Seppala crossed the treacherous sea ice of Norton Sound twice to save time, once out to receive the serum and then again on the way back.. Seppala had dogsled racing psychology down pat as well. If the story of Seppala ended here we would probably not be thinking of him now, nor trying to preserve the breed he worked so hard to establish. This clip features famed Alaska dog musher Leonhard Seppala and his wife Constance Seppala sitting on the porch in front of a house and playing with a litter of puppies. in that drive he had worked his hardest and best. Claim at Anvil Creek. No passable winter roads. Photos by Bettmann via Getty Images and Disney. A diphtheria epidemic had broken out in Nome, Alaska. Likes Birth Name: Leonhard Seppala Occupation: Dog Musher Place Of Birth: Norway Date Of Birth: September 14, 1877 Date Of Death: January 28, 1967 Cause Of Death: N/A Ethnicity: Unknown Nationality: Norwegian Leonhard Seppala was born on the 14th of September, 1877. Seppala also won the All Alaska Sweepstakes in 1916 and 1917, before the race was canceled until 1983. In 1914, he competed in the All Alaska Sweepstakes, a sled dog race. One competitor described his communion with dogs as unnatural control or hypnotism.. his Siberians for the last time at the Lake Placid Olympic demonstration race. Diphtheria can attack healthy tissues in the respiratory system. As shown in the movie, more teams were added to the relay mid-run, and so Seppala ended up traveling a total of 261 miles (170 miles to pick up the serum and 91 miles with the serum)still an enormous distance. . Partner(s) Leonhard Seppala is the protagonist in the 2019 film Togo. Together with his dog Togo and several other dogs, he was able to brave through snowy weather and tundra to save countless of lives. After a town meeting, the phone rang at Seppala's home and the dogs in the yard began to howl. Leonhard Seppala. The same year the AAS was first run, 1908, Seppala continued to import, breed, and train Discover the optimal month due to daylight, temperature, and rain. Lygenfjrd, Norway -- 600 miles north of the Shortly after arriving in Alaska, Seppalas boss gave him the opportunity to take a dog team out prospecting. Seppala had taken the shortcut across the Sound several times in his career; a less-experienced musher was likelier to lose not only his life and the lives of his dogs, but also the urgently needed serum. He eventually manages to meet up with fellow sledder Henry Ivanoff and retrieve the serum. unsuccessfully against him claimed he had hypnotic powers of control over Seppala's wife nursed him and took great care of him, even at the opposition of Seppala. This page is updated often with latest details about Leonhard Seppala. Feeling that he has had enough, Seppala refuses to train Togo further. We all did our best. around 1899. Kristiana (now called Oslo), where he worked at the smithies there of self-defense. People born under this sign are persistent and straightforward. is military terminology referring to "Government Issue" or "General Issue". After 1932 he remained in Alaska. In June 1999, a memorial was erected to him in Skibotn. Copyright 2023 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media, Willem Dafoe's character states in the movie that Togo was named after the underdog Japanese admiral and naval hero Tōgō Heihachirō. Leonhard Seppala was a Virgo and was born in the G.I. This was the start of the spread of the Siberian Husky breed in the United States and Canada. This did not detour him, however, for he won the Sweepstakes the following three consecutive years. Husband of Constance M Seppala. Indeed, when the whiteout conditions suddenly lifted, Seppala found that he and his team were at the bottom of a hill, racing towards the cliffs along the sea. Fridtjof Nansen, and very shortly thereafter married him and left North By the time the war had ended, air transportation was becoming more and more of a reality in even these northern climes and, it seemed, the age of the Sled dog was quickly drawing to a close. (It was widely rumoured that the team had been interfered with or the under way, Sepp writes: IN 1925 THE CITY OF NOME was threatened by a midwinter diphtheria epidemic. He transferred the serum over to the next musher as he was instructed. Like many famous people and celebrities, Leonhard Seppala kept his personal life private. Kasson received most of the early press though he only traveled 53 miles. Seppala didnt start out working with dogs, though. Seppala is based on the real person of the same name. The enthusiasm for sled dog racing in New England together with the Serum Run publicity and the victory over Walden made it possible for Seppala and partner Elizabeth Ricker to establish a Siberian kennel at Poland Spring. Siberian sleddogs, becoming a legend in his own time. The leader of the Serum Drive team had been Togo, and Sepp was outraged at the While none of the mushers lost their lives, several of them succumbed to frostbite, including Charlie Olson and Gunnar Kaasen, who completed the final two legs of the journey. he was nursed by Seppala's wife Constance as a puppy due to a throat . Leonhard Seppala was born in Norway. Without the antitoxin, estimated mortality rates stood anywhere from 75% to 99.99%, practically a killing blow to Nome. This membrane (visible below over a patient's tonsils) covers healthy tissues in the throat, nose, tonsils and voice box, causing a croup-like cough, as well as severe difficulty breathing and swallowing. Seppala happily decides to have Togo continue running for him. He was best known for being a Dog Musher. Seppala later married Constance, another foreigner who had come to America. In 1960 the chipper little man flew to Laconia to serve as honorary judge at the World Championships Sled Dog Derby. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA. Dog Musher #11. Seppala and his wife nursed them for a whole year before he attempted to reenter the Sweepstakes. He began to go in his He once attempted to leap over a 7-foot-high fence and got stuck in the wiring. Death "He and his wife lived in Seattle until his death at the age of eighty nine. They were laughed at and given 100-to-1 odds Conditions on the ice were perilous, with sudden soft spots in the ice underfoot and outright open water sometimes only a few feet away. Chinese Zodiac: Leonhard Seppala was born in the Year of the Rabbit. I once told Jeffrey Bragg about about a training run I had with 16 dogs attached to my four-wheeler. racing teams were fielded, dominated the 1910 third All-Alaska Sweepstakes, When he was a young man his friend Jafet Lindeberg convinced him to come to America due to the gold rush that was going on. Seppala tosses Togo ashore, and the dog somehow manages to tow the floe close enough to the coast to enable the rest of the team to follow. The greatest overall compatibility with Virgo is Pisces and Cancer. Leonhard Seppala's experience and fame as a champion dog musher are why he was chosen to drive a sled dog team in the Serum Run. Half of the meeting is logistics: Welch explains that the serum they need for the diphtheria has been found at the Fairbanks Railroad Hospital (more than 500 miles away) and that it could be put on a train to Nenana (still 483 miles away). Kennels, which operated until 1950. Seppala and his Alaska Sweepstakes team: Property of Jonathan Hayes. Diphtheria is a bacterial infection caused by exposure to the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae, often by way of direct contact or through droplets in the air (sneezing or coughing). - Unlike Balto, whom Seppala had neutered at six months of age, Togo sired many litters of puppies for Sepp's breeding program, and today is widely considered one of the fathers of the modern Siberian Husky breed (as well as a strong contributor to the much older "Seppala . his father was away on the fishing grounds. Nome was, as it is today, completely closed to the outside world. Character information Seppala and Swedish Lapland Leonhard Seppala, born 1877, would during those days go from being a good musher and just another hard-working blue-collar man to being the most famous dog-team driver in the world. 12.5K subscribers This clip features famed Alaska dog musher Leonhard Seppala and his wife Constance Seppala sitting on the porch in front of a house and playing with a litter of puppies.. discoveries. The expedition was cancelled, and Seppala was gifted the dogs. When is Leonhard Seppalas birthday? Also along on the Serum run was the ageing The People of Nome had another idea. scraper to clear the sluice boxes, and shoveling gravel on Discovery People of this zodiac sign like animals, healthy food, nature, cleanliness, and dislike rudeness and asking for help. Constance Seppala (wife) The bundle containing the serum was knocked out and he dug with his bare hands in the snow to find it. Feature films His dog Togo would earn his place in the history books and a place at the Yales Peabody Institute. On the second time, Seppala had no choice, but to let the dog run with the others. Welch and Maynard were present at the equivalent meeting, but Seppala was not present nor very much involved in the decision. Seppala apparently Born In 1877. Leonhard Seppala is considered one of Alaskas first great dog mushers; He took part in the 1925 serum run to Nome. He was the oldest-born child of father Isak Isaksson Seppl (of Swedish descent) and Anne Henriksdatter (of Finnish Norwegian Kven descent). Balto makes a brief cameo in the movie: Hes the lead dog in Gunnar Kaasens team. Togo, it must have been harder yet for Seppala's old Sweepstakes leader. He was famous for being a Dog Musher. Sweepstakes. Father of Private. Seppala continued the trail across Norton Sound. Choose a round-trip Inside passage or one-way Gulf of Alaska Cruise. The other half of the meeting is not-so-subtle pressure on Seppala to ride to Nenana to pick up the serum. While Sepp was on the trail, the Governor of Alaska picked up on the plan but could not trust the fate of those in Nome to a single musher. pampered, comfortable retirement. Seppala set out from Nome, met the driver carrying the serum Leonhards education details are not available at this time. he drove. Seppala had not abandoned his mining career with his tour of the U.S.A. After The People of Nome had another idea. in 1909. Big ship or small ship? 2020 by Poland Spring Seppala Kennels. Seppala introduced the work dogs used by Native Siberians at the time to the American public; the breed came to be known as the Siberian Husky in the English-speaking world. However, as going around the ice meant slowing the delivery of the serum by a full day, he chose to go across. The Ramsay import dogs, from which three the dogs in Liz Ricker's care. The Seppala House was a gift to Urtha Lenharr by Krier Enterprise of Nome, Alaska. Seppala felt that there was nothing he could do about the newborn, but reluctantly was forced to keep him. As the Salisburys put it, they were considered a part of the landscape.. Although he found the heavy labour of Nome mining gruelling Leonhard Seppala pictured with his 'Siberian Racers' in 1916 (top) and in 1923, with Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. (Color/Silent/16mm film). In real life, things played out a bit differently. [1], The next day, the gale had intensified into a severe blizzard, with blinding snow and winds of at least 65mph (105km/h). Seppala and his team mushed five times farther than any other team during that effort. After 3 days and 170 miles (270km), he came in sight of another relay musher, Henry Ivanoff, but did not realise it. and then in the Fairbanks gold fields until his departure from Alaska in No one is! When the temperatures dropped below -0 degrees the planes of the 1920s were unreliable and dangerous at best. Sepp returned to Skjervy to work in his father's smithy. travel at most.). had constant problems with claim-jumpers and shyster lawyers, all of whom This meant avoiding rocky cliffs along the shore, but it also exposed him and his team to the dangers of the Sound. She too was at risk of being stricken with diphtheria. For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives. Still, his reputation was perhaps even greater than the movie suggested: According to The Cruelest Miles, he was known as the fastest musher in Alaska, and his nickname was the King of the Trail. It was Seppalas boss at the Hammon Consolidated Gold Fields Company, Mark Summers, who came up with the plan to use two teams of dogs, traveling toward each other from Nenana and Nome to meet at the halfway point in Nulato. [1]:7071, Seppala's racing career took off the following year, at the 1915 All Alaska Sweepstakes. JUMP TO: Leonhard Seppalas biography, facts, family, personal life, zodiac, videos and related celebs. In the winter of 1925, a deadly outbreak of diphtheria in the remote port of Nome, Alaska, threatened the . when a native with a crosscut saw appeared out of nowhere and trotted easily Leonhard Seppala is part of G.I. the tour was completed and his dogs safely settled in Poland Spring, he Seppala grew to adulthood and followed in his fathers footsteps as both a smithy and a fisherman. as a winter recreation; in 1908 the first All-Alaska Sweepstakes race was run. As for Seppala, he lived to be 89. In October of 1926 Seppala and his team was brought to the lower 48 states for a tour and to be honored in Madison Square Garden with a medal which would be presented by the famed Explorer, Roald Amundsen. Let us simplify it for you, How much does an Alaska summer vacation cost? Leonhard Seppala and his sled dog team led by Togo spent three days traveling 170 miles from Nome to Shaktoolik to pick up the diphtheria serum on January 31, 1925. The mutual trust between Seppala and Togo was also as depicted. He is a sled dog trainer and racer who is known for carrying the supply of diphtheria serum to the residents of Nome, Alaska. Photo illustration by Slate. Leonhard Seppala is considered one of Alaska's first great mushers, and like all who took part in the 1925 serum run from Seward to Nome, he's a local hero. While Seppala insists on immediately retiring him due to his small and weak state, Constance is strongly supportive of the puppy. Gunnar Kaasen - Born in Norway in 1882, Kaasen came to Nome in 1904. Sound, traveling 340 miles over treacherous sea ice and through blizzard As a child [17] In 2019, Disney released a movie based on Seppala's feats in the 1925 serum run to Nome, titled Togo and starring Willem Dafoe as Seppala. Bragg's rebuttal was brief and to the point. Neither he nor his canine freight leader, Suggen, knew the dangerous trail, and when a blizzard suddenly descended on the area during the race, Seppala realized his young dogs had lost the trail and they were all at great risk of death due to the nearby drop-off to the Bering Sea. also apprenticed in his father's smithy. The fact that I won that race, started my career as a sled dog racer.. The ice on Norton Sound was in constant motion due to currents from the sea and the incessant wind. His journey through white-out storms and twice across the unforgiving Norton Sound was by far the most perilous leg of the run. The Scandinavian miners, including Sepp's employer, Leonhard Seppala Was born 14 Sep 1877 in Skibotn, Troms, Norway. THE GOLD STRIKES IN ALASKA and the Yukon were the talk of Norway After the Serum Run, Seppala and some 40 of his dogs toured the "lower 48" with an Eskimo handler. 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