The Tripod, January 2020

The Tripod Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, PO Box 2323, Seward AK 99664 http://www.Iditarod100.org IditarodHTA@gmail.com The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance is an equal opportunity program provider and employer. January 2020 The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance promotes public awareness of the Iditarod Historic Trail and its gold rush and Alaska Native heritage by encouraging education programs and historical research, assisting in the protection, improvement, maintenance and marking of the Trail and developing partnerships that foster stewardship commitments and support. Pick. Click. Give While applying for your PFD online, you can choose to donate to the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance under the Pick. Click Give. Program. You can add or adjust your online donation until August 31.

All donations are tax deductible and donors will receive tax documentation from the State once their donations have been processed. Junior Trailbazers! At the annual meeting of the Alliance on December 5, Annette Heckart reported on a project of the Alliance, Chugach National Forest and Bureau of Land Management to publish an Iditarod National Historic Trail Kid’s activity book, “Junior Trailblazers!” The primary audience would be upper elementary/middle school students. The booklet will be written and illustrated by Elise Wahl of Forest Grove Oregon. She has both a Bachelor of Fine Arts & Technology from Ohio State University and a Master of Science in Natural Resources with an emphasis in Environmental Education & Interpretation from the University of Wisconsin -Stevens Point.

She has created interpretive media for over one hundred clients across the country, ranging from small municipalities to federal agencies. The booklet would cover such topics as the history of the trail, how transportation has evolved along the trail, famous people and dogs associated with the trail, mushing, sled dog races, roadhouses, shelter cabins, weather along the trail and where to find more information about the Iditarod National Historic Trail. 2020 Hike the Hill® Now in its 23rd year, Hike the Hill® is a joint effort between the Partnership for the National Trails System and the American Hiking Society aimed at increasing congressional and federal agency leader awareness of funding and other needs that sustain the national trails. Every February trail partners and organizations from across the nation head to Washington, D.

C. to discuss legislation, current policies and goals with federal partners, congressman and fellow trail organizations. This year's Hike the Hill® will be held on February 8 to 13. Our president, Judy Bittner and treasurer, Lesli Schick will be representing the Alliance at this event. From the past… “The Seattle Daily Times” January 25, 1911 FRATERNITIES FLOURISH IN NEW IDITAROD CAMP Nine-Pound Baby Girl Arrives-First White Child Born to Section Iditarod City, Tuesday, December 20 --This camp is nothing if not fraternal. Already the Masons have formed a club and the Arctic Brotherhood has decided to form a new lodge or camp, and after their first preliminary meeting at which 75 members were enrolled, they decided to telegraph the Grand Arctic Chief at Seattle for a charter. The club is building a social hall at Flat Creek. Major J. F. A.

Strong was elected president of the Iditarod Masonic Club. 1 The Tripod January 2020 This camp will celebrate the advent of the New Year with a dog race from this city through Flat, to Discovery on Otter and return. Though the efforts of the Iditarod Pioneer, a purse aggregating $500 already has been subscribed, and in addition an entrance fee of $10 will be charged for each team. It will be a race for money and will settle, for at least one week from the date thereof, the long-mooted question of the respective merits of certain dog teams that now are touted as the fastest in the country, and will give a chance for those yet unsung to get in line for fame. A nine-pound baby girl, the first white child born in this section, arrived at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Strandberg on Flat Creek last Sunday morning and announced that she had come to stay.

Old Doctor Stork was heard to say that it was tough weather to be visiting Alaska. Dr. Spalding was there to act as the reception committee. Mrs. Strandberg is reported to be doing nicely. Pat O'Connor and Billy Wiles were returning to their cabin on Michigan Creek after a hard mush from Otter with a plentiful load. They expected to find a cabin comfortably decorated with the outward semblance of their last load which had been pulled over by the neck, and they felt homelike and cozy when the dim outlines in the cabin become discernible through the dusk. Naturally they felt slightly incensed, when they found the cupboard empty. They gathered up a big rifle and mushed down the creek following the footprints in the snow. At eleven miles down on the George River, they found a little cabin containing three satisfied individuals.

They went in without knocking and inquired if the occupants had anything that didn't belong to them. The result was a general scramble for cover, but Pat effected a half-Nelson on one and held him on the floor while the other two carefully reloaded the sled with the stolen goods. Keeping them constantly in range of the artillery, Pat and Billy hitched the three up and drove them back up the creek carrying the property to its rightful resting place. Togo On October 28, 2015, it was announced that Walt Disney Pictures was developing a film about the 1925 serum run to Nome focusing on the sled dog Togo and his owner Leonhard Seppala. Principal photography for the film started on September 21, 2018 and finished in February 2019 in Cochrane, Alberta.

Willem Defoe is cast in the role of Seppala and most of the dogs featured in the film are from the Snowy Owl Sled Dog Tours Inc. kennel located in Canmore, Alberta. Hugo and Mackey from Snowy Owl were used throughout the movie as stunt doubles for the face of Togo, Diesel. The film debuted on Disney+ on December 20, 2019. It is said that the film, for the most part, remains faithful to the story of Seppala and Togo. A title at the end of the film states that while Balto had received a statue in his honor, Togo is remembered for making the longest run in the Serum Run and for being the true hero of the Serum Run. National Trails Day® Taking place on the first Saturday in June, this year June 6, National Trails Day® is a day of public events aimed at advocacy and trail service.

Thousands of hikers, bikers, rowers, horseback riders, trail clubs, federal and local agencies, land trusts and businesses come together to advocate for, maintain and clean up public land and trails. “Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit and as vital as water and good bread.” Edward Abbey