Under this simple marker lies the remains of a game little Fox Terrier, “Igloo,” the dog who accompanied polar explorer, Admiral Richard Byrd, on his first Antarctic expedition in 1928. It was there the terrier got his name, “Igloo,” and the nickname “Iggy.”

Commander Richard E. Byrd with his dog Igloo outside a hut during the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, April 12, 1930. Official U.S. Navy photograph, National Archives collection; public domain.

Iggy had been a stray found by Byrd’s friend who beseeched the dog-loving Byrd to give the dog a home. Igloo became Byrd’s constant companion, particularly during times of solitude when the pair were holed up during grueling Antarctic winters.

Following the successful adventure, the pair returned to New York City for a ticker tape parade. Later, Iggy met President Herbert Hoover at the White House.

While Admiral Byrd was away on a lecturing trip, Igloo became sick and near death with food poisoning. Byrd canceled the engagement and chartered a plane home while a staff of Boston veterinarians struggled to save the small dog, but it was too late. Igloo was gone at age six. The death made national news, Time Magazine wrote an obituary, and thousands of letters of condolences were written by children from around the world and given to Admiral Byrd.

Igloo is buried at Pine Ridge Pet Cemetery in Dedham, Massachusetts, beneath a granite memorial carved in the shape of an iceberg. Its inscription reads, “He was more than a friend.” Although we are not able to reproduce a photograph of the monument here, you can view it by clicking here.

Top image: Iceberg by IlyaHaykinson, via Wikimedia Commons, is licensed under  Creative Commons Attribution 2.0