Alaskan dog sled, ca 1930s
This unused Lantern Press edition postcard has a photograph of an Alaskan dog sled team. The image is numbered 31635 and looks to date from the 1930s. The card was purchased at a gift shop in Ketchikan, Alaska in 2019.
Dog sleds with one or more dog pulling a sled or sleigh can be used to travel over ice and through snow and also to pull logs and other cargo. Sleds pulled by dogs have been used for thousands of years. French Canadian trappers used dog sleds for their own transportation as well as hauling the fur hides. Rural people used dog sleds to haul logs for wood and fuel. They have been used in Alaska, Greenland, and Siberia as well as other cold snowy places. One dog or several, called a team, is used for pulling the sleds. Dogs can pull side by side in pairs as shown in the picture, or as in Greenland, they can pull in a fan shape in front of the sled.
The dog team pulling the sled in the photo has nine members. Each dog or pair of dogs has a specific job. The musher gives the command and the lead dog’s duty is to give the signals to the other dogs. There can be a pair of lead dogs or just one as shown in this example. If point dogs are used, they are located just behind the leader(s). Swing dogs come next, then team dogs, and the strong wheel dogs are found closest to the sled. Wheel dogs need to be especially powerful as they are used to pull the sled out from the snow if it slows or gets stuck. In general, the dogs selected are chosen for their strength, health, endurance, and speed. The dogs in the picture do not have “booties” on their feet for protection from the ice and snow; however, most long-distance sled dogs today wear protection on their feet. Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes and Alaskan Huskies are the typical breeds used in dog sledding. Faster, short-haired hounds are sometimes used for sprint races but are more difficult to train to pull a sled and do not have the endurance for the longer distances. Puppies, at about 6 months of age, start training by pulling a small log behind them.
The annual Alaskan Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, established in 1973, is a long-distance race of 938 miles or 1,510 km. The race is run in March and goes from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. This very popular sporting event brings the top mushers and their dog teams from all over the globe. With more than 50 mushers and about 1,000 dogs from 14 countries competing, the dogs and the mushers become local celebrities. The course record of 8 days 3 hours 40 minutes and 13 seconds was set by Mitch Seavey in 2017.
Why are the sled drivers called mushers? It turns out the words “mush” and “musher” are English language corruptions of a sort from the French Canadian “marche” used by trappers to start the dogs pulling the sled.
For additional information, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_sled
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iditarod_Trail_Sled_Dog_Race
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2016/02/say-mush-make-sled-dogs-go/
No comments:
Post a Comment