A History of Dog Mushing

There is archaeological evidence that suggests that dogs and humans in the Arctic regions have had a relationship for at least 4,000 years. The Canadian Indian and Inuit were the first peoples to use huskies in an interdependent relationship. Dog teams have been used throughout history from exploring and charting the Canadian panorama, used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1873, in the Yukon gold discovery of 1898, and in the first exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions.

Before the invention of the fish wheel, which made it possible to feed a large dog team, most men maintained a small team of two to three dogs. During these times the musher would often run in front of the sled with the dogs rather than on the runners of the sled in the back.

It was not until the past couple hundred years that sled dog racing became a sport, before then it was used strictly for travel and work. In 1850 the first documented sled dog race, the remarkable race, was held and ran from Winnipeg, Manitoba to St. Paul, Minnesota. The movie “Iron Will” is about the 1917 remarkable race when Alberta Campbell from Pas, Manitoba won. 1917 was also the start of the first established sled dog race in the lower 48, which was held in Ashton, Idaho. Then in 1925 the “Great Race of Mercy” took place when 20 mushers and over 150 dogs worked together to deliver medicine to the town of Nome to help fight and outbreak of diphtheria. This event is what inspired the famous Iditarod race.
iron will
Image from:

http://www.refinery.tv/top-10-dogs-from-film-tv/
deedeeImage from:

http://tracybarbutes.com/alaskas-iditarod-sled-dog-race-the-mushers/