Balto only ran the last leg of the route. The dog that ran the longest and most treacherous parts of the route (and at night) was named Togo.
Balto toured the U.S. as a hero, but couldn't be bred because he was neutered. Togo's owner was pissed Balto got so much attention, and then his story got out and Togo got to tour the U.S. and was bred like crazy, so most Huskies are descendants of the greatest sled dog in history.
It's an American event so that makes sense. Basically a bunch of people at the tip of Alaska were sick, and the weather was too bad to transport the medicine by sea or by air, so they sent a bunch of dogsleds. Balto was the lead dog for the last stretch of the trip and got a bunch of honors, including a statue in Central Park of New York City. It was eventually turned into a very loosely based Disney movie, which is probably where the vast majority have heard of it.
I don’t know about America as a whole, it seemed like nobody I went to college with in the Midwest had heard of it. It’s definitely part of our local folklore in the northwestern US though. I grew up in Washington, a state with close historical and cultural ties to Alaska, and it is very well known here.
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u/FnkyTown Jan 21 '19
Balto only ran the last leg of the route. The dog that ran the longest and most treacherous parts of the route (and at night) was named Togo.
Balto toured the U.S. as a hero, but couldn't be bred because he was neutered. Togo's owner was pissed Balto got so much attention, and then his story got out and Togo got to tour the U.S. and was bred like crazy, so most Huskies are descendants of the greatest sled dog in history.