Balto

Balto ( – March 14, 1933) was a Siberian Husky and sled dog belonging to musher and breeder Leonhard Seppala. He achieved fame when he was part of a team of sled dogs driven by Gunnar Kaasen on the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome, in which diphtheria antitoxin was transported from Anchorage, Alaska, to Nenana, Alaska, by train and then to Nome by dog sled to combat an outbreak of the disease. Credited as the leader of the team, Balto's celebrity status, and that of Kaasen's, resulted in a two-reel motion picture, a statue in Central Park, and a nationwide tour on the vaudeville circuit

Key facts

Animal.name: Balto
Animal.species: Canis lupus familiaris
Animal.breed: Siberian husky
Animal.gender: Male
Animal.birth_place: Nome, Territory of Alaska
Animal.death_place: Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Animal.resting_place: Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Animal.nationality: United States of America (Territory of Alaska)
Animal.occupation: Sled dog
Animal.known: 1925 serum run to Nome
Animal.owner: Gunnar Kaasen
Animal.appearance: Black with white "socks", "bib", and partial white markings on belly and tip of the muzzle, which advanced with age (including white markings around the eyes when he was old). Eyes were dark brown.
Animal.namedafter: Samuel Balto
Animal.image: Balto 1925 (cropped).jpg
Animal.alt: Balto, a black Alaskan husky, poses while sitting on a sofa, his white feet placed on the sofa's armrest. His face is looking directly in front of the camera.
Animal.image caption: Balto, .
Animal.image_upright: 1

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image: Gunnar Kaasen with Balto.jpg

Show 5 more facts

Commons category: Balto
date of birth: 1919-01-01
date of death: 1933-03-14
Commons gallery: Balto
name in native language: Balto

Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~36 min read

Article

21 sections

Contents

Life
Early years
The serum run
Post-race fame: movies, statues, vaudeville and sale to a sideshow
Cleveland fundraising effort and purchase
Later years
Death, mounting and display
Return visits to Alaska
Legacy
Controversy, rivalries and reevaluation
Balto vs. Togo
Cultural depictions
Books
Film
Television
Genome sequencing
See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links

A falling out between Seppala and Kaasen resulted in Balto and his teammates being sold under disputed circumstances to a traveling circus operator and ultimately housed in squalor at a dime museum in Los Angeles. When news stories emerged in February 1927 about his poor living conditions, a two-week fundraising effort in Cleveland, Ohio, led to the successful purchase of Balto and his team by the citizenry of Cleveland. Balto lived in ease at the Cleveland Zoo until his death on March 14, 1933, at the age of 14; his body was subsequently mounted and displayed in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where it remains to this day. While the subject of numerous cultural depictions and homages, including a 1995 animated film, Balto's role in the serum run remains controversial as contemporary media coverage focused almost entirely on him over the efforts of the other mushers and dogs—most notably, Seppala and his lead dog Togo—and has more recently undergone historical reappraisals.