48,199 Speaker 1: its third day, Charlie Evans around it arrived at his 336 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,440 Speaker 1: rendezvous point with two of his dogs dead in the basket. 337 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: They had both died of exposure. So Paula found musher 338 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,480 Speaker 1: Henry Ivanov. Not long after he made his first crossing 339 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 1: of the Norton Sound. Even if dogs were fighting after 340 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,520 Speaker 1: having gotten wind of a reindeer, and at first Sapaula 341 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,199 Speaker 1: thought he was just another musher. He didn't think that 342 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:09,639 Speaker 1: he had time to stop and help. As he was 343 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: racing by, even Off yelled that he had the serum. 344 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:17,960 Speaker 1: Fortunately Sapaula heard him. He stopped his team, he turned 345 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,600 Speaker 1: them around, loaded the serum into his sled, and after 346 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,120 Speaker 1: learning that his plan was no longer to go all 347 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:26,719 Speaker 1: the way back to Nome, but to hand his cargo 348 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:30,720 Speaker 1: off to other measures, he continued the relay to Nome 349 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: without otherwise stopping to take much of a breath there. 350 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 1: So Paula handed the serum off to Charlie Olsen in 351 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,720 Speaker 1: Golovin in Bluff Olson handed it off to Gunner Cosin, 352 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:44,679 Speaker 1: who whose lead dog was Balto, the famous name that 353 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:48,119 Speaker 1: we've all heard. Balto was actually one of Leonard's to 354 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 1: Paula's dogs, So Paula had loaned some of his dogs 355 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: to Cosson, although he had said specifically that Balto was 356 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: not cut out to be a lead dog. At this point, 357 00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: the weather had been come so bad that Dr Welch 358 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 1: tried to call a halt to the relay. The blizzard 359 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:08,480 Speaker 1: was causing complete white out conditions and the temperature was 360 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:12,679 Speaker 1: about seventy degrees below zero, so Casan put off his 361 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,639 Speaker 1: departure for about three hours. He was hoping that the 362 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: snow would subside and maybe it would warm up a 363 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,119 Speaker 1: little bit, but it didn't, and eventually he got to 364 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:23,200 Speaker 1: the point that he was like, if I don't go now, 365 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,199 Speaker 1: I'm going to be stranded here and not able to 366 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: make it through. And because of the complete white out 367 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,680 Speaker 1: conditions and drifts that blocked the trail, Casan wound up 368 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: relying on balto to find the way for much of 369 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 1: his leg of the relay, and then when he reached 370 00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: his handoff point at Solomon, he didn't stop. His reasoning 371 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,200 Speaker 1: for not stopping was that his eyelashes were literally frozen 372 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: shut with all of the snow and ice, and he 373 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,119 Speaker 1: physically could not see that he was at the handoff point. 374 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,679 Speaker 1: He was right relying completely on balto to lead this 375 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 1: lead the team of sled dogs in these treacherous conditions. 376 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 1: Um sled dogs as I have learned from researching this 377 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:08,400 Speaker 1: they're actually pretty amazing creatures. And lead sled dogs, Uh, 378 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: there are amazing, amazing stories of just feats of heroism, 379 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,760 Speaker 1: which is kind of anthropomorphizing, but I don't know how 380 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: to describe it. On the part of lead sled dogs 381 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 1: sort of taking charge when they're they're human riding in 382 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 1: the sled, uh would have made a treacherous or deadly 383 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,440 Speaker 1: decision because I also didn't stop at the next rendezvous point. 384 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: When he got there, the musher who was supposed to 385 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: take over was asleep, and because I thought that it 386 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: would take longer to wake him up and get his 387 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 1: dogs into their harnesses than it would take for him 388 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:46,439 Speaker 1: to just continue on with his own tiring team. Later on, 389 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 1: when Balso became a famous household name, there were people 390 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: who accused him of just having been a glory hound 391 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:56,159 Speaker 1: and having bypassed the last hand off on purpose. I 392 00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 1: don't even know how to respond to that, Like, you 393 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:02,399 Speaker 1: have to be a really serious glory having to put 394 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: yourself at that level of risk. I think the whole 395 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 1: thing was nearly for not And on that final leg, 396 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 1: the winds were so incredibly fierce that at one point 397 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,480 Speaker 1: they blew the sled completely over, and the serum was 398 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 1: actually knocked out, so Cassan's fingers were frost bitten by 399 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:19,439 Speaker 1: the time he found it and actually was able to 400 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: get it maneuvered back into the sled. Finally, the anti 401 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 1: toxin reached gnome on February second, at five o'clock in 402 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,920 Speaker 1: the morning. They had taken more than twenty mushers, including 403 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 1: both Alaska natives and non natives, and more than a 404 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 1: fifty dogs, and they had been running for more than 405 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: five days and seven hours. The normal time for the 406 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: mail to be taken over this route was between fifteen 407 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 1: and twenty days. The serum was actually frozen when it arrived, 408 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 1: but after being thought out, it fortunately worked. Dr Welch 409 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:58,680 Speaker 1: and his nurses started giving the serum to the sickest patients. 410 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,920 Speaker 1: First ten percent of those three thousand units were used 411 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 1: up that first afternoon. A second and slightly less desperate 412 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:12,399 Speaker 1: relay delivered those other million units of anti toxin later on, 413 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:18,119 Speaker 1: after following the same basic route from Anchorage to nome H. 414 00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 1: In spite of all of that effort to have some 415 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:25,440 Speaker 1: delivered by air that never worked out, the quarantine Innome 416 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,520 Speaker 1: was lifted on February one, At least six children died 417 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 1: in the epidemic. The numbers are not exact because Dr 418 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: Welch actually suspected some of the Alaska Native families did 419 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,879 Speaker 1: not report their children's deaths to him. There were at 420 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,120 Speaker 1: least twenty seven confirmed cases and at least eighty other 421 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:46,440 Speaker 1: people known to have been exposed. Even though Leonard Soapala's 422 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 1: dog Togo led a team for the longest part of 423 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: the journey and some of really legitimately the most treacherous 424 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:57,720 Speaker 1: miles of the journey, both those heroic run into Nome 425 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:01,879 Speaker 1: became famous. Both eventually did die of old age, and 426 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: Togo was actually already twelve years old when he ran 427 00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:08,919 Speaker 1: the Serum Run. Sometimes people call the Serum Run the 428 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:12,720 Speaker 1: inspiration for the Iditarod dog sled race, which is kind 429 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:16,199 Speaker 1: of an oversimplification of the situation. And although the Serum 430 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:18,720 Speaker 1: Run did go from Anchorage to Nome, which is also 431 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,280 Speaker 1: where the Iditarod starts and ends, and both the Serum 432 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:25,359 Speaker 1: Run and the Iditarod are tied to the Editorod trail, 433 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,680 Speaker 1: which has existed for more than a hundred years, it's 434 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,920 Speaker 1: not entirely accurate. Yeah, dog sled racing was really well 435 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,639 Speaker 1: established in Alaska even before the Cerum run took place. 436 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 1: Uh As we said, Leonard Sappala had actually won several 437 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,359 Speaker 1: long distance dog sled races. So this was a pastime 438 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:45,920 Speaker 1: that already existed and not something that came about because 439 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:50,080 Speaker 1: the cermon had happened. Later on, in nine five, the 440 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 1: Kelly Act was signed, and this allowed private aviation companies 441 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:58,840 Speaker 1: to bid on mail delivery contracts in Alaska. And before 442 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:02,960 Speaker 1: the Kelly Act, dogs and dog sleds were critical to 443 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: the Alaskan way of life and to moving people, male, 444 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: and basically anything else in the winter. By the time 445 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:13,359 Speaker 1: the Iditarod started in nineteen seventy three, snowmobiles were overtaking 446 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:15,440 Speaker 1: dog sled as a as a way to move around 447 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: in the wintertime. So while there are some ties to 448 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,920 Speaker 1: the ceremonon, the Iditarode was also founded in part to 449 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,800 Speaker 1: preserve that way of life, the way of life of 450 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:29,359 Speaker 1: running with dog sleds, and to preserve the Iditarod trail itself. 451 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:32,480 Speaker 1: Um not even just dog sleds. If if you look 452 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,639 Speaker 1: at the history of northern Alaska, dogs go all the 453 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: way back to the first arrival of humans. They're like 454 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: all kinds of study about how humans could not have 455 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,840 Speaker 1: survived in that part of Alaska for thousands of years 456 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:51,440 Speaker 1: without dogs to help them, Like, there are so many 457 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 1: incredible dog stories. Uh. One of the books that I 458 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,359 Speaker 1: read to research this episode is called The Cruelest Miles, 459 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 1: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race 460 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 1: against an Epidemic, And I highly recommend it in part 461 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: because of all these amazing dog stories. Like I was 462 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: reading it on the airplane on the way back from 463 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 1: Thanksgiving and there were times in my jaw would literally 464 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 1: drop at a story of like, then, what happened with 465 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: a sled dog? Most of these stories were ancillary to 466 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,359 Speaker 1: this specific story. They were sort of stories of things 467 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:24,160 Speaker 1: these particular dogs had done at other points in their lives, 468 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,159 Speaker 1: but super incredible. So I know there's a lot of 469 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:31,160 Speaker 1: debate about the iditor rod uh as an event that 470 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:36,560 Speaker 1: flood dogs themselves are amazing creatures. Um. And there's an 471 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:39,840 Speaker 1: I Did It by two immunization campaign that is now 472 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,720 Speaker 1: tied to the iditar rod. It's a program that stresses 473 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,520 Speaker 1: the need for children to get their childhood immunizations for 474 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:47,880 Speaker 1: diseases like the theoria by the time they're two years old, 475 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:53,119 Speaker 1: so there are connections there, but that's a little a 476 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,360 Speaker 1: little bit oversimplified to say we have the iditor rod 477 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,320 Speaker 1: because of the nome serum run. I'm much more of 478 00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 1: a cat person than a dog person. But all the 479 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:06,480 Speaker 1: dog sled stories, like all these amazing stories about the 480 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:11,159 Speaker 1: heroic acts of sled dogs made me really happy to 481 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,359 Speaker 1: read about. I felt very sad for the dogs who 482 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,440 Speaker 1: did not make it. They're incredible animals, they really are. 483 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 1: I am a dog incat person. So this is um 484 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 1: you know, as we said, it's up. Tracy warned me, 485 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:28,040 Speaker 1: do you have listener mail that involves neither children nor 486 00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: dogs being deceased? I do you have listener mail. I 487 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,920 Speaker 1: don't think it actually references any any dead children or animals. 488 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: It's from Kathleen. Kathleen. Kathleen says, dear Holly and Tracy. 489 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,800 Speaker 1: I was so excited to see that Sweden was the 490 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: topic of a new podcast, even more when I saw 491 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: that it was Queen Christina, someone who I have been 492 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: a fan of since I was a child. I'm an 493 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: American expatly living in Sweden, and Queen Christina had a 494 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:59,560 Speaker 1: huge impact on the history of my former university Uppsala University, 495 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 1: the largest and oldest university in Scandinavia. In the six hundred, 496 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,960 Speaker 1: Swedish medicine was well non existent. You could become a 497 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,720 Speaker 1: Swedish doctor in about three months after passing a test 498 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:12,640 Speaker 1: that had not changed in decades and which you could 499 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 1: purchase the answers for. Doctors would get hands on experience 500 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: on the battlefield training wounded soldiers. Thus the mortality rate 501 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:23,080 Speaker 1: was incredibly high. Soldiers began opting to be sent to 502 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:26,520 Speaker 1: the horse veterinarian on the battlefield instead of the human physician, 503 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:29,520 Speaker 1: because the horse veterinarian had to pay for any horses 504 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:33,720 Speaker 1: that he lost, so he had a two better survival 505 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,000 Speaker 1: rate than the physician. I completely lied to you, Holly 506 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:41,479 Speaker 1: about there being no dead animals in this email. Tracy 507 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: to return to the email. Obviously this was a problem, 508 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 1: so Queen Christina sponsored Professor o loss Rudebick to travel 509 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: to the Netherlands and learn modern medicine. He returned and 510 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,960 Speaker 1: built an enormous anatomical theater in the university, where he 511 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: revolutionized medical education in Sweden. The university would get the 512 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:03,160 Speaker 1: body of executed criminals on the condition that after the 513 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,959 Speaker 1: dissection was done, the university would pay for the funerals 514 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: of the convicts. Rudbeck would cut open the bodies in 515 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 1: front of large, large audiences and lecture about the organs. 516 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 1: The organs were then placed in buckets and passed around 517 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:17,520 Speaker 1: the crowd. The medical students at the time had to 518 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,320 Speaker 1: be able to identify the organs by site such touch 519 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:24,040 Speaker 1: and taste. The taste was because if you stuck your 520 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 1: hand into someone and touched an organ without seeing it, 521 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:29,920 Speaker 1: you had to be able to identify it. The Anatomical Theater, 522 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: which is still standing today, helped modernize Swedish medical practices, 523 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:36,080 Speaker 1: and it was all due to the fact that Rudbeck 524 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 1: had been sponsored by Queen Christina in the first place. 525 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,360 Speaker 1: And then she suggests maybe doing an episode on him. 526 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: So thank you so much, Kathleen for sending that letter. 527 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 1: I always love hearing additional aspects of things that we've 528 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 1: talked about in episodes but didn't get time to delve 529 00:30:55,000 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 1: into or did not discover in our own research. And somehow, 530 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,480 Speaker 1: as much as I get sensitive to the deaths of things, 531 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: like once you get into the medical stuff of like 532 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:09,920 Speaker 1: analyzing it, i'd lose my my weird emotional part and 533 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:13,400 Speaker 1: I just become fascinated well, and to be honest, I 534 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:15,760 Speaker 1: often will pick the email to be read, and then 535 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:18,000 Speaker 1: between when I pick it and when I actually read 536 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,520 Speaker 1: it an hour and a half later, I have forgotten 537 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: its contents. So this is why it's not the first 538 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: time that I've said, oh, there's none of this in 539 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:30,960 Speaker 1: this email. Oh wait there, Uh, it's because I'm getting old. 540 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:32,600 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, we're a 541 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:35,040 Speaker 1: history podcast at how stuff works dot com. We're also 542 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:37,520 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Facebook dot com slash miss in history 543 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:40,160 Speaker 1: and on Twitter at missed in History. Our tumbler is 544 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 1: missed in History dot tumbler dot com, and we're on 545 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:46,000 Speaker 1: Pinterest at pinterest dot com slash missed in History. We 546 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,720 Speaker 1: have a spread shirt store we can buy all kinds 547 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,400 Speaker 1: of stuff with our logo on it. It is missed 548 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:54,240 Speaker 1: in History dot spreadshirt dot com. 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