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Togo - In the Shadow of Balto

© Joy Butler

The serum was traded off several times to other drivers and their teams along the trail. Each driver and each dog reached deep into his heart for the strength to keep going through the swirling snow and subzero temperatures. It was Kaasen's turn at Bluff to continue on toward the town of Safety where he was to hand off his package to the next team. Stories conflict as to why he missed his stop. One says that he found the relief team asleep and, rather than waste time waiting for them to harness up, he continued on. Another story says that the blizzard was so blinding that he missed the town completely, as Balto kept to the main trail. For whatever reason, it was Gunnar Kaasen and his dogs, led by Balto, who carried the precious cargo on into Nome just before dawn. Word spread and it was Kaasen and Balto who quickly became heroes!

A film crew had Kaasen and his team reenact their arrival into Nome, as residents looked on and cheered. While other mushers and dogs had contributed to the lifesaving run, it seemed that no one thought of them. Seppala and his team led by Togo had traveled nearly twice as far as any of the others, yet all the glory went to the young assistant and Balto who had traveled only 53 miles of the trip. Seppala, understandably, felt a bit of resentment.

Sol Lesser, a young Hollywood producer, made a short educational film about Kaasen's team and named it Balto's Race to Nome, greatly exaggerating Balto's part in the run. After the 20 minute film was finished, Kaasen booked a vaudeville tour around America. During one stop in New York City, a well known animal sculptor, Frederick George Roth, created a statue of Balto which stands today near the entrance of Central Park.

It was about this time that Seppala was finally offered a contract to take his dogs to Madison Square Garden in New York City and drive them around the ice arena. Togo would be presented with a gold medal from Roald Amundsen, the famous Arctic explorer, and would at last have his heroism officially recognized. Amundsen, a longtime friend of Seppala, understood his resentment for Kaasen stealing the limelight. Somehow he managed to convince Kaasen to leave New York and allow Seppala the attention he deserved. Kaasen returned to Nome but abandoned his dogs, who ended up in what was called a dime museum, which at the time was a third-class form of entertainment.