This article is one person’s attempt to document the ten developments [exclusive of the dogs, their breeding and husbandry] that have had the most significant influence on the evolution of dog mushing.
For the purposes of this article, a development could be an invention, an innovation, a modification or an adaptation. I will attempt to list the developments from least to most significant (although they all are pretty special). One of my criteria for significance is longevity -- how long has the development continued to be a viable part of dog mushing. A second criteria is just how well form follows function. If an object has to perform a certain function, its design must support that function to the fullest extent possible. Some of these developments have actually been quite recent while others have stood the test of time since dogs were first used as draft animals.
It is my observation that function is influenced by changing needs that evolve over time. Changes in form in turn are influenced not only by these changing needs, but also by changes in available technology and materials.
Development #10 The Snowmobile Track Drag or Mat
There are very few dog sleds in use today that do not incorporate a “drag” or a “mat” yet this is a fairly recent development that has been introduced over the past 25 years. The function of the drag is to enable the musher to control the speed of the dog team in a way that is both gradual and variable. The “drag” is an adaptation of an existing piece of technology and the form is perfect in its simplicity. Taking something that is essentially discarded waste with no financial value and adapting it in a manner that perfectly facilitates an invaluable function.
At its most basic, the drag consists of a piece of discarded snowmobile track, cut to a desired length and width and fastened to the sled through the use of lightweight chain, in a manner that allows for it to travel on the snow between the runners or behind the sled or toboggan in a manner that allows the musher to increase the amount of friction between the mat and the trail surface by applying weight to the drag by stepping on it. More sophisticated mats are fastened to the sled in a manner that allows for them to be retracted or lifted off of the trail when not in use.
I remember running dogs before the day of the drag while pulling one or two tires behind the sled, sometimes with heavy chains fastened to them. On occasion wooden pallets were pulled or even logs, sometimes specially built plywood “stone boats”, or occasionally another sled filled with some kind of weight. There are lots of stories of wrapping rope or chain around sled runners to form what was called a rough lock, to slow down the sled, especially when going down steep hills. While all of these methods of dog team control worked (more or less), they all came with significant problems.
The Snowmobile Track Drag allows the musher to maintain incredible control over the team, and with the addition of carbide screws to the mat, this control is available over virtually every type of trail condition including ice. The drag provides control that minimizes the negative effects on the dogs of sudden jolts and shocks and even traumatic sudden stops which often occur when the brake is applied, especially when it gets caught on a stump or root. The drag is a great training tool when used consistently, teaching the dogs just what kind of pace is required in different situations. Use of the drag is great for conditioning dogs, allowing the musher to keep the team running at a desired pace. The use of the drag is a way to ensure the safety of both musher and dogs at all times, especially in steep and difficult terrain. Use of the drag is a way to preserve the dogs’ energy in particularly difficult conditions or when running over long distances.
Development #9 -- The Swivel Snap
It would be interesting for a dog musher to keep track of the number of times in a day, especially in the winter, that he/she comes into contact with a swivel snap. This invention revolutionized the care and husbandry of sled dogs. The desired function is to be able to tether an animal in all weather conditions, whether on a stakeout or in the gangline, often with the use of only one hand, in a manner that is quick and simple . Many versions (forms) of the swivel snap have been developed, not all are equal. The ideal swivel snap for dog mushing use is what is commonly referred to as the “Italian Brass or Bronze Snap”. For stake-out use, the preferred snap is what is referred to as the “Swedish Steel Snap”.
The tethering of sled dogs is actually a relatively recent development, it is a practice that is probably less than 100 years old. Prior to the development of the swivel snap, dogs were tied out with rope or hide, or with chain that did not incorporate some kind of swivel device and this was both time consuming and offered no guarantee that the dog would remain tethered once it started chewing. In the case of the chain, without a swivel the dog ran the risk of becoming hopelessly tangled and even strangled.
Accounts about the use of dogs during the Klondike Gold Rush and accounts of the use of dogs by the Inuit suggest that the dogs simply weren’t tethered, they were allowed to roam when not in use. A major problem was the protection of anything that the dogs might consider to be food. The Inuit would keep their valuable kayaks and other items made of skin and hide on top of their snow house, out of reach of the dogs, or they would build special stands using their harpoons and spears so that they could keep food out of reach of the dogs. During the summer, the Inuit would place their dogs on an island, feeding them once or twice a week and allowing for the survival of the fittest. The freighters during the Klondike Stampede would build corrals at night, not for the dogs but to protect the sleds that were often loaded with food items, from the dogs. Sometimes the musher would sleep in the corral along with the sled, to offer additional protection.
Tethering dogs allows for fewer dog fights and injuries, a great saving in time when harnessing up a team, it allows for control of animals in a manner that promotes better health and safety and allows the musher to better monitor the health of each dog. It is a way to minimize the anxiety and sometimes the conflict associated with having loose dogs.
The use of swivel snaps has also facilitated additional innovations, including the development of the stake-out chain which is used for “staking out” dogs at night when the team is travelling over long distances [camping] away from the kennel and the more modern version of the Alaska hitch or gangline which incorporate both a tugline and a neckline. There are those who insist that old is better and swear by the use of plastic toggles on their tug lines and necklines rather than swivel snaps, stating that toggles don’t freeze up. I have found that a tangled gangline is difficult to sort out at the best of times but when toggles are involved with a tangle it is a nightmare. The fact that swivel snaps come in various sizes is also a positive thing, allowing for the use of much smaller lightweight snaps on necklines, snaps that will break if a dog runs on the wrong side of a tree at full speed, thus preventing serious injury to the dog….toggles don’t break and neither do the full rope loops that I have seen some mushers put around their dogs’ necks.
Development #8 -- The ATV/Four-Wheeler
Aahh the ATV, what would a musher do without his or her ATV!? Again, a fairly recent development (and I am talking about the 4 wheel ATV, not the older 3 wheel suicide trikes that were a precursor to the Four-Wheeler).
The ATV is an amazing example of form following function. There was essentially a great demand for a motorized vehicle that could replace the horse and it was only with time that technological developments made it possible to mass-produce the Four-Wheeler. The ATV is a true work vehicle. I told my sons when they left home that I replaced one of them with a wood-splitter and the other with an ATV, and they just smiled and replied ….“good for you”.
I won’t dwell on the merits of the ATV as a work vehicle around a sled dog kennel but when combined with a small trailer, almost anything is possible. The ATV has taken the horror out of moving large loads of various types of crap, of feeding dogs, of transporting many bags of dog food, of ploughing the snow away from the kennel gate…..the list goes on and on and on…….
It is as a vehicle for conditioning and training dogs that the ATV really shines. I remember my cut-down Datsun 210...just four wheels, a steering wheel, hydraulic brakes and a seat….it still weighed several hundred pounds, was about 6 feet wide, had all sorts of sharp edges and as a vehicle for training sled dogs on dirt it was a monster. And then there was the snowmobile chassis refurbished with four wheelbarrow wheels. It had a tractor seat, a steering wheel and a friction brake and it was a death trap. The steering was so sensitive that a slight over-correction meant a roll-over. The friction brake was…..useless! Then there was the stand-up three-wheeled cart, just like standing on a dog sled (not). This worked well as long as there were no more than three dogs pulling the thing and we were running on a paved road, which in my rural area means the very busy main highway running past the end of my driveway.
The ATV changed all of this. This vehicle is capable of handling virtually every type of terrain and trail condition, including creek crossings, deep potholes, steep hills, etc. The fact that it is motorized is a bonus, and using the motor is optional but it can get you and your dog team out of some sticky situations. Use of the ATV complete with hydraulic and emergency brakes offers almost complete control even when running quite large numbers of dogs. As I stated above, it is as a conditioning and training vehicle, particularly in the off-season, that the ATV really, really shines. The ATV has extended the mushing season(s) for everyone, it has meant that dog teams arrive at the starting line for the first snow-race of the season in great shape, the ATV is just one of the reasons that race times are falling and team speeds are rising.
The ATV also provides a great deal of fun. Running a dog team on dry land through the woods (as long as it isn’t too hot and the dogs have lots to drink) is really enjoyable…not just for the musher (and passenger) but for the dogs as well.
Development #7 -- The Toboggan
The word “toboggan” usually conjures up the iconic image of the wooden toboggan, two or three boards curled in almost a full circle at one end and fastened together with wooden cross-pieces. Along with this image come memories of childhood fun, sledding down a snow-covered hill.
The toboggan is thousands of years old and yet is still a vital and relevant part of sled dog technology. The evolution of the toboggan is an excellent example of how changing technology and available materials has determined just what form it would take, while the function (to move heavy loads over deep, soft snow) has remained constant.
In actual fact, the first toboggan was probably not made out of wood at all, most likely it was a piece of hide, frozen into the shape of a toboggan. The hunter would butcher his kill, spread the hide onto the snow with the hair next to the snow, place the meat onto the hide and shape it around the load and let the whole thing freeze. Then with the help of a leather thong, he would drag his “toboggan” home. There are also references to hunters from coastal regions making toboggans out of baleen taken from the mouths of the large baleen whales. The baleen was flexible and could be shaped so that it would easily slide over a snow or icy surface.
In some areas, wider pieces of birchbark could be used for this purpose and it would then be a small step to realize that upturned pieces of wood could be fastened together and the load could in turn be lashed to these wooden pieces to create a less bulky, stronger and more efficient “toboggan” to carry even heavier loads with relative ease.
Traditionally, Native builders would use straight-grained wood that was relatively easy to split using the technology available to them. While hardwoods like birch or ash would be ideal and more durable, it would be very tempting to use a soft but easily worked wood like white cedar for toboggan construction. Using wooden wedges and stone mallets it would be possible to split an average sized log and then in turn to split off a relatively flat board that could be smoothed and trimmed with a cutting tool made of flint or obsidian. By boiling the wood and using leather thongs to hold it in place, it would be possible to create the characteristic curve in the front of the toboggan. Of course, until the white man appeared with metal tools and hardware, there would be limits to just how this wood could be worked and shaped.
It is suggested that the toboggan technology may have originated with the Cree people of Hudson’s Bay and then spread westward as far as the Rocky Mountains. The Anishinabe (Chippewa, Ojibwa or Saulteaux) called it nobugidaban, a possible source of the english word toboggan. As it evolved the toboggan came to be made of thin hardwood boards, which were curved up at one end using heat or steam. The number of boards would be determined by the size of available trees and the overall width of the toboggan was limited to the width of the trail packed with snowshoes, usually no more than 16 inches in width. The strength of the person doing the pulling was also a factor and this usually determined the overall length of the toboggan. Hand drawn toboggans were usually under six feet in length.
At one point the hunter tied a thong around his dog’s neck while fastening the other end to the toboggan and realized that it was possible to train his dog to actually pull the toboggan. This led to the development of first the chest and then the collar harness and then using several dogs in tandem to pull even heavier loads.
Initially the hunter would run in front of his dog team and toboggan on snowshoes. The whole notion of riding on the toboggan and of training dogs to take commands had not yet taken hold. Loads were lashed to the toboggan but not before a hide or canvas “wrapper” was placed on the toboggan and then folded to cover the load before being lashed down to keep everything in place and dry.
The notion of riding on the toboggan is surprisingly a relatively recent innovation, probably not until the late 19th Century. There are photos of toboggans being used during the Klondike Gold Rush with crude handlebars made of tree branches lashed to the sides of the toboggan. This suggests that the musher or freighter was now walking behind the toboggan in order to steer the heavy load and no-doubt he would occasionally step onto the very back of the toboggan and take a little ride, especially on the flat or going downhill.
The whole notion of dog mushers choosing to stand and to ride on the sled is actually a separate development that will be discussed later, but in order for a musher to be able to stand on the back of the toboggan, it was necessary to develop a different way of carrying the load on the toboggan. This led to two developments, what has been termed the cariole and what I am calling the wrapper and backboard.
The cariole consists of a rigid framework of light poles or pieces of wood running from the front or “hood” of the toboggan back to a framework or backboard fastened near the rear of the toboggan. The backboard might also have incorporated into it a pair of handles. Fastened to this framework and the sides of the toboggan was a covering made of either green [untanned] but scraped hide or of canvas. As the green hide dried, it shrank and became “tight”, making the cariole completely water [snow] proof. The back and sides of the toboggan were essentially completely enclosed by the cariole and with the addition of a fur robe, a passenger could sit very comfortably [and warmly] in the cariole. It should be noted that the cariole was developed exclusively to carry passengers, there was also a bit of room left at the back of the toboggan to carry the passenger’s personal belongings. Carioles were often brightly painted, much like the over wintering voyageurs [who in fact were the mushers or marcheurs] would paint the bows and sterns of the huge birch bark canoes that they paddled in the summer months. The symbols and designs used often advertised the particular trading company or were drawings of wildlife or sometimes of brightly coloured geometric shapes that have been shown to be derived from the designs that appeared on trading ships that made their way to the New World from exotic ports in Spain, Portugal and other European countries.
The toboggan wrapper and backboard is so special that I feel that it is one of the most significant developments in the evolution of dog mushing and so I have accorded it special mention as Development #3 [see below]….as such I won’t go into the detail of it in this space.
One final note about toboggans…as they have evolved, they are now being made almost completely from UHMW plastic. The bed and bent “hood” of the toboggan are made from one piece of plastic [using hot air to facilitate the bending of the plastic] and the toboggan shape is retained by fastening two pre-bent hardwood strips to the inside of the edges of the toboggan bed. Cross pieces are in turn bolted to these hardwood strips to ensure structural integrity. The end result is a much larger toboggan, capable of carrying massive loads. These are very popular in parts of the north for use behind snowmobiles but some enterprising sled dog outfitters are also using them to carry “lots” of eager tourists on short [and hopefully relatively flat] trips while being pulled by sled dogs.
Development #6 -- The Tim White Sled
The Tim White Sled design was the work of its namesake, Tim White and was first introduced in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. It is a sled design that incorporated the qualities of the traditional wooden toboggan with some of the advantages of the wooden basket sled. Further, it was a beginning effort to introduce a whole new age of lightweight materials to the construction of dog sleds.
There were at least two significant influences leading to the introduction of the Tim White sled. Tim was a very successful mid distance racer and he loved to compete in [and win] the Canadian Championship Sled Dog Race in Yellowknife N.W.T. For many years there was a “toboggan only” rule in this race, in order to compete mushers had to use a wooden toboggan. This was an attempt to keep some of the old dog mushing traditions alive in that region. Actually the rule wasn’t really well thought out for it didn’t take long for the mushers to add pieces of UHMW plastic to the bottom of the wooden toboggan so that it would slide better on hard packed surfaces. Eventually the toboggan-only rule was dropped and everyone started using sleds, much to the dismay of those with a love of sled dog history and tradition.
Tim White is a traditionalist, he is a student of sled dog history, he was responsible [along with Helen Hegener] for the first conference devoted to sled dog history held in Anchorage/Wasilla in 2009, and Tim White is a fan of wooden toboggans. However Tim is also an engineer and an innovator, with an understanding of new technology and materials and it didn’t take him long to appreciate that there was room for innovation as far as toboggan technology was concerned.
The second influence that probably spurred on the development of the Tim White Sled was the staging of the first Iditarod Sled Dog Race in 1973 [and Tim was a participant in one of the very early Iditarods]. This race brought into a very clear focus the need for some innovation in terms of a dog sled that was capable of safely carrying fairly large loads over varying terrain, over both soft and hard packed trails, over steep mountains and all of this with a minimum of weight. The Tim White Sled or Toboggan Sled was the outcome. It is probably fair to say that the evolution of this sled is still ongoing but the basic principles of the original design remain constant.
The Tim White Sled used a piece of UMHW plastic approximately 20 inches wide and originally in lengths as long as 10 feet but now probably more like 6 - 7 feet long to serve as the bed of the sled. The principle being that in soft snow the plastic would slide over the snow just like a wooden toboggan. However fastened to the bottom of this plastic bed were two wooden runners [later to be replaced by runners made of aluminum]. These runners in turn had additional pieces of UHMW plastic fastened to their running surface, [originally with screws until the development and almost universal introduction of “quick change” runner plastic]. The runners fastened to the bottom of the plastic bed gave the sled it’s distinctive shape, with a ½ toboggan curl [180 degrees] to the front, not a full 360 degree curl or hood as with the wooden toboggan. A wooden handlebar [later to be supplanted by handlebars made of plastic, kevlar, carbon fibre, aluminum or even hockey sticks] was bolted to two piecess of aluminum angle that were screwed or bolted to the top of the plastic bed above the runners. These pieces of aluminum angle are, in fact, a major structural component of the Tim White sled for not only is the handlebar as well as additional uprights or stanchions bolted to them but a lightweight aluminum or stainless steel brake is hinged off of the back of the pieces of aluminum angle and a brush bow made of either wood or plastic is bolted to the front of the aluminum angle. Finally, a specially custom-fitted and sewn self contained sled bag was usually fastened to each sled and this was for carrying the gear, feed etc. required on the increasingly popular longer mid-distance and marathon sled dog races.
The original Tim White Sled designs saw the plastic bed approximately two to three inches off of the snow [the thickness of the runner]. The early sleds were extremely rigid and unforgiving, this is due to the fact that everything was bolted together and there was no “give“ or flexibility to the design. The only thing that kept these sleds from breaking was the inherent strength of the materials from which they were made. As the design has evolved and as newer construction materials have become available, this sled is now much more flexible [known as the Easy Rider design], lighter weight, usually smaller [as mushers learn to pack lighter and as dog food manufacturers are able to pelletize very high quality and lightweight dog foods] and the beds of these sleds are now 6 - 8 inches off of the snow. During the 2013 Yukon Quest, every sled used in both the 1000 mile and 300 mile races was what could be called a Tim White Sled, albeit a modern version of the original.
Development #5 -- The Alaskan or Nome Hitch
In the 1850’s, the quest for information on the fate of Sir John Franklin and his ships Erebus and Terror had become almost an obsession for a large percentage of middle-class England. The Russian governor of Saint Michaels [Michalaski], had received an inaccurate report that Franklin or some of his men had been stranded in the interior of Alaska. This information had been relayed to Captain Moore of the British search vessel Plover, who then informed the captain of Plover’s sister-ship, Enterprise. In 1850, three British Sailors from Enterprise were set upon the shore at St. Michaels to determine if there was any fact associated with this story.
The members of this party were:
Edward Adams, the author of the journal which is the subject of the book INTO THE SAVAGE LAND, and the assistant surgeon of HMS Enterprise
Lieutenant John James Barnard, military commander of the shore party [who was to suffer an agonizing death at the hands of invading Natives]
Thomas Cousins, able bodied seaman who was assigned by the captain of the Enterprise to join the landing party at St. Michaels
I will only focus on those aspects of Adams’ account that I believe might offer some insight into the use of sled dogs during this time and in this place. It is important to note that Adams had interactions with not only the Russian traders [which included Russians of various ethnic backgrounds, half-breeds or Creoles born of Russian men and Native women, as well as a number of Finns who were employed by the Russians to man their trading posts], but also those that Adams refers to as Natives or Indians as well as Eskimo [Esquimaux] people. I sometimes found Adams’ narrative a bit confusing when it came to determining if he was interacting with Indian or Eskimo. What became quite evident is that the wide cultural gulf that existed between Indians and Inuit in Canada did not exist to the same extent within Alaska. Indians and Eskimos clearly interacted regularly and their respective cultures “borrowed” ideas from each other when it seemed like the smart thing to do.
It is important to note that none of Adams’ interactions with these peoples were what could be termed “first contact”, all of the indigenous Alaskans had interacted and traded with white Russian traders for up to 100 years and had adopted to a lesser or greater extent, some of the Russian ways of doing things. Some Native Alaskans were even sent to St. Petersburg in Russia to study and many returned to hold positions of authority in the “colony”. This was clearly a time of significant flux and change for Alaskan indigenous people, the result of the Russian presence and no-doubt also associated with the devastating effects of the various epidemics that had killed so many Native and Eskimo people.
To set this narrative into a historical perspective, Adams was present in Alaska in 1850. This was probably a time when the influence of the Russians in this area was on the wane, the territory of Alaska was sold to the Americans in 1867. It should also be noted that even though the Klondike Gold Rush didn’t take place until 1896 - 1898, there was significant gold exploration activity along the lower and central Yukon River as early as 1860 and sled dogs played a big part in all aspects of gold exploration. In other words, sled dog related developments between Alaskan Native people, Russian fur traders and Klondike gold seekers were all interrelated. This was a period of significant change for dog mushing.
Adams makes many observations about the use of sled dogs by both the Russians and the Native Alaskan people. The following quotes are all from Adams’ narrative. “There are seldom more than 3 or 4 dogs yoked to a native sledge and those in the most promiscuous manner, one or two before and the others at the sides.” This is fascinating and suggests that the Natives were struggling with the idea of just how to make the switch from pulling their sleds themselves to having their dogs pull them. A Native basket sled with 3 or 4 dogs tied to the front and the sides must have been something to see. It is no wonder that it was still necessary for the musher to walk in front of the team.
The interior Athabascan Natives did not utilize sleds with dogs “until the Russian American Company began chopping trails through the forest for transporting furs in the winter”. When you consider how difficult it would be to clear trails through forested areas without the availability of metal axes and other cutting tools, it is also no wonder that much of the winter travel by dog team was limited to that on the frozen rivers and sea ice. Before contact it was also a fact that the Indians simply did not have the ability to process and store enough protein to feed dogs, so the primary method of transportation in winter was pulling small sleds behind themselves on their never-ending quest for food. This is not unlike the Algonquin and Athabascan people of central and northern Canada and their use of the toboggan which was initially designed to be pulled behind a hunter as he travelled on snowshoes throughout the forested taiga. It should be noted that the indigenous Alaskan people also used snowshoes.
“The Russians always harness the dogs to a rope attached to [their] sledges, 2 and 2 with a leader and usually have 7 or [more] dogs. A man has always to run ahead of the dogs to herd them, except with two of the Russian dogs which came from Petropaulowski and which obey the word of the driver. This however is more custom, for in 3 weeks I taught two native dogs to be driven with the whip and I had no trouble with them afterwards”. This is a definitive description of the fact that the Nome hitch -- the use of a centreline with tuglines was imported from Russia.
It is a shame that Adams’ diary is missing his drawings of the harnesses used but a drawing by J Webber, the official illustrator for Captain Cook [who was travelling the Alaskan coast in the 1770’s and 80’s] and dated 1778, does survive in the journal of John Ledyard, one of Cook’s men. A copy of this drawing can also be found in the book Racing Alaskan Sled Dogs, compiled by the late Bill Vaudrin. Initially the harness might have been no more than a thong around the dog’s neck, but by the time Adams was observing these dogs, an actual harness probably made of some type of hide like sealskin and in design possibly not unlike the Inuit harnesses used in Canada’s Arctic was being used. These were the precursors to today’s nylon/polypropylene “X Back” or Siwash harnesses.
During the early years of the 20th century, Alaskan mushers struggled to find the perfect harness for use with the Nome hitch and there are many different styles that incorporated padded collars, spreader bars, back pads, etc….with the common feature that they all incorporated the use of a tugline and centreline and even today there are frequent announcements of yet another innovation or modification to the traditional Siwash harness.
It is important to note that while the Nome hitch became well established in Alaska, once the Alaskan mushers made their way to the Klondike goldfields they ran smack into the influence coming from the east and the south, that of the padded collar tandem harness. The overwhelming number of photos of dog teams used during the relatively brief gold rush period shows the dogs bedecked in collar harness and harnessed single file, in tandem. This was to change dramatically in Alaska in the early days of the 20th century when sled dog racing became popular and the Nome hitch was to become king once and for all.
Development #4--The Stand-On Sled
Again quoting from Adams’ work Into the Savage Land based on his experiences in Russian Alaska in 1850 “the Russians’ sledges are well and strongly made of driftwood with birch runners shod with bone. The native form will be better understood from my sketches than from a description”. Unfortunately the sketches apparently did not survive and do not appear in the report, although there is a great photo in this book of a Russian sled taken in Kotzebue in 1887.
“The Native sledges are made entirely of driftwood with long narrow runners instead of the broad flat ones of the Russians. The former are best upon sea ice, but the latter for general work and inland traveling, though the Russian sledges are fastened entirely by thong but in the Native ones, the runners are kept on by pegs, the uprights and arches being mortised into them. This makes the Russian sledge much the stronger of the two, but both are well adapted to the peculiar wants of their owners. The Russian generally carries a heavier load--the Native, never”. “There is some disagreement on the design of the Eskimo dog sled in the late colonial period. Adams’ comments here seem to suggest that the Native sled was not designed for usage in deep snow and would have been quite fragile”. Indeed, throughout his journal there are references to the Native sleds breaking apart when overloaded. What developed into the modern Alaskan basket sled is most likely a combination of the heavily built Siberian sledge which was modified for use with dogs. This style of Russian dog sled is still widely used today. In many ways it is a scaled-down version of the sled that was developed for use with both reindeer and horses throughout northern Russia. However it is designed so that the musher sits on the sled holding onto a curved handlebar located close to the front of the sled.
As the Alaskan Natives began to use sled dogs more extensively, they began to adapt their sleds, drawing on some of the ideas they saw in the Russian sledges. It would appear that from the outset the Native sleds incorporated what is known as the basket sled design, utilizing two runners, uprights or stanchions and cross pieces which formed the base of the bed of the sled or what became known as the basket. In order to carry larger loads the Native sleds were made longer. In order to carry heavier loads, rather than making their sleds heavier like the Russian sledges, the Alaskan Natives adapted the Russian method of lashing or tying their sleds together to allow for an increase in their flexibility, which meant that they could bear the stress of heavier loads without fear of breaking. The wooden and ivory pegs that had been used by the Alaskan Eskimo and Natives might have their place in the construction of kayaks and canoes and hunting equipment, but they didn’t work with dog sleds.
The basic design of the sled was gradually altered. The bed was lowered from approximately 12 inches to six inches above the snow. The bed of the sled stopped about 1 ½ feet short of the back of the runners, giving the dog driver a place to stand. The handle for holding on while moving, which had been located near the front of the Siberian sled was moved to the rear of the sled and became a handlebar that the dog driver could hold on to while the dog sled was moving. Pieces of wood were fastened along the side of the sled and when these side rails were combined with the bed or platform, it gave the appearance of a wooden basket, hence the name basket sled. (It should be noted however, early photos show that as part of this evolutionary process, before the dog driver’s ego allowed him to ride on the back of the runners, there was no back handlebar or driving bow, rather the wooden slats were bent upwards at the back of the sled, thus giving the appearance of an actual basket).
In terms of technology, the fact is, the Eskimos along the Bering Sea were excellent woodworkers who had been building kayaks and baidarkas for generations. They possessed the specialized skills to shape and bend wood, they also had the expertise that allowed them to fasten wood together with wooden pegs and to lash pieces of wood together to ensure strength and flexibility. In addition, the knowledge required to bend wood had been perfected in the art of building both kayaks and umiaks. With the traders came access to a larger selection of hardwoods that could be more easily worked. At the same time, metal woodworking tools made the task of working with wood that much easier.
I would suggest that the evolution of the handlebar at the back of the basket sled in order
to increase the driver’s ability to manoeuvre the sled, the use of side rails in order to keep the load in place in the sled [in the basket] and the addition of the brush bow at the front of the sled in order to glance off of obstacles, were later developments. Similarly, with the introduction of sled dog racing in Alaska in the early 20th century, the runners were extended at the back of the sled so that the dog driver could stand on the runners. This also necessitated the use of commands and trained lead dogs, something that the Russians had introduced. Up to this point, the Alaskan Native dog musher ran beside the sled or in front of the dog team.
With the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 19th century there also came a number of influences that impacted the evolution of the Alaskan basket sled. The sled of choice during the Klondike Gold Rush was the factory made mass produced Yukon sled sold by the Alaska Commercial Company by the hundreds. This was essentially a platform on runners, designed to be pulled by dogs, humans, horses and even oxen, some incorporated swivel runners or “bobs” used for hauling extra long loads. It was the semi-trailer transport truck of the Gold Rush. Innovative freighters modified these Yukon sleds by adding a primitive handlebar at the back, poles along the sides, even a curved bow on the front…while they were workhorses that were great for freighting all of the goods that miners needed on the creeks, these sleds were heavy and cumbersome. Often the Yukon sleds were hitched in tandem, sometimes even three sleds were hitched together. Mushers or freighters walked or ran at the front of the lead sled using a pole known as the Gee Pole [which was fastened to the front right of the sled] to slow down, stop or steer the sled. Occasionally the musher or freighter would ride between the wheel dog and the lead sled using a pair of short skis or what today we would call a snow board, all the time hanging on to the gee pole.
For tasks that required speed such as delivering express mail or passengers, the lighter, flexible Alaskan basket sled was the answer and in some ways, its development was parallel to that of the Yukon freight sled, one being the “sporty sedan” while the other was the heavy duty “flat deck truck“.
Another look at this evolution is offered through the eyes of Raymond Thompson In his self-published series called the Sled Dog Bulletin. Thompson devotes one issue to Sled and Harness Styles. Thompson describes the evolution in sled design. He refers to the Siberian [Russian] sled as:
“ the ‘Samoyede Sledge’ .....the Siberian reindeer herder almost always rode his (sledge) whether he used deer or dogs. For a long trip, he would even lash himself down in his sleigh and (we presume) hope for the best. It was double-ended so that in a bad place, he could simply unhitch his deer, attach the traces to the other end and move along. Fridtjof Nansen borrowed the idea for his “Nansen sledge” [Note: the Nansen sled was used by polar explorers, a particular supporter for this sled design over the traditional Inuit komatik was Robert Peary as he attempted to reach the North Pole]. In such flat country as the area of origin of this sleigh, manoeuvrability mattered little. The driver’s feet were the usual brake. If he had a heavy load and was walking, he controlled the sled and dogs with ropes; he could also help pull if necessary.
When white men began hauling freight for profit in the north, they designed sleds for both strength and convenience. The first freight sleds had no provision for the driver to ride, but later ones did, and the foot brake became standard equipment. Sleds ranged up to 15 feet and 200 pounds. With stanchions as thick as a man’s arm and steel runners. Freight trails were usually kept packed, so such a heavy sled slid freely, with huge loads and a dozen or more dogs.
The Alaskan Sweepstakes races caused a revolution in sled design. For many years the long, slim light racing sleds behind each team looked practically identical. The length was needed to combat the hummocks and bumps that plagued the trails, but these graceful sleds weighed as little as 30 pounds for all their 8-foot runner length. Careful selection of wood and weeks of painstaking shaving and shaping were necessary to produce a perfectly balanced sled. Dog sleds for the first time became a ‘work of art’. The slender runners were gently bent to attack deep snow easily, yet bent far back so that there would be as little friction as possible in fast conditions. A slightly upswept basket encouraged the sled to ride up out of deep snow, while the sled was kept generally low for stability.”
Development #3 -- The Toboggan Wrapper and Backboard
The toboggan wrapper along with the backboard is probably the single development in the evolution of sled dog equipment that most nearly attains functional perfection.
The wrapper is essentially a piece of canvas folded and sewn roughly in the shape of a canoe. In its finished dimensions it is approximately one fort shorter than the length of the toboggan and about 2 ½ times as wide as the toboggan’s width. The canvas is sewn into the “canoe” shape by folding the fabric in half lengthwise and sewing the front and back seams. Along the edges of the sides, metal grommets or canvas or webbing loops are fastened about 12 inches apart. The wrapper is then placed onto the toboggan with the centre seam on the front directly in the middle of the hood and the wrapper is fastened to the front of the toboggan hood at the highest point of the bend on both sides of the toboggan hood.
The backboard or handlebar is not unlike the back of a chair. It is the width of the toboggan at the bottom and usually increases in width towards the top to approximately two feet in width and it is usually about 25 inches long or tall. The backboard may be simple or fancy. Typically it is essentially two handles fastened together with cross-members, it is something for the musher to hang onto as he rides the toboggan. The handlebar or backboard may be as simple as a piece of plywood with holes cut into the top for gripping or metal hoops bolted to the top to hang on to. The handles may be shaped from the curved root of a tree and finished to perfection.
The backboard is placed inside the canvas wrapper about one foot from the back of the toboggan, snug against a crosspiece that has been bolted or wired to the toboggan for this purpose, about one foot from the back of the toboggan, this leaves room for the musher to stand at the back of the toboggan. A tie-down rope is then run from the side of the toboggan hood, wrapped around the handlebar and then down and back to the very back corner of the toboggan (a perimeter rope has been run around the perimeter of the toboggan through holes drilled into the crosspieces and the tie-down ropes are looped through this perimeter rope). From the back corner of the toboggan the tie-down rope is then run back to the top of the handlebar and then down to the perimeter rope approximately a foot in front of the base of the handlebar. The rope is then run back to the handlebar and then the tie-down rope is tightened and tied. This is done for both sides of the handlebar, the handlebar is now very snugly in place without using any bolts. The canvas wrapper is then pulled up and the sides are folded over the tie-down rope running from the hood and another rope is laced through the grommets or loops and down to the perimeter rope running from front to back. This rope is then tied at the handlebar.
The wrapper is now in place. This method of fastening the backboard-wrapper allows it to flex and move with the toboggan. There is no danger of breaking or splitting any of the wood. The resulting carrying capacity is very significant, allowing the musher to carry quite bulky items like a canvas wall tent or a tin stove and stove pipe. There is also a small area behind the handlebar for the musher to carry personal items, his axe or gun for quick and easy access. Typically toboggans were run without a brake but occasionally a hinged brake or some form of drag is fitted to the back of the toboggan. Dog teams used with toboggans are typically no larger than six or seven dogs and the dogs are trained to stop on command, the toboggan would then be turned onto its side, a snow hook was seldom required. A rope runs from the centre of the hood back to the point where the musher stands. He will hold onto this rope to help him maintain his balance as the toboggan is moving. A drag rope is also usually fastened to the front of the toboggan and will trail approximately 20 feet behind. This would be used for tying the toboggan down, but more importantly it was for the musher to grab onto if he fell off the toboggan or if the dogs started without warning
Development #2 -- Snowshoes
Anthropologists tell us that the use of snowshoes by Inuit, Athapascan, and Algonquin, indeed all North American northern dwelling peoples has been universal for centuries. Snowshoes have also been used by Asian and Scandinavian First Peoples. As I write this my mind is racing, a study of the development, use and evolution of the snowshoe in all of its various forms and with all of the associated adventure and even romance could be all engrossing….I wonder if that book has been written? I would like to read it! If it wasn’t for the snowshoe there would be no dog mushing as we know it.
Perhaps it isn’t an accident that one of the mandatory items that all participants in the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod must have on their sleds at all times is a functional pair of snowshoes. Virtually all documented accounts of the back-country use of sled dogs includes or implies a reference to the snowshoe. If there was no snowshoe, there would be no way of moving through deep and soft snow Historically, this would have meant an end to movement and probably all life in northern/snow covered regions for over half of the calendar year.
Before there were dog teams there were snowshoes. The hunter would make his way through the soft and deep snow with the advantage of the snowshoe. No doubt he would pull a small sled or toboggan behind him in the narrow trail that was the width of the snowshoes he was wearing. It was only a matter of time before he would connect his dog to the sled or toboggan, eventually adding another and then another dog……the dog team and dog mushing became a reality.
The snowshoe comes in many shapes and sizes, this is part of the romance. I would suggest that the snowshoe, in addition to being totally functional is also a work of art. It is a perfect example of form following function. It is true that present-day snowshoes, which are now mass-produced with lightweight metal frames and synthetic fabrics have changed the “look” of the snowshoe….but not completely. I love to thumb through old copies of Chestnut Canoe catalogues, certainly to see and admire the venerable cedar canvas canoes but also to see the array of both hand-made snowshoes and wooden toboggans that were produced by that company, probably to help with the company cash flow when the lakes and rivers were frozen.
It is true, the days of the “forerunner”, when a young, incredibly athletic individual would be sent out hours before the first dog team to break open the trail on snowshoes, doing a shuffling jog as he went, are probably over….or are they? Dog teams still get caught in blizzards and unexpected heavy snowfalls. Strong winds still blow in trails that were thought to be hard packed and passable. Dog teams still get lost and off the trail. Even the modern snowshoe…the kind that mushers now carry on their sleds work well when it is necessary to break open a trail for the dog team, to enable it to get back onto that packed trail.
Development #1 -- The Inuit Sealskin Dog Harness
It is exciting to write about what I feel is the development that has had the most significant and enduring impact on dog mushing of all time….the Inuit Sealskin Harness. There are in fact several Inuit-initiated developments that have impacted dog mushing that could be included on this list, including the waterproof kamik and the weatherproof anorak, but I will leave these to a similar listing of mushing-related clothing developments and focus at this time on the sealskin harness.
The fact that this harness is made from materials that are not readily available to the average modern-day dog musher is the reason why these harnesses are virtually unknown outside of the high Arctic, but this in no way takes away from the simplistic perfection of this centuries old sled dog related development. The sealskin harness is a perfect example of form following function that has been copied and duplicated multiple times but which has never been equalled. The fact is, this harness, which was first made centuries ago is still being made [and is being used], in exactly the same way, today.
This harness is made from one main piece of untanned sealskin [Ring Seal] approximately 4 inches wide and long enough to accommodate the dog for which the harness will be used. The 4” wide piece of hide is cut lengthwise into two 2” wide strips but being careful to ensure that the full 4” width remains intact for approximately four inches at one end. This part of the sealskin will become the back of the harness and will rest just beyond the middle of the dog’s back. From the back of the harness, one of the 2” strips runs along each side of the dog, under [between] the front legs and in such a way that the 2” strips of the sealskin run beside each other, along the chest. These are joined together with 3 or 4 small ¼” strips of sealskin babiche in such a manner that the chest strips are “hinged” and actually move with the dog, therefore eliminating any possibility of rubbing or chaffing. The untanned sealskin also moulds to the physical shape of the dog and actually fits like glove, with the edges of the sealskin rolling over to eliminate any harsh edges and eliminating any need for any kind of paddling. The two strips of hide running along the dog’s chest then circle the dog’s head and are joined by a second strip of 2” wide hide from 6” - 8” long, just behind the dog’s head. The two inch strips are then sewn to the strips of hide running from the back of the harness, at a point near the middle of the dog’s ribcage. In some cases instead of being sewn together [originally with sinew taken from along the spine of the caribou], the hide is looped, tied or lashed together.
Traditionally the Inuit run their dogs in a fan hitch with each dog having an individual trace connected to the sled. This trace is normally fastened to the harness just behind the centre of the dog’s back but not as far back as the base of the tail. The harness therefore has a third small strip of thicker hide approximately ½” wide and 12” long with one end sewn to the back of the harness and the other end fastened to a toggle [traditionally made of ivory but now most-likely made of UHMW plastic]. This toggle is inserted into a loop that is part of the individual trace which in turn is part of the fan hitch. The dog has tremendous freedom, allowing it to pick its own way through the sea ice, where it is impossible to have a defined trail.
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O.K. so those are my 10 suggestions. Of course there are many other developments that could be included in this list…. It would be great to hear from all of you.
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