The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an EpidemicW. W. Norton & Company, 2005 M02 17 - 320 pages "A stirring tale of survival, thanks to man's best friend." —Seattle Times When a deadly diphtheria epidemic swept through Nome, Alaska, in 1925, the local doctor knew that without a fresh batch of antitoxin, his patients would die. The lifesaving serum was a thousand miles away, the port was icebound, and planes couldn't fly in blizzard conditions—only the dogs could make it. The heroic dash of dog teams across the Alaskan wilderness to Nome inspired the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and immortalized Balto, the lead dog of the last team whose bronze statue still stands in New York City's Central Park. This is the greatest dog story, never fully told until now. |
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Airplane Alaska Sportsman Allan Anchorage animals antitoxin Arctic arrived Athabaskans Balto beach Beeson began Bering Sea blizzard cabin coast cold Darling death diphtheria dog team dogsled Eielson epidemic Eskimo Fairbanks February feet flight flying Front Street frozen Gonangnan Gunnar Kaasen harness head hunt hunter Ibid Iditarod Interior January Juneau Kaasen Kallands kennel knew land lead dog Leonhard Seppala Maynard miners Morgan mukluks mush musher National Archives Native nearly Nenana News-Miner Nome Nugget Nome's Norton Sound Nulato officials parka pilots plane pulled Race to Nome Rasmuson reindeer relay Ricker roadhouse route runners Seattle serum run Seward Peninsula Shaktoolik Shannon shore Siberian Husky sled dogs sleds snow stop storm summer survival Sutherland sweepstakes Tanana telegram temperature territory Thompson throat Togo told Tolovana town trail tundra Unalakleet Ungermann village warm Washington weather Welch wind winter wrote York Yukon River