The real story of the legendary dog ​​Balto, who saved the city from diphtheria. "The Great Race of Mercy": how dogs saved the city of Nome Life after death

"Balto (Bolto) Siberian Husky, a sled dog from a team that transported medicines during the diphtheria epidemic in 1925 in the cities of Alaska, USA.
Balto was born in 1919 in the small town of Nome in Alaska. Balto spent the first few years of his life transporting food for the city. It was considered rather slow and not suitable for heavier work. Balto spent the last years of his life at the Cleveland Zoo, Ohio, and died on March 14, 1933.
During the diphtheria epidemic, the storm and the storm did not allow the planes to take off. It was decided to transport the serum by train, to the city (Nenana), but no further, due to the lack of railroad tracks. However, Nenana was located at a distance of more than a thousand kilometers of icy desert. The inhabitants of Nome suggested a way out: to equip a dog team and rely on the speed and strength of the dog's paws and the skill of the team leaders.
The team was equipped, and the teams set off into the icy wind and snow. On the last section of the journey, 52 miles from Bluff to Nome, the medicine was carried by Gunnar Kaasen's team led by Balto. Balto was never considered a great leader, but he showed courage as he plunged into the roar of a blizzard. On the way, he saved the team from certain death in the Topkok River. As soon as they reached the Bonanza River, a terrible gust of wind overtook the team on the trail, overturning the sled. After straightening the sleigh, Gunnar realized with horror that the serum had disappeared! With his bare hands, he miraculously found her in the snow. After crossing Bonanza, he drove the last 12 miles in 80 minutes and arrived in Safety Sunday night at 2:00. Ed Ron was asleep, and Kaasen decided not to wake him in order to save time. The worst part of the route was over, the dogs were in good condition, and Kaasen decided to cover the remaining 21 miles separating him from Nome. But the blizzard intensified, and Balto was also able to stay on track in the blizzard, in which, according to Kaasen, he could barely see the hands in front of his face.
The team reached Nome at 5:30 am this Sunday. The city has been saved!
They covered 53 miles in seven and a half hours. The serum was frozen, but not damaged, and was immediately used to stop the epidemic. Five days later, the epidemic was completely stopped. Exhausted and half-frozen after the 53-mile race, Kaasen, Balto and the rest of the dogs were immediately recognized as heroes in the United States.
Newspapers around the world wrote about Balto, and a monument was erected to him in Central Park in New York. The inscription on the monument reads: "Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that carried the serum over 600 miles of off-road, unreliable sea ice and arctic blizzards from Nenana to disease-stricken Nom. Fortitude. Loyalty. Intelligence." In addition, Balto and other participants in this race are worth several more monuments in different cities of the United States. "Source Wikipedia

The story with Balto is nothing but another American idealization of any topic... And the point is not at all whether Balto was there or not at all... Of course, apparently there was such a dog. But what is his role in saving people as described above??? What is heroism? After all, everyone understands that the dog did not make the decision itself. She was led by a musher, -Man!!! Why is there no monument to him?
But we know many examples when dogs heroically save children from water, from fire, thousands of examples .. But they don’t erect monuments to them. After all, they were the ones who made the decision. Dogs - explosives, during the 2nd World War - died under tanks, giving their lives for the sake of victory. And what did they know about the Victory? Nothing, they just went to their deaths, at the behest of the commanders (as well as our boys in Afghanistan, Chechnya and wherever the Motherland sent them).
And how less heroic are the dogs that fell victim to research laboratories, sent into space and burned there for the sake of science?? Or gentlemen, the Americans did not send animals into space, and did not gut them in laboratories???? They sent and cut ... Just creating a show-off from nothing is the main American trait.

So what did Balto do anyway??
I think in this story, all the same, the hero was Gunnar Kaasen - a musher. A person who made decisions and risked rushing into a blizzard, as described in history.
So, the man who controlled the dogs made the best decisions, and of course saved the city from the EPIDEMIC.
And the Americans... But what to take from them??? They, as always .. They needed a fresh HERO, and not a simple one, but on FOUR LEGS .. And so it happened ...

In comparison to this version of the Americans, I would like to bring a biographical touch from the life of my father. Man - unbending will. Military climber. It so happened that a dog saved his life ....

In 1935, in the Caucasus, in Terskol, while climbing the eastern peak of Elbrus, Ilya Katsnelson lagged behind the group and crashed, falling into a crevice. It is not known how long he woke up and being well guided by the compass, but having received a severe head injury, Ilya crawled for many hours. He often lost consciousness ... Finally, he crawled to the camp of geologists. Ilya saw tents, people, even a dog, shouted, called for help. But his voice drowned out the noise of a small waterfall and a river ... This went on for several hours. He lost consciousness again. Ilya woke up from a wet tongue licking his face, which looked like a solid hematoma. The dog looked like a cross between a shepherd and a husky, he defined it. He doesn't remember what he was talking about with the dog, but he woke up in the camp of geologists. People, of course, helped him and a couple of days later they took him to a climbing camp on a donkey.

A photo of a heroic dog, of course not. Ilya Katsnelson went through many years of mountaineering, then war, civil life. Wrote many books about mountaineering, tourism, military memoirs. About the dog that saved his life.......... Somewhere flashed a memory, but very short. Not the main topic. I'm not judging, I just want to draw two parallels: BALTO and the nameless dog of geologists...

Many will say: "What did she do? Lick her face?" Alas, not only. As geologists told my father, she literally turned their camp upside down ... The commotion was such that even the drunks were awakened by her barking. (Drunken geologists are a common sight on expeditions). There was no person whom she did not grab by the sleeves of her clothes, pants and did not drag along with her. For the river The river was shallow and it was easy to cross it on the rocks. The dog led people to a helpless man... What can I say???

Personally, I am full of faith in my father's story, because he did not know how to lie. You say: What heroism?? Just a savvy dog... But could it be otherwise??... And quite simply. There might not have been a dog, no one would have found the camp of geologists and the father. And did not save. And already, as a consequence, there would be no author of this article.

Personally, I have seen many heroic dogs. Consciously, or at the command of a person, they did their duty and often died ... Of course, these were the dogs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and special forces dogs ... But the word duty ??? Does this word apply to a dog at all??? What are the debts of the dog? Do dogs owe us anything in life? We - they owe and are obliged, because. took care of them. We must take care. And a dog can run for years through garbage heaps, get used to not getting under the wheels of cars, catching mice for food. Steal if you have to ... But never to anyone, the dog does not owe anything. She did not take an oath, did not take an oath. She simply either lives with a person and loves him or lives and does not love. Only and everything. Only we, the people, make everyone indebted...

The topic is short and simple.
I felt it my duty to comment on the Wikipedia extract about Balto. I commented to my friend from Los Angeles - Yulia Savransky. He gave an example of saving my father's dog by a nameless Elbrus dog. It was Julius Savransky who advised me to write this comment and sent a photo of the BALTO monument.

P.S.
I am very interested in the opinion of readers, write your opinion in the guest book.
Sincerely Author...

Perhaps, many have seen a cartoon about a brave dog named Balto. The plot is based on a real story that happened in 1925. The dog, who was at the head of the team, managed not to get lost in a snowstorm and take the medicine for diphtheria to its destination. His heroic deed is still told to children at school in Alaska.

In January 1925, a diphtheria epidemic broke out in the small gold mining town of Nome, Alaska. The disease threatened to destroy all the children in the city. The local hospital did not have enough medicine for everyone. The plane was supposed to deliver the antitoxin to the city, but it could not take off because of the low temperature. Then it was decided to deliver the serum by dog ​​teams.

The distance that 150 sled dogs had to run was 1085 km. Overcoming the path, called the Great Race of Mercy, took the dogs five and a half days.

The hero of this run was a coal-black Siberian husky named Balto. The first years of his life, the dog was involved only as a carrier of food. He was thought to be too slow and unendurable for harder work. Later, he was put in a dog sled, but he was still not considered a good leader. The dog showed the character of the leader precisely during the transportation of the medicine.

The team from Balto, led by Gunnar Kaasen, had to cover the last section of the route, 84 km long. As Gunnar later recalled, due to the intensified snow storm, nothing was visible at arm's length. Thanks to Balto, the team managed to avoid death in the Topkok River. The dog stopped in time, sensing the danger. Strong gusts of wind turned the sled over once. When the driver came to his senses, he was horrified to find that the serum was gone. Cassin miraculously managed to find a box with an antidote by digging deep snow with his bare hands at -31 ° C. The team went on.

The next leg of the journey, from Safety to Nome, was Ed Ron's team. Balto arrived in Safety at 2 am. In order to save time, Gunnar Kassen decided not to wake Ed and drove on. The team arrived in the city at 5.30 am, the children were rescued. In 5 days the epidemic was stopped.

Half-frozen and almost exhausted dogs were recognized as heroes. This story immediately flew around the country on the radio. Everyone wrote about the feat of Balto, Kaasen and other dogs. The dog spent the last years of his life at the Cleveland Zoo. He died at the age of 14 in 1933. The taxidermist made a stuffed animal out of Balto, which was installed in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Balto also erected monuments in several American cities.

Surely many have seen a cartoon called "Balto", which tells about a courageous dog that saved the whole city. Today we will tell you the true story about this heroic dog, which probably not many people know.

Balto (also acceptable option - Bolto) was actually a Russian-European Laika, Gunnar Kaasen's sled dog. Balto was born in 1919 in the small town of Nome, Alaska. For the first few years of his life, the dog was "engaged" in transporting food, as it was considered too slow and generally unsuitable for harder work. Balto spent the last years of his life at the Cleveland Zoo, Ohio, and died on March 14, 1933 at the age of 13.

In early 1925, diphtheria, a terrible disease affecting children, broke out in the settlement of Nome. A medicine was needed - diphtheria serum, moreover, to all adjacent hospitals. Contacting by telegraph with all nearby cities, they found out that a little serum remained in the city of Anchorage, which lay a thousand miles from the settlement.
An ice storm and a storm prevented the planes from taking off. It was decided to transport the serum by train, to the city of Nenana, but no further, due to the lack of railway lines. However, Nenana was located at a distance of more than a thousand kilometers of icy desert. The inhabitants of Nome suggested a way out: to equip a dog team and rely on the speed and strength of the dog's paws and the skill of the team leaders.

The team was equipped, and the teams set off into the icy wind and snow. On the last section of the journey, 52 miles from Bluff to Nome, the medicine was carried by Gunnar Kaasen's team led by Balto. Balto was never considered a great leader, but he showed courage as he plunged into the roar of a blizzard. On the way, he saved the team from certain death in the Topkok River. As soon as they reached the Bonanza River, a terrible gust of wind overtook the team on the trail, overturning the sled.

After straightening the sleigh, Gunnar realized with horror that the serum had disappeared! With his bare hands, he miraculously found her in the snow. After crossing Bonanza, he drove the last 12 miles in 80 minutes and arrived in Safety Sunday night at 2:00. Ed Ron was asleep, and Kaasen decided not to wake him in order to save time. The worst part of the route was over, the dogs were in good condition, and Kaasen decided to cover the remaining 21 miles separating him from Nome. But the blizzard intensified, and Balto was also able to stay on track in the blizzard, in which, according to Kaasen, he could barely see the hands in front of his face.
The team reached Nome at 5:30 am on Sunday. The city has been saved!
They covered 53 miles in seven and a half hours. The serum was frozen, but not damaged, and was immediately used to stop the epidemic. Five days later, the epidemic was completely stopped. Exhausted and half-frozen after the 53-mile race, Kaasen, Balto and the rest of the dogs were immediately recognized as heroes in the United States!

There is a monument to Balto in New York's Central Park.

After his death, a stuffed Balto was exhibited in the Cleveland Museum, the black color changed to brown. The effigy of Balto remained standing in one of the cold cellars of the museum.

Sculpture participated in the Ice Sculpture Championship in Fairbanks - Balto's Charge

To this day, the history of Balto is being told in the schools of Alaska, his deed has not died, it will forever remain a symbol of valor, honor, dignity and unbroken will to win.

Perhaps many have seen a cartoon about a brave dog named Balto. The plot is based on a real story that happened in 1925. The dog, who was at the head of the team, managed not to get lost in a snowstorm and take the medicine for diphtheria to its destination. His heroic deed is still told to children at school on Alaska.

The distance that 150 sled dogs had to run was 1085 km. Overcoming the path, called the Great Race of Mercy, took the dogs five and a half days.

The team from Balto, led by Gunnar Kaasen, had to cover the last section of the route, 84 km long. As Gunnar later recalled, due to the intensified snow storm, nothing was visible at arm's length. Thanks to Balto, the team managed to avoid death in the Topkok River. The dog stopped in time, sensing the danger. Strong gusts of wind turned the sled over once. When the driver came to his senses, he was horrified to find that the serum was gone. Cassin miraculously managed to find the box with the andidot with his bare hands deep in the snow at -31 ° C. The team went on.

In early 1925, a diphtheria epidemic broke out in Nome, Alaska. Without a special serum, this disease was fatal, especially since most of the cases were children. Despite the fact that Nome was the largest city in the state, it never had favorable weather conditions. The nearest serum was a thousand kilometers away. An ice storm and a storm prevented planes from taking off, so the serum was delivered by train to the city of Nenana. The rest of the way (1085 kilometers) the medicine had to be transported by dog ​​sled - the only possible vehicle in such weather conditions. In an icy wind, a snow storm, extremely low temperatures even below -50 degrees, it was necessary to overcome the path for a total of 1085 kilometers. In total, 20 drivers and about 150 sled dogs participated in the delivery of the medicine. Many teams gave up on the road. On the last stretch of 84 km Gunnar Kaasen was the driver. Just his team was led by the famous Siberian husky Balto. Balto's only assistants were his courage and excellent orientation, which were opposed by terrible fatigue and a series of failures. The dogs almost died while crossing the river, where Balto saved the team from certain death, and a little later the sled turned over, and the medicine box fell into deep snow, Kaasen had to get it. Having passed his section, Kaasen arrived at the settlement of Safety, where Ed Ron's team was supposed to continue the race. In a blizzard, they missed this replacement team, and Kaasen decided not to waste time and go further to Nome, which was 34 km away. At this time, the blizzard intensified so much that the driver could not even see his hand and was paralyzed from the cold. The last hope and the lives of hundreds and thousands of children remained on Balto, who could not go astray in a snowstorm. As a result, these 84 kilometers were completed in 7.5 hours. Later, the media will call this whole path the "mercy race." Balto overnight became a famous dog, the hero of the entire nation. On December 17, 1925, a bronze statue was erected in his honor in New York's Central Park. In fact, this is a monument not to one dog, but to all, I would even say that this is a monument to the “dog's heart”. About 150 dogs participated in the delivery of the medicine, not all of them survived this path - many dogs fell ill and froze to death on the icy paths, their names remained unknown. But, of course, they are all heroes. Therefore, Balto is a symbol of that very feat of huskies - dogs that were ready to challenge the harsh climate of the north and give their Lives for the sake of people. People show the same love and care to their pets, sometimes also at the cost of their health. For example, Charlie Olsen took over with the vaccine on February 1, 1925. During a snowstorm, Olsen's sleigh was blown off the trail and he lost his bearings. He broke a halt, put the dogs to rest and, wrapping them in a blanket, frostbitten his hands. History also remembered the name of another dog - Togo, a multiple winner of a run of hundreds of miles. When his wagon was trapped on an ice floe, Togo jumped into the icy mess and pulled the line in the water towards the driver until the ice floes got close enough for the rest of the dogs in the team to move onto more stable ice. The act of Balto, Togo and other dogs has not died, it will forever remain a symbol of valor, honor, dignity and unbroken will to win. Until 1973, sled dog races were held annually along this route. And besides the statue itself in Central Park in New York, there is a plaque engraved with the words: "Endurance, devotion, intelligence." The story of Balto is told by a feature-length cartoon by Steven Spielberg.