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The dark side of Seppala
After putting into Nome again, following a good rest for his team (and himself), Seppala was rather shocked and dismayed to find that all the attention, the press coverage, and the credit for saving the stricken citizens of Nome was going to Gunnar Kaasen and, most especially, Balto. There was practically no mention of the other teams, the other mushers, nor especially of Togo. Togo...a hero from emergencies past...a hard worker...a former racing celebrity too. Lead dog for years. Nothing. As far as the press was concerned, Togo didn't even exist. They way they were telling it, Balto, "The Wonder Dog", had led his team the 1280 round-trip miles himself. Seppala became LIVID.

Balto was the property of Leonhard Seppala. He had been born in Seppala's kennels, was raised and trained by Seppala (same as the other dogs). Of course, Seppala didn't think much of the dogs which didn't measure up to his exacting and relentless standards for racing dogs...dogs which could also meet an emergency. The dogs which, like Balto, were perhaps a bit large, boxy, or in any way out of proportion (Balto himself was both large and a bit boxy compared to many of Seppala's top dogs), ended up being neutered or spayed by six months, and reserved for freighting and scrap work...and NEVER EVER were given the chance to be lead dogs. So it only infuriated Seppala more when he found out that Gunnar Kaasen had moved Balto up to the lead position while en route to Nome.

Years later, Seppala spoke of the anger he always felt towards Balto because of this: “What bothers me the most, is the fact that Balto, that miserable dog, got the honor for Togo's achievement. By doing so, Balto was known as the best sled dog in Alaska, even though he had never been on a winning team. I know, ‘cause I owned and raised both Balto and Togo.”*

Seppala had also written about this. In his writings (the quote above is probably a requoting by Seppala of these writings), he said: "There was plenty of scandal connected with the drive, and there were many rumors as to various individuals commercializing it. The chief thing which disturbed me was that Togo's records were given to Balto, a scrub dog, who was pushed into the limelight and made immortal. It was almost more than I could bear when the 'newspaper' dog Balto received a statue for his 'glorious achievements', decked out in Togo's colors, and with the claim that he had taken Amundsen to Point Barrow and part way to the Pole - when he had never been two hundred miles north of Nome! By giving him Togo's records he was established as 'the greatest racing leader in Alaska', when he was never in a winning team! I know, because I owned and raised Balto, as well as Togo."

Seppala didn't have long to boil over what he viewed as an affront to Togo. News came that a Hollywood producer, Sol Lesser, wanted to invite Kaasen and Balto, and the team, to come down to the United States so that he could do a film about them. Seppala, eager to get rid of Balto, consented, and allowed all but five members of Kaasen's twelve-dog team to go. Of course, Balto was wined and dined by the producer, and then the Kaasen and the team were convinced to go on a tour with a traveling vaudeville act. They went across the country, and were earning more and more popularity (including Balto being posed for a statue, created by famous animal sculptor George Roth. This statue would grace the top of a monument commemorating the bravery and dedication of all the mushers and dogs of the serum run...and Kaasen, Balto and the team took part in a ceremony dedicating the statue and the monument). This wasn't what Seppala had hoped for. In early 1926, he had his friend, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (who had received a team of dogs from Seppala for one of his expeditions), contact Kaasen during the tour to return to Alaska immediately. Kaasen, having no means of getting the dogs back to Alaska, was left in a bind as to what to do with them, and so they were simply left with the traveling act. They would soon find their way into the hands of a dime-a-look museum owner, who confined the dogs in great discomfort selling quick looks at the now miserable team at a dime per.

Seppala, meanwhile, took his serum run team down to the U.S. for a publicity tour. They drew large crowds at stadiums, department stores and even appearing in a "Lucky Strike" cigarette campaign. In New York City, Seppala drove the team from the steps of City Hall, down Fifth Avenue, and making a pass through Central Park. The team made a few appearances at Madison Square Garden, which was managed by former Nome citizen Tom Rickard. In one of these ceremonies, Togo was awarded a medal by Roald Amundsen.

Togo, Seppala felt, was FINALLY getting the recognition he so richly deserved.

PICTURES:


(Above: Togo, in the foreground, with Seppala and some of his serum run team.)

(Below: a couple of shots of Seppala with Togo)



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(Above: Seppala with some of his serum run team, on a ship bound for the U.S. in 1926...for the tour. He's holding Fritz, co-leader of the team, and Togo's half-brother.)


(Above: Fritz and Togo leading the team down a street during the 1926 U.S. tour.)


* I have never been able to fathom Seppala's intolerable hatred of Balto after the serum run. If Seppala should have been angry at anyone, it should have either been the press corps, for making such a big deal out of JUST Balto, or at Gunnar Kaasen, for not making sure that the other teams were recognized for their contributions. Or both. Balto did NOT deserve Seppala's anger. He was simply doing what his breed was designed to do. And, by all accounts (from Kaasen), he did it quite well when the time came for him to lead. Balto was a dog...a good dog. A clever and intelligent sled dog. He could not possibly comprehend Seppala's anger or hatred for him. And this a defining dark mark on Seppala's history, that he blamed Balto exclusively for Togo being initially overlooked after the serum run. Still, Togo eventually did receive the attention he did so richly deserve.

New England
After the completion of the 1926 U.S. tour (by January 1927, when they found themselves at Madison Square Garden for the presentation of Togo's medal), they then headed into New England (the section of the U.S. which comprises the following states: New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine) to take part in a race against Chinook breeder and musher Arthur Walden (up in Poland Spring, Maine). Seppala and his dogs, which were a curiosity to the easterners (who had never seen Siberian huskies before), won the race.

At this time, Seppala met and formed a partnership with former Chinook breeder and musher Elizabeth Ricker. She was interested in his dogs, and wanted to get hold of some and establish a breeding program out east. Several of the dogs he brought with him, as well as others he had specially-imported from Siberia, ended up in Ricker's kennels. And thus, in Poland Spring, Maine, the preservation of the old original Siberian husky (now known as the "Seppala Siberian Sled Dog") began (which would later involve other enthusiasts). Seppala also left Togo in the care of Ricker, to retire in comfort. Togo passed away, in Ricker's care, on December 5th, 1929. Seppala, after the Poland Spring race (and a few races in Canada) returned to Nome and his family.


(Above: Elizabeth Ricker, with one of the descendants of Seppala's dogs...this picture was taken in the 1930s.)

And so...
Seppala, upon returning to Alaska, continued to work for the Pioneer Gold Mining Company. His partnership with Elizabeth Ricker officially terminated in 1931. After leaving the Pioneer Gold Mining Company, he then began working as a ranger for the U.S. Mining and Melting Company...first in Nome, and then picking up and moving with his family to Fairbanks (around 700 miles east of Nome). He finally purchased a house down in Seattle, Washington and, in 1946, moved there with his wife Constance (where many other Norwegians had settled), in order to enjoy a well-earned retirement. While in Seattle, he had a partnership arrangement with the Bow Lake Kennels of Earl Snodie, "specializing in purebred white, blue-eyed Siberians", as he wrote in 1947.

In 1950, Seppala visited his old home in Norway for the very last time. He was 73 years old by then, and still in good shape. While visiting Oslo (where he apprenticed back in the 1890s in his youth, when the town was still called "Kristiana"), he was made the first honorary musher in the Norwegian Sled Dog Association.

In 1961, the American writer, journalist and speaker, Lowell Thomas, invited Seppala and his wife Constance to Alaska. They visited Fairbanks and Anchorage, and had many experiences. He had still not been forgotten by the people of Alaska...and was well-received by them.


(Above: Leonhard Seppala with his wife, Constance...presumably in 1961 - exact date unknown.)

Seppala died in 1967, at 90 years of age. Constance died a few years later, at 85. They are both buried in Nome, where they both met and began their adventures together.

In June of 1999, descendants of Seppala erected a monument to him in Skibotn, where he was born.


(Above: The monument to Leonhard Seppala in Skibotn, Norway.)


(Above: Detail of the plaque on the monument.)

Footnote
Leonhard Seppala was born a Norwegian of Finnish-speaking ("Kven") descent. The Kvens are an ethnic minority who emigrated to northern Norway, from northern sections of Finland and Sweden, in the 18th and 19th centuries.

He was a short man, but known for his feisty, opinionated, and often acerbic personality. In many respects, it's likely he HAD to be in order to hold his own in the rough-and-tumble gold mining region. Seppala was noted to say, of his first chance to really prospect for the Pioneer Gold Mining Company, rather than do the drudge work he HAD been, up til then, doing for them: "One day Lindeberg came to me and asked me if I would go on a prospecting trip. The pay was ten dollars a day. I accepted readily, glad to escape the steady grind with the shovel. I was by far the smallest man in the gang, and it was hard to keep up with the big, raw-boned Irish and Scandinavians, with many of whom shoveling was a profession."

Still, it is said he could take care of himself. One day he found himself being asked to fill in at a wrestling match for a competitor who had encountered problems. He was shocked to find that his opponent outweighed him by thirty pounds or more. He had never wrestled before, and was unfamiliar with the holds used by local competitors. He was apprehensive, and tested his opponent until he found that he was a bit slow and clumsy. The man rushed him, and Seppala saw an opening, grabbed his opponent, threw him to the floor and pinned him. When the referee parted them, it was found that the man had sustained three broken ribs. Seppala wrote: "It was an unlucky throw, and I was as surprised as he at what I had done, and exceedingly sorry that I had been so violent."

In the end, it was not working in the field of gold mining and prospecting that earned Seppala any fame or fortune, but rather his exposure to dog sledding, and his subsequent breeding program (and temporary partnership with Elizabeth Ricker of Maine). He wrote: "I was not one of those who made a fortune out of the gold digging. That doesn't really matter. It meant much more to me that I got into mushing, and learnt how to handle polar dogs. My experiences have showed me that one doesn't achieve the best results with force and rough handling. Good dogs who know their master understand what he demands, and is always willing to do their best."


(Above: Seppala, taken at the time of the 1925 Serum Run, in his signature coat.)

Sources
These are the websites from which I drew my research (and most of the photos shown):

http://seppalasleddogs.com/leonhard-seppala.htm

http://home.no.net/tunheim/seppala/seppalae.htm

http://seppalasleddogs.com/isa/leonhardseppala.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Seppala

http://www.polandspringseppalas.com/3.html

http://www.seppalas.org/seppalahistory.htm

It might be worth noting that the dog which Seppala is talking about in the quote, Suggen, was a Siberian husky...and the father of Togo.

Wow. Who would have thought that Seppala would have turned out hatting poor Balto.

And all the rest of the amazing info is just so dang.. WOW! You have a lot of dedication to this stuff and that's also amazing. ^^ Thanks SO much for shareing this info with us Sepp!

For you guys? I do my best! Well, since I can't draw even a millionth as well as the artists on here, and am still so new at fan videos, it's my passion for history and my interest in writing (fan fictions) that enables me to share my talents here. Heh heh

Gee, you do know a lot about your Seppala! Is this you finsihed? Hopefully it will keep on coming! I never knew half this stuff about Leonard Seppala, he seems to be quite extrodinary

Yep - I'm officially finished! LOL. This is about as much as I could dig up on ol' Seppala. I plan to tackle more projects as both time and information present!

Glad to have helped!

Ah, I see Well, you did dig up quite a lot of info! Big pat on the back for Balto Seppala! I cannot wait to see what else you will bring up

Heh heh. Awwww. Go on witcha! lol