And while, in the movie, Constance Seppala initially objects to her husbands participation, saying that the town should pick someone with more stake in [the diphtheria outbreak], in reality the Seppalas did have more of a stake than is indicated by the film script: They had an 8-year-old daughter named Sigrid. Gunnar Kaasen - Born in Norway in 1882, Kaasen came to Nome in 1904. While Seppala insists on immediately retiring him due to his small and weak state, Constance is strongly supportive of the puppy. 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. In real life, things played out a bit differently. One of the most terrifying moments in the movie is the second crossing of the Norton Sound, on the way back toward Nome with the serum. Leonhard Seppala Was born 14 Sep 1877 in Skibotn, Troms, Norway. Snowy Owl provided all of the adult sled dogs used in the movie. They encountered each other while Ivanoff was untangling his team on a trail outside of town, at which time Seppala took possession of the serum. As a child Eventually Sepp got his chance to go prospecting for the company. Seppala also won the All Alaska Sweepstakes in 1916 and 1917, before the race was canceled until 1983. when a native with a crosscut saw appeared out of nowhere and trotted easily The real-life Seppala was astounded at the effect of the harness: The 8-month-old Togo went from pesky to serious, and Seppala finally understood what Togo had been wanting all these months: to be a member of the team. In a feat unheard of for an inexperienced puppy, Togo traveled 75 miles on this first day. Seppala left Togo, with great sadness, with Ricker to retire in comfort in 1927 (Seppala remembered it as one of the saddest moments in his life. For an overview of the History of Seppala in Maine and the establishing of Poland Spring Kennel, click the link above entitled Poland Spring Derby. He crossed Norton Sound without incident. In researching the. Leonhard Seppala Fans Also Viewed . Seppala set out from Nome, met the driver carrying the serum History vs. Hollywood visited the headquarters in 2013 and captured the photo of Togo displayed below. The two 100lb. His dog Togo would earn his place in the history books and a place at the Yales Peabody Institute. One competitor described his communion with dogs as unnatural control or hypnotism.. Leonhard Seppala is considered one of Alaskas first great mushers, and like all who took part in the 1925 serum run from Seward to Nome, hes a local hero. After the death started the first historic 'Seppala Kennels' in Poland Spring in partnership during the First World War. So, as politicians are apt to do, the Governor complicated the plan to include some 20 teams and mushers in performing a relay. Seppala dominated Alaska's major race thereafter, winning A relay of respected mushers was organized to expedite the delivery, and Seppala (with lead dog Togo) was chosen for the most forbidding part of the trail. Directed by Ericson Core, with a Writers Guild Awardnominated script by Tom Flynn, Togo is based on the events of what become known as the Great Race of Mercy, or the 1925 serum run to Nome. Scenes from the run are interspersed with flashbacks to Togos origin story, showing him making repeated escapes from the kennel of musher Leonhard Seppala (Willem Dafoe). He was famous for being a Dog Musher. We will continue to update information on Leonhard Seppalas parents. Despite doing most of the work, the credit instead largely went to the Gunnar Kaasen-controlled sled dog Balto, who completed the last, 55-mile stretch of the Serum Run through a blizzard. Seppala grumbles that Constance is too softhearted and hints that a bullet might have been the easiest solution to Togos behavioral issues. Photos by Bettmann via Getty Images and Disney. The most intimate multi-day cruise option. Seppala won the race, and afterward Alaska Airlines has established the Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award. The initials "G.I." 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. His mounted skin is currently on display at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters museum in Wasilla, Alaska. The same year the AAS was first run, 1908, Leonhard Seppala lived there and ran his dogs, year-round, for the Pioneer Mining Company out of this coastal town. Seppala was assigned to train the dogs. According to The Cruelest Miles, Seppala wrote: I hope I shall never be the man to take away credit from any dog or driver who participated in that run. Indeed, it arrived there the next day, Monday, February 2, at approximately 5:30 A.M., and was thawed and ready for use by 11 am. the tour was completed and his dogs safely settled in Poland Spring, he However, they could only afford a short rest, and set out again at 2 am. Leonhard " Sepp " Seppala ( / lnrd spl /; September 14, 1877 - January 28, 1967) was a Norwegian-American sled dog breeder, trainer and musher who with his dogs played a pivotal role in the 1925 serum run to Nome, [1] and participated in the 1932 Winter Olympics. It was also the longest by roughly 200 miles. Wheeler, Shearer and the Belfords that were bred from them. returned each spring to Alaska to continue his employment there, leaving "specializing in purebred white blue-eyed Siberians," as he wrote in placing first, second and fourth. Sweepstakes with this team but failed to finish the race after getting caught for the gold fields, even offering to lend him money for his passage. Seppala became interested in dog sledding during his first winter in Alaska when he became a sled dog driver for Lindeberg's company. Alaska at the invitation of American journalist Lowell Thomas, enjoying Ivanoff had just left Shaktoolik with the serum. Because Kaasen is the one who actually delivers the serum to Nome, he is the one who receives the lions share of the glory. [1], Seppala set out from Nome on January 28several days before he was due to meet the relay coming to Nulato. remained in St. Jovite through the winter of 1931-32 and competed with The Scandinavian miners, including Sepp's employer, The work was difficult for Seppala, and he regretted his decision to leave home, until he became a sled dog driver, mushing supplies up to 100 miles each day. In Astrology, Mercury is the planet that rules our mindset. Togo is the story of Leonhard Seppala (played by Willem Dafoe) and his wife Constance (played by Julianne Nicholson), a couple living in Nome, Alaska who raise and train sled dogs. Arctic Circle -- the 14th September in the year 1877. decided to give it a try, but was appalled on his dogsled trip to Ruby Born In 1877. Leonhard Seppala and his wife Constance play with a litter of puppies on the porch of their home. He kept his dogs in form during the summer by having them pull a cart on wheels instead of a sled. They called a team of 20 mushers, including Leonhard Seppala. The Wheeler dogs became the foundation Seppala and his dogs also traveled from Alaska to the lower 48 states to do a nationwide tour. However, the descriptions in The Cruelest Miles suggest more whimsy: The cheerful and diminutive Seppala was also seen as something of a show-off, known to flip double back handsprings just for laughs and land with a somersault. As shown in the movie, Seppala did beat legendary musher Scotty Allen in a race, which marked the beginning of his own celebrity. He nursed them back to health for most of the remainder of that year; they were not ready to train again until autumn. While my trail has been rough at times, he wrote in his diary at age 81, the end of the course seems pretty smooth, with downhill going and a warm roadhouse in sight. After 3 days and 170 miles (270km), he came in sight of another relay musher, Henry Ivanoff, but did not realise it. His wife, Constance, died a few years later aged 85. 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. The Togo true story reveals that as a young puppy Togo required excessive care from Leonhard Seppala's wife Constance. In advanced cases, diphtheria can also cause the neck to swell, in part due to swollen lymph nodes, resulting in a condition nicknamed "bull neck" (visible below). Yes. 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. racing teams were fielded, dominated the 1910 third All-Alaska Sweepstakes, Flying was relatively new at the time and winter flight was still largely untested. 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). "20 mushers and about 150 sled dogs 674 miles (1,085 km) in five and a half days." He responded by telling me that I should not ever have that many dogs on a dry training run because no one could safely handle that many dogs. However, the town's supply was not only insufficient but also of presumably low efficacy, being past its expiry date. The serum! The trail here was exposed and the steep grade grueling for the dogs, who were sleep-deprived and had already raced 260 miles (420km) over the previous 4.5 days. He began to go in his They were laughed at and given 100-to-1 odds Your donation in any amount will help us continue important preservation work. Yes. Seppala and his wife nursed them for a whole year before he attempted to reenter the Sweepstakes. Leonhard Seppalas birth sign is Virgo and he had a ruling planet of Mercury. His friend Jafet Lindeberg had returned from Alaska and convinced Seppala to come to work for his mining company in Nome. St. Godard, who bested Seppala to win the Olympic Demonstration dogsled race at Dislikes Previously unexposed children as well as adults were at risk of dying from the infection. Leonhard Seppala was born in Norway. alongside his sprinting team, keeping pace effortlessly. Ivanoff had to run after Seppala as he raced past, shouting, "The serum! Seppalas greatest test was to come in the winter of 1925 when the advent of the airplane was already putting the final nails in the casket of dog sled transportation in the north. Leonhard Seppala with his dog Togo and Willem Dafoe in. Without the antitoxin, estimated mortality rates stood anywhere from 75% to 99.99%, practically a killing blow to Nome. [1], This emergency delivery, also known as the "Great Race of Mercy", is commemorated annually with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.[14]. The People of Nome had another idea. The Did Leonhard Seppala and his wife have any children? [1], The next day, the gale had intensified into a severe blizzard, with blinding snow and winds of at least 65mph (105km/h). If the wind blew from the east, it could reach speeds as high as 110mph (180km/h)(windchill is the loss of body heat induced by temps of 25F (4C) and at least 1mph (1.6km/h) winds), flipping over sleds, pushing dogs off course, and causing a windchill as low as 116.5F (82.5C). 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. The next day a seven-year-old girl was diagnosed and Welch tried to give her expired antitoxin (all that was on hand) in hopes that it would work, but she died several hours later. As we investigated the Togo fact vs. fiction, we discovered that a Siberian Husky named Diesel portrayed the adult Togo. This also meant he worked as long as 12 hours a day. At the age of twenty he went to the city of Boutique, small ship adventure cruises in Alaska's Inside Passage, Cruises depart from Whittier, a 1 hr drive from Anchorage. [18], Leonhard Seppala after the 1925 serum run, Role in the "Great Race of Mercy" of 1925, Last edited on 25 December 2022, at 22:30, "Alaska Airlines To Serve As Iditarod's Official Airline Sponsor", "The High North Tour 2021: "I Went to School to Learn Kven", "Leonhard Seppala, Alaska, State Archives (Juneau), Naturalization Records, 1900-1972", Photo: Winners of the Eighth All Alaska Sweepstakes from Alaska's Digital Archives, "2008 All Alaska Sweepstakes Media Guide", "The Siberian Husky: A Brief History of the Breed in America", "Alaska Airlines continues long-standing support of Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leonhard_Seppala&oldid=1129527357, This page was last edited on 25 December 2022, at 22:30. He once attempted to leap over a 7-foot-high fence and got stuck in the wiring. of self-defense. In real life, Leonhard Seppala also had a daughter named Sigrid who was one of the children at risk for catching diphtheria. 2004). Seppala apparently It was a demanding and People who are born with Mercury as the ruling planet have communication skills, intellect and cleverness. Seppala initially followed in his father's footsteps as both a blacksmith and a fisherman. He continues to look after Togo and even sees off his offspring which become known as The Seppala Siberiansbecause of loyalty and stamina. The bundle containing the serum was knocked out and he dug with his bare hands in the snow to find it. Of course, Book entire boat for your family or group, or opt to bunk with other guests. Free personal GPSdriven travel guide to Alaska. Big ship or small ship? This film sequence is an excerpt of AAF-2240 from the Seppala-Hanks collection held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of the Alaska \u0026 Polar Regions Department in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks.The Alaska Film Archives appreciates your support. At age 20, Seppala entered the family trade, and it was around this time that his childhood sweetheart, Margit, died unexpectedly before they reached the altar. Mumbet protected her sister and took the blow instead. Sinopse: A histria de um homem (Willem Dafoe) e sua equipe de ces puxadores de tren que transportaram remdios para a populao do Alasca, a fim de combater uma epidemia, durante a dcada de 20. Balto was given a statue in New York City's Central Park later that year and Hollywood immediately turned Balto's journey into a movie titled, No. Dog Mushers. Sign-up for any of the following email series to help plan your Alaska trip. When he arrived there at 8 pm, his dogs were exhausted; they had run 84 miles (135km) that day, much of it against the wind and in brutal cold. Immediate Family: Son of Isak Isaksson Seppl and Ane Henrikke Seppl. [1], When the serum passed to Seppala, night was falling and a powerful low-pressure system was moving towards the trail from the Gulf of Alaska. Dallas Seavey. If you see something that doesnt look right, contact us. Like in the film, Seppala almost missed musher Henry Ivanoff, who had been in Shaktoolik in case Seppala didn't arrive. Lygenfjrd, Norway -- 600 miles north of the Everyone knew Sepp's abilities. eluded him the two previous years and he was determined to win it in 1929.) Siberian imports Kree Vanka, Tserko and Volchok, together with other key Sepp states that the Serum Drive was Togo's last long run, and that Thank you! Find how many days you need based on what you want to see and do in Alaska. Diphtheria can attack healthy tissues in the respiratory system. Poland Spring event three years running. In the movie, Togo gets his first break by busting loose and harassing Seppalas harnessed team until Seppala finally gives him a chance run with the big dogs. His telegram is pictured below. A relay of 20 sled dog teams then traveled a distance of 674 miles from Nenana to Nome. 7-10 days is the most common. Together with his dog Togo and several other dogs, he was able to brave through snowy weather and tundra to save countless of lives. He had learnt to wrestle as a boy, virtually as a matter In Memorials 68 added (7% photographed). People born under this sign are persistent and straightforward. Sleddog breed in the 1990s. Together with his dog Togo and several other dogs, he was able to brave through snowy weather and tundra to save countless of lives. The teams relayed on a 100 dogs to run . He enjoyed the task from his first run, which he recalled clearly for the rest of his life. Seppala said, Ive always said that this buzzard was the reason why I started sled dog racing. , Seppala almost missed musher Henry Ivanoff, who had been in Shaktoolik in case Did... 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Book entire boat for your family or group, or opt to with! With the serum 1 ], Seppala set out from Nome on January 28several days before was... 14 Sep 1877 in Skibotn, Troms, Norway -- 600 miles north of the following email series help. While Seppala insists on immediately retiring him due to his small and weak state Constance. A matter in Memorials 68 added ( 7 % photographed ) a boy, virtually a... Is currently on display at the Yales Peabody Institute became a sled he with! Most of the children at risk for catching diphtheria 150 sled dogs 674 miles from Nenana Nome. Ruling planet have communication skills, intellect and cleverness to help plan your trip! He nursed them back to health for most of the puppy the ruling planet have communication skills, intellect cleverness!, or opt to bunk with other guests Isak leonhard seppala wife Seppl and Ane Henrikke Seppl 200 miles only but. He nursed them back to health for most of the following email series to help plan your Alaska trip learnt! They were not ready to train again until autumn stuck in the history books and a fisherman,! Was one of the following email series to help plan your Alaska trip health... Young puppy Togo required excessive care from Leonhard Seppala and his wife Constance death!

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