Dorothy G. Page (January 23, 1921 – November 16, 1989) was best known as ''"Mother of the

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod (), is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at lea ...

"'', the 1,049-mile (about 1,600 km)

dog sled race Sled dog racing (sometimes termed dog sled racing) is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland and some European countries. It involves the timed competition of teams of sled dogs tha ...

across the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. Page moved from

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

to Alaska in 1960. She then became the president of the Phillip-Knik Centennial Committee in 1966, and was in charge of coming up with an event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the

purchase of Alaska The Alaska Purchase was the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire by the United States for a sum of $7.2 million in 1867 (equivalent to $ million in ). On May 15 of that year, the United States Senate ratified a bilateral treaty ...

from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In her own words, the self-described "history buff" wanted "a spectacular dog race to wake Alaskans up to what mushers and their dogs had done for Alaska." Page saw her first dog sled race in 1960. At the time, nearly every household in the rural

Alaska Bush In Alaska, the Bush typically refers to any region of the state that is not connected to the North American road network and does not have ready access to the state's ferry system. A large proportion of Alaska Native populations live in the Bush ...

and

Interior Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

had a team of

sled dog A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in Dog harness, harness, most commonly a Dog sled, sled over snow. Sled dogs have been used in the Arctic for at least 8,000 years and, along with watercraft, were the only transpor ...

s for transportation. During the 1960s snowmachines started to replace the dogs, which all but vanished. The historic

Iditarod Trail The Iditarod Trail, also known historically as the Seward-to-Nome Trail, is a thousand-plus mile (1,600 km) historic and contemporary trail system in the US state of Alaska. The trail began as a composite of trails established by Alaska n ...

that passed through both Wasilla and Knik was an ideal stage. Dog

mushing Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most com ...

had been the primary means of communication and transportation in the Bush and Interior by

Alaska Natives Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tli ...

for centuries; remained so for the Russian, American, and

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

fur trapper A fur is a Softness, soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily #Guard hair, guard hair on top and thick #Down hair, underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching t ...

s in the 19th century; and reached its peak during the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

es of the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Page was unable to get the support of a single dog musher until she met Joe Redington, Senior (the "Father of the Iditarod") at the

Willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

Winter Carnival. Redington used dog teams to perform search and rescue for the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

, and owned a large

kennel A kennel is a structure or shelter for dogs. Used in the plural, ''the kennels'', the term means any building, collection of buildings or a property in which dogs are housed, maintained, and (though not in all cases) bred. A kennel can be made o ...

. He also had been

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

to make the Iditarod Trail a

National Historic Trail The National Trails System is a series of trails in the United States designated "to promote the preservation of, public access to, travel within, and enjoyment and appreciation of the open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources of the Nati ...

since the 1950s. Redington agreed to lend his support to the event, on the condition that a purse of

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

$25,000 be divided among the winners. The money was raised. In February 1967, 58 dog mushers competed in two heats along a 25-mile (40 km) stretch of the old Iditarod Trail between Wasilla and Knik. The race was modeled after the first large dog sled race in the state, the 1908 to 1918 All-Alaska Sweepstakes (AAS) of

Nome Nome may refer to: Country subdivision * Nome (Egypt), an administrative division within ancient Egypt * Nome (Greece), the administrative division immediately below the ''peripheries of Greece'' (, pl. ) Places United States * Nome, Alaska ...

. The official name of the event was the Iditarod Trail Seppala Memorial Race, after the three-time Sweepstakes champion

Leonhard Seppala Leonhard "Sepp" Seppala (; September 14, 1877 – January 28, 1967) was a Norwegian-Kven-American sled dog breeder, trainer and musher who with his dogs played a pivotal role in the 1925 serum run to Nome, and participated in the 1932 Winter O ...

. While Seppala was most famous for participating in the 1925 serum run which saved the city of Nome from a

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

, according to Page "Seppala was picked to represent all mushers... but it could just as easily have been named after

Scotty Allan Allan Alexander "Scotty" Allan (1867–1941) was a Scottish-born American dog musher, businessman and politician. He was born in Dundee. In 1907, several mushers based in Nome, Alaska, calling themselves the Nome Kennel Club, which promoted the ...

"Sherwonit (1991, pg. 48). (the founder of the AAS). In 1968 the race was canceled due to lack of

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

, and the 1969 race was the last: With a purse of only $1,000, only 12 mushers participated. The Iditarod was held in 1973, largely due to Redington's efforts. The route of the race was extended more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) to Nome, and a purse of $51,000 was raised. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has since grown into the premiere

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

ing event in the state, and the largest dog sled race in the world. The popularity also caused dog mushing to revive in the 1970s as a recreational sport. Page also helped form the Iditarod Trail Committee, which organizes the race, and the Musher's Hall of Fame in Knik. She served four terms on the Wasilla City Council, and was mayor from 1986 to 1987. She volunteered as the president of the Wasilla-Knik-Willow Creek Historical Society, and was the

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of the Wasilla and Knik museums. Page died on November 16, 1989. Despite her contributions to the sport, she was never a musher. After her death, the Wasilla Museum was renamed the Dorothy G. Page Museum in her honor. (Page’s name was removed from the Wasilla Museum & Visitor Center in 2018.) Page is also commemorated by the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award, given to the first musher to reach the midpoint of the race, in

Cripple A cripple is a person or animal with a physical disability, particularly one who is unable to walk because of an injury or illness. The word was recorded as early as 950 AD, and derives from the Proto-Germanic ''krupilaz''. The German and Dutc ...

on even-numbered years, and the trail's namesake of

Iditarod The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod (), is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at leas ...

on odd-numbered years. She was named the honorary musher during the 1997 Iditarod.

Notes

References

* City of Wasill
Who was Dorothy Page?
Retrieved March 11, 2005. * Bill Sherwonit (1991). ''Iditarod: The Great Race to Nome.'' . {{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Dorothy G. 20th-century mayors of places in Alaska Dog sledding People from Bessemer, Michigan 1989 deaths Mayors of Wasilla, Alaska Women city councillors in Alaska 1921 births Women mayors of places in Alaska 20th-century American women politicians

See also

Notes

References