In January 1925, a local doctor living in Nome sent a telegraph to Washington with an urgent message. Send serum! An outbreak of diphtheria had killed two children and was spreading quickly. Public health officials found a serum supply in Anchorage, but it usually took a few weeks to cover the distance from ice bound Nenana, a northern railroad stop, to Nome, some 674 miles, and by then, it was feared much of Nome would be dead.

Dog sleds were the best way to transport the serum, and a group of top mushers and sled-dog racers would hand off the serum at roadhouses along the route, and their progress would be reported by roadhouse owners over telephone and telegraph lines.

Siberian Huskies first came into prominence with this epidemic, dogs who, with their mushers, were all that stood between the death of hundreds of people, and the life saving serum. Teams of Siberians carried the serum over 600 miles of icy terrain saving hundreds of lives in a story that’s as compelling today as it was almost 100 years ago.  This heroic story is told in “The Cruelest Mile,” and goes into greater detail about the run that inspired the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and immortalized Balto, the lead dog of the last team. Parents, this is a great story to read to children.

Siberian Husky puppy by Maria
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