On Wednesday, March 20, 1985, at 9 a.m. Libby
Riddles became the first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a 1,150-mile (approx.) dog-pulling sled race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. She checked into Safety - the last checkpoint before the finish - many hours ahead of her nearest competitor and finished the race through debilitating blizzards in 18 days, 20 minutes and 17 seconds. She raced with 13 dogs and won $50,000. Riddles put the Iditarod race on the map with her storybook win and her photo on magazine covers and front pages of many newspapers. The next three Iditarods were also won by a woman, Susan Butcher, who in 1986 had a record-breaking time of 11 days, 15 hours and 6 minutes. She is the only Iditarod competitor in history to have three consecutive wins.
The annual race was first run officially in 1973, although it evolved from a short 56-mile race first organized in 1967. The Iditarod memorializes the emergency need for medical supplies to be rushed to Nome by dogsled during a 1925 diphtheria epidemic. A boat, plane, and train could only get the curing serum within 674 miles of Nome, so teams of dogsleds completed the delivery.Called the "last great race on Earth," the Iditarod (pronounced eye-DIT-a-rod) consists of teams of 12 to 16 dogs pulling a sled driven by a man or woman, called a "musher." The trail involves treacherous climbs through the rugged Alaskan wilderness, and the race lasts for nine to 20 days in subzero temperatures, much of it in darkness and blinding winds. The musher might be able to catch a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis, when the galaxies seem to magically dance and are so bright that during the long dark winters this is the most "daylight" some arctic regions and northern plains see.
The Iditarod begins on the first Saturday in March, runs from Anchorage in the south to Nome on the western Bering Sea, and follows, to some extent the Knik to Nome Iditarod Trail dogsled mail route of 1910. Each year 50 to 80 mushers leave the starting gate, many aiming just to complete the race. Congress named the original Iditarod Trail a National Historic Trail in 1976.
The current journey along the National Millennium Trail takes the mushers over mountains (the Kuskokwim and Alaska ranges), through dense forests, and across frozen rivers (the Yukon for 150 miles), the Norton Sound pack ice and lots of tundra. Mount McKinley (or "Denali," meaning "The High One," in the native Athapascan language), located in the Alaska Range, is North America's highest peak at 20,320 feet. Glaciers are also a unique part of Alaska's topography.
The challenges presented by these harsh conditions reflect Alaska's heritage of survival in the midst of wild, untamed nature. The Eskimos (native Indians of Alaska and other arctic regions) are part of this rich heritage and were conditioned to live on this tough land. Mushing dogsleds were their primary mode of transportation. Eskimos rely on many animals for their survival, including the walrus, seal, reindeer, whale and polar bear. They use the entire animal - for food, clothing and shelter.
Many Americans studied the Eskimos in the 19th century, including naturalist E.W. Nelson, United States Special Indian Commissioner Vincent Colyer, and Knud Rasmussen, who was of Eskimo heritage. Most of these and other explorations occurred after U.S. Secretary of State William Seward brokered a deal to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7 million in 1867.
Ultimately, buying Alaska proved to be a very good move. Major discoveries of gold were made there in the 1880s and 1890s in the Klondike territory, east of the midsection of the Iditarod race route. The lure of gold was strong; it brought attention and people to Alaska. Alaska was also an invaluable strategic land asset during World War II. It was the only U.S. state to be invaded by an enemy during that war, by the Japanese.
Alaskans approved statehood in 1946 and adopted a constitution in 1955. On January 3, 1959, President Eisenhower announced Alaska's entrance into the Union as the 49th state. Today, petroleum transported across the state through a pipeline is Alaska's richest mineral resource. In addition, military bases provide a major source of revenue for Alaska, as does the fishing industry with major catches including salmon and king crab.
Alaska is the largest state in area and is the largest peninsula in the Western Hemisphere. Alaska's nickname is the "Last Frontier." The state capital is Juneau.
