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FRITZ
The half-brother of Togo (probably had the same mother, but different fathers), Fritz was also the co-leader, with Togo, on Leonhard Seppala's 20-dog Serum Run team. A team of such large size can certainly generate great speed and pulling power, and Seppala was the most famous driver, and breeder of Siberian huskies, in Alaska at the time.

Fritz was a white husky with brown/gray mottling on his head, and on his back (in a "saddle" pattern). He was larger than Togo, running more the typical size and weight for Siberians at the time (around 55-65 pounds). Fritz contributed much to the lines of the modern-day Siberian Husky breed (which is also, genetically, slightly different from the original "Siberian husky" breed...now called the "Seppala Siberian Sled Dog"), and like Togo fathered many puppies. And UNlike Togo, he remained with Seppala after his tour of the United States, and races in New England. (Togo was given to Elizabth Ricker, a friend Seppala made during the New England races, and a fellow musher and dog breeder. Some of the over 40 dogs Seppala brought with him, for the U.S. tour, ended up staying with Ricker, creating the eastern breeding line of "Seppala Siberian Sled Dogs" which still exist today in New England. Togo lived out his remaining few years with Ricker).

2. Fritz with Seppala on the deck of a steamship headed to the U.S. for their 1926-7 tour of the U.S., which would include a sledding demonstration in Madison Square Garden, in New York City (and a presentation of a medal to Togo, by the then famous Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, to whom Seppala had provided a team of dogs for his Arctic exoeditions), and some races in New England and also Toronto, Canada. Fritz and the other dogs seem to be fixated on some small pieces of ice sliding across the pitching deck of the ship near Seppala's left foot ( ):

Sorry for the consecutive post, but in answer to this question:


http://www.seppalas.com/page16.htm

Happy hunting! I would LOVE to own one of these great dogs!

Nope...it was not the same tour. Seppala arranged his own in early 1926, and toured the U.S. through the year, into early 1927. When he came to New England, he was invited to participate in a few races with one of the legendary New England racing celebrities, Arthur Walden (breeder and musher of Chinooks). Seppala had brought 47 dogs with him from Alaska...mostly for the sake of demonstration. People in the "lower 48" (the ones who had never been to Alaska, Siberia or western Canada) had never SEEN a Siberian husky or an Alaskan Malamute, and they were utterly fascinated by the dogs. Seppala's smaller Siberians SMOKED the Chinooks in the races...which drew the attention of Elizabeth Ricker, another racer and breeder. She fell in love with the Siberians and, in a joint venture with Seppala, started an eastern breeding program for the dogs. Which led to a friendship and a place for ol' Togo to retire in peace, in a warm and loving setting.

With no way to reach Seppala on the trail once word came down of the need for more teams, Kaasen was left to choose pretty much as he wanted to. He selected either 12 or 13 dogs (having only Seppala's instructions to use Fox as a lead dog, but nothing else) for the team. However, Kaasen had previously observed and taken an interest in Balto, on several occasions while working for the gold mining company with the dog teams. And even though Balto had never had a chance to serve as a lead dog, Kaasen saw some potential in him that Seppala apparently did not. Against Seppala's explicit instructions, he assigned the inexperienced Balto as the lead dog, and gave Fox the co-lead position behind him. And so history went. The names of seven of those dogs are preserved in the historical record, and are the same dogs that ended up going down to the U.S. - Balto, Fox, Sye, Billy, Tillie, Old Moctoc, and Alaska Slim.

I am thinking that Seppala was trying to bring more attention to Togo specifically, and to the efforts of his team. But also, perhaps, to draw attention to the fact that Balto and his team weren't the only ones who made the run. The way the U.S. press covered it, the general view was that Balto and his team WERE the only ones who made the run. Of course, we know how much this angered and hurt Seppala (and I'm sure the other mushers weren't too happy about it either).

It is interesting to note that, sometime after the dedication of the musher/sled dog monument (with the Balto statue) in New York City, Seppala sent word (while still in Nome I think) to his friend, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, to tell Gunnar Kaasen (the driver of Balto's team) to return home and get back to work immediately with the Pioneer Gold Mining Company. Kaasen had no choice (Sepp was, in many ways, Kaasen's boss)...and this resulted in the team being stranded (Sepp was all too happy to be rid of Balto anyway, after all the press he was getting...and there is no indication he even inquired of Kaasen what had become of the team). Kaasen had to abandon the dogs...leaving them in the hands of the promoter of the vaudeville tour the team had been on. This is what resulted in Balto's team being sold to the dime-a-look museum owner, and that dark period in the team's U.S. visit. I think this is another demonstration of Seppala's darker nature. He wanted, I believe, to bring an end to the attention Balto (and, as a result, Kaasen and the rest of Balto's team) were receiving due to their tour. Sepp was doing a slow burn over this up in Nome, because he certainly would have been hearing all about it. And that's what led to his deciding to fund his own tour with his dogs, including his serum run team.

But I also suspect that he (Seppala) was eager to bring attention to the existence of the Siberian huskies (which, as I have said...and this bears repeating as much as possible...weren't the same animals that now bear that name. Modern day, kennel club-approved "Siberian Huskies" are genetically different. They evolved into a different line through genetic manipulation...for the sake of making them prettier show dogs and more manageable "pets". The old lines, the ones used by the mushers early in the 20th century and before that, have been kept alive in the breed which was soon renamed the "Seppala Siberian Sled Dog", which exists today in small pockets as a purely working dog...and to which some modern Siberian Husky breeders often cross their modern lines into in order to create what they like to call - wrongly - the "working Siberian Husky". As I have said elsewhere, only the more ethical Siberian Husky breeders will acknowledge when their dogs have been crossed with Seppala Siberian Sled Dogs, and what percentage - if known - of those blood lines the offspring of those unions have. Purely show breeders seem to almost never do that - to own up to the crossing. It's the breeders who are primarily dog sledders who do. The show breeders will simply claim that the crosses are "working Siberian Huskies"...with no mention of the cross-breeding). Remember what I said before...until Balto's team and, later, Togo's, appeared in the U.S. for their separate tours, almost no one in the lower 48 states had ever seen a Siberian husky or an Alaskan Malamute before, and had no idea what they were. And the historical record says that they drew huge crowds of people who were extremely curious about them, and instantly fell in love with the dogs. Who could blame them? lol

Yeah, it IS a shame about the other dogs of the Serum Run. Beyond the names of Wild Bill Shannon's dogs, and a little about their experiences, there is NOTHING about the other teams and the dogs in them, and almost nothing about the mushers. At least in any printed or internet resources currently in circulation. The Carrie L. McLean library up in Nome probably has more records. And perhaps the Alaska Historical Society or some organization like that. But for the most part, their names and the parts they played are lost to history. Which is most unfortunate. Each dog, and each musher, went above and beyond the call of duty, and risked their lives to help people most of them had never met (or would ever meet).