WINTER TRAVEL BY DOGS -- 1927 (Part II)

I am excerpting (in italics) parts from an article entitled Winter Travel By Dogs, that appeared in the December 1927 issue of the Hudson’s Bay Company publication The Beaver , the author is Chas. H.M. Gordon who was an H.B.C. employee. This excerpt from the article provides insight into the methods in which sled dogs were harnesses as well as some comments about the speeds travelled by dog teams in 1927. I will comment on these points below. I note that the author had served with the H.B.C. at Fort Alexander, which was in present-day Manitoba. It is my belief that he may be most familiar with the use of dogs in the Fort Gary area, but this is just my speculation.



…..Close to the front in both baggage sled and cariole the traces are attached. [The author is referring to the use of leather collar harness with leather traces or what is called the tandem hook-up (see below). I have always had trouble with the term tandem as my mental image of that word is of dogs running side-by-side or two-by-two, to me the word tandem suggests two. However checking the dictionary offers this definition and clarification:

Tandem (or in tandem) is an arrangement where a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction.

Tandem harness (the original use of the term in English) is used for two or more draft horses (or other draft animals) harnessed in a single line one behind another, as opposed to a pair, harnessed side-by-side, or a team of several pairs. Tandem harness allows additional animals to provide pulling power for a vehicle designed for a single animal.

On the coast of Hudson Bay dogs are harnessed by many separate lines, usually made of seal hide, with as many as twelve dogs to the sleigh. [The author is talking about the fan hitch which is used in the Eastern Arctic where much of the travel is on jumbled sea ice. This method of hitching a team to the sled allows each dog to pick its own way through the ice pack. Of course, the “sleigh” referred to is in fact the Inuit komatik which is a strong flexible sled capable of weathering the terrific beating that it must endure as it crashes over the sea ice] In Manitoba they are driven tandem, using generally four dogs for a team. [Certainly the size of dog teams in the past was smaller than in the present, I can think of a few reasons for this fact. There was no reason to keep more dogs than could be used at any one time. The use of sled dogs was an integral utilitarian part of the daily lifestyle and routine, they provided the only method of transportation. Contemporary kennels are larger, reflecting the fact that dogs are kept for recreation and competition and are transported from place to place in a dog truck. Feeding sled dogs in the past was very labour intensive as feed had to be cooked, even hunted or caught and/or butchered. It should also be remembered that the protein source used as dog food was usually the identical protein source used by the musher to feed his family. It should be noted that in the past the need was for power rather than for speed. It should also be noted that at the time this article was written, the musher usually ran beside or ahead of the dog team, usually on snowshoes and so there was not the same need for a large team. Four “huskies” have the power needed to pull a loaded freight toboggan or cariole, there is no need for a larger team. The author refers to the use of the tandem hook-up in Manitoba. In fact this method of harnessing dogs to the sled was very wide-spread and was used throughout the Western Arctic, throughout all Canadian provinces and throughout the Yukon]

In Alaska they are run two abreast, with a single dog as leader. This latter style is in vogue with drivers at The Pas in the annual Dog Derby. [This method of hitching a team to the sled is the most common method in use throughout the dog mushing world today. This method involves the use of a central tow line and the dogs usually harnessed side-by-side and fastened to the tow line using individual tug lines. The dogs use some form of harness based on the original Inuit sealskin design, the tug line running from the central tow line is fastened to the dog’s harness. The dogs are also usually (although not always) also fastened to the tow line at their neck through the use of a shorter neck line. There are actually several variations to this basic hook-up style. What is this method of hitching sled dogs to a sled called? The author says that it is a method used in Alaska and this is true however it is actually a method of hooking up dogs that was “imported” to Alaska from Siberia (along with what is now known as the basket sled). I have seen this called the Alaska(n) Hitch and the Nome Hitch. Contrary to what the author says, it is also possible to use two leaders with this hook-up.

The comment about this method being used in The Pas Dog Derby is quite true. In about 1915, an Alaskan dog musher known as the Goyne Kid or the Going Kid or the Goin’ Kid, actually moved to The Pas from Alaska and he brought this style of hooking up sled dogs with him. This fellow’s name was Walter Goyne and he did win The Pas race in 1920 but died quite tragically in 1921, a New York Times article dated November 29, 1921 is headlined “Goyne, Dog Derby Racer, Found Drowned With His Nine Dogs”.

Interestingly, the popularity of this hitch did not spread throughout Canada until almost four decades had passed and at that time it actually caught on in eastern Canada where there was a strong mushing connection with the New England states. Canada was really tandem harness country. The advantages of the Alaska or Nome hitch over the much more cumbersome, heavier tandem hook-up using leather collar harnesses and leather traces are obvious, but only if there is a trail that is wide enough for two dogs running abreast. There is no question that this hook-up allows dogs to run more freely and probably faster. With the tandem hook-up, it is actually easier for dogs to trot or lope than it is to run]

Perhaps in no single article of property is greater pride taken by drivers in the north than in a team of dogs turned out in good style. The back band is covered with tiny bells, and the collars hung with those of a larger size, and decorated with beads, coloured yarn, ribbons and fox tails. [The voyageurs that were an integral part of the fur trade were real showmen. When paddling their canoes, if they knew they were coming up to a settlement, they would stop their journey out of site around the last point or bluff before the settlement when they would put on a brightly coloured scarf or put a feather in their cap and then they would “pipe it up”, paddling 60 strokes a minute as they raced towards the settlement. The governail would call out “preparez a saluee” and together the voyageur paddlers would let out a salute without missing stroke then almost crashing into the shore before “holding water” by digging their paddles into the water in unison and pulling back with a flurry of energy and lots of splashing. The voyageurs loved a show! Their brightly painted canoes and carioles were another example of their love for colour. The author of the article gives another example as he describes the “dogs turned out in good style.” The author refers to the back band of the harness but he does not mention a dog blanket or “tapis” which was usually made of tanned hide or a wood material like stroud and embroidered with wool or beaded with glass beads. The fox tails referred to were usually fastened to a length of wire and then fastened to the top of the leather dog collar. This method of decoration was common with horses where the adornment is referred to as a scotch top or collar horn. In addition to the fur tail, the collar decorations on the dogs were often made of wool and ribbon. It should be noted that these beautiful decorations were usually reserved for special occasions like holidays or races]

The rate of speed usually attained in travel is about forty miles per day of ten hours’ travel, although I have known of this rate doubled. Four miles an hour is a common dog trot when the animals are well loaded, but this can be greatly exceeded when hauling a cariole containing a single passenger upon smooth snow crust or a beaten track


To a novice, the spectacle presented by a number of gaily accoutred dog trains gliding merrily by with the tiny bells keeping time to the footfall of the shaggy train, the cariole decorated in bright colours, the passenger cosily wrapped in furs suggestive of warmth and comfort, the driver trotting unweariedly alongside until the sled with all its belongings becomes a mere speck of black upon the expanse of snow, all conspire to commend dog sleighing as the ideal of winter travel. [With this wonderful, positive image in mind, I will end this post]