It has been 45 years since the Royal Canadian Mounted Police abandoned the use of sled dogs in their work throughout Canada’s Northland. With their usual flair for public relations, the Mounties arranged for their sled dogs to go out in eye-catching style. The much-publicized Last Patrol undertaken by Constable Warren Wray Townsend and Special Constable Peter Benjamin, left Old Crow Yukon on March 11, 1969, bound for Fort McPherson and Arctic Red River (now Tsiigehtchic) before returning to Old Crow. The official Force photographs show these two men on the patrol, identically dressed in traditional northern parkas and mukluks trimmed in RCMP blue and yellow colours, their new blue toboggans featuring the Mounted Police logo are impressive against the white snow. The dogs are outfitted with new leather tandem harness, a style that was historically correct for the western Northwest Territories and the Yukon, the harness must have been made especially for this event. The most striking parts of the whole picture however are the two teams of impressive looking sled dogs.
Rare is the dog musher who has not debated over the origins of these particular sled dogs. Myths have been perpetuated, much misinformation has been spread. One of the most widespread assumptions is that these dogs are purebred Siberian Huskies. Behind the myths and assumptions is a fascinating story…the story of how these beautiful-looking sled dogs found a home in the kennels of the R.C.M.P. throughout Canada’s North. It is in some ways an anachronism to learn that in the decade of Sputnik, the use of sled dogs was being refined and in some ways expanded by the R.C.M.P.
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Banff Alberta was the site for much of the filming of the movie “Nomads of the North”. For three years, from March 1958 to March 1961, the Cangary Film Company, a Walt Disney subsidiary worked on the production of this sled dog adventure movie. The star was a sled dog known as Miki. Walt Disney had taken a real personal interest in the making of this movie, but when all the footage was in the can, Mr. Disney decreed that there should be only one Miki, (his favourite little mouse), so the name of the hero was changed to Nikki, and subsequently the title of the movie became Nikki -- Wild Dog of the North.
Bill Bacon was one of the photographers working on this movie. A resident of Alaska, Mr. Bacon and his wife Virginia also had the task of securing the dogs for use in filming the movie. As a friend of Bill and Virginia’s, Walt Disney had taken a liking to their pet husky, Smokey. “This is the dog I want as the hero” Walt Disney reportedly said, so Bill Bacon went all through Alaska and Canada, looking for dogs that resembled his Smokey. The movie traces the life of the hero dog from puppyhood to adulthood. It became necessary to institute a breeding program so that dogs representing Nikki at all ages and in all temperaments were available. A mean dog, happy dog, sick dog, frightened dog etc. were all needed.
Smokey himself was a greyish-white husky with a full mask, who could be said to resemble a Malamute/Siberian Husky cross. He had been obtained by the Bacons in Whitehorse Yukon. Smokey appeared in only one sequence of the movie, and in all, fourteen different dogs were used to portray Nikki. No attempt was made to have all the dogs of a single breed, the only criteria was that they look like Smokey. Playing the role of Nikki were females named Miss Miki, Miss Miki Too, Klondy, Knik, Jill and Kafik. Males that played the role included two dogs purchased in Churchill Manitoba, Lobo, Smokey, Big Mean Smokey, and finally the dog that was used most of the time in the hero’s role, Nikki himself. It might be useful to look at the breeding of Nikki as it is fully documented. This will serve to illustrate some of the breeding that was in the dogs that ultimately ended with the R.C.M.P.
Nikki was bred by Joe and Vi Redington of Knik Alaska. He was originally named Polar, and was born February 4, 1958. At six months of age he was sold to Bill Bacon, up until that time he was considered by Joe and Vi Redington’s son Joee to be his pet dog. His sire was Tok, a Malamute show dog and a fair working dog. His dam was Chena, also a Malamute, of Earl and Natalie Norris stock. Nikki (Polar) had no Siberian Husky in him. The Redingtons later sold six other dogs to Bacon, three males and three females. Three were Chena’s pups, but three were sired by Tok of a ½ Siberian Husky ½ Eskimo Dog named Belle. Belle’s sire was from Greenland and was brought to Alaska by the U.S. Air Force 10th Rescue Unit of Elmendorf Air Force Base. In all it should be noted that 200 different sled dogs were used in the movie Nikki -- Wild Dog of the North.
When the filming was completed, Bill Bacon had the difficult job of finding homes for the scores of dogs that had been used in this movie. Dozens of them, mostly young dogs, were given away to local Banff/Calgary people. An entire team was donated to the Park where the movie was filmed, for service in the Park system; others were given to Park employees. Bill Bacon had a friend named Gordon Whitehouse who was a member of the R.C.M.P. Working through Gordon, Bill asked the R.C.M.P. if the Force would be interested in taking some of his breeding stock. As fate would have it, several changing circumstances involving the use of sled dogs by the R;C.M.P. in Canada’s N.W.T. and Yukon made Bill Bacon’s offer both very timely and propitious.
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The first recorded dog team patrol by the then North-West Mounted Police (NWMP)(*1) took place in 1873. It was at this time that a “dog train” journeyed from Lower Fort Garry to the west shore of Lake Winnipeg and succeeded in apprehending six men who were “trading whiskey among the Indians”. During the 1890’s the force was known to have hired dog teams, but they also began purchasing their own sled dogs in various locations. If we look at the Yukon, the scene of much activity during the 1890’s and early 1900’s, sled dogs were used extensively by the force. Originally all of the dogs used were “outside” dogs, being purchased in Labrador and the N.W.T. In 1898 there were 142 sled dogs belonging to the force in the Yukon, in 1899 this rose to 231 dogs. During the winter the force travelled 64,012 miles carrying over 6 ½ tons of mail (*2) by dog team. In 1900 Inspector C. Starnes writes: “The class of dog we require is the ‘Malamute’ or the ‘Husky’. (*3) They are hardier, most used to the climate and can be depended upon. I would suggest the establishment of a stud on dog island and the purchasing of several good native dogs and bitches in order that we might breed our own dogs.” Remember, this was the era of Soapy Smith and his hucksters, who reportedly were sweeping the streets of Seattle clean of any stray mutts, and shipping them to the Yukon for sale as “sled dogs”. As the Klondike Gold Rush waned, so did the use of sled dogs by the N.W.M.P. From a high of 231 dogs in 1899, 1903 saw the force with 88 dogs. The first Dawson City to Fort McPherson patrol took place in 1904, and sled dogs remained in use in the Yukon until 1969.
Typically the Force would use dogs that are indigenous to the region where the post was located. In the High Arctic for example, the Eskimo Dog, an incredibly powerful, sturdy animal capable of handling all that the climate of the far north could dish out was used on routine patrols. Similarly, in the Mackenzie River Watershed, the Mackenzie Husky (*4) was the dog of choice. The practice was for a Special Constable to be employed as dog handler. These Special Constables were local First Nations or Inuit men who would train the members in the use of sled dogs, and would act as guides on the various patrols. With the government footing the bill, the force’s sled dogs were always relatively well fed and cared for and were a source of great pride. There was no established breeding program, each detachment independently followed the breeding program that seemed to best suit its needs. All of this was to change.
In November of 1960, Superintendent W.G. Fraser, Officer Commanding of “G” Division, that division of the R.C.M.P. responsible for the Force’s actions in the vast Canadian North, wrote a memorandum to the Commissioner of the Force under the rather officious heading -- “Police Sleigh Dogs - Breeding and Training - General.” Superintendent Fraser notes that:
“The provisioning of the force with capable and sturdy sleigh dogs has been a constant source of worry over the years.”
He then goes on to state that he has decided to:
“institute a breeding program and attempt to restock all our detachments with a different breed of dog than that presently in the arctic, and of course breed from pure-bred, or as near pure-bred stock as possible.”
Superintendent Fraser makes reference to the fact that there has always been a high mortality rate among the dogs in the Arctic and states that the trouble was that “the breeding was running out”. As if this wasn’t enough to institute a breeding program, during the previous year an epidemic had wiped out 90% of the dogs on the southern portion of Baffin island. At Frobisher Bay (now Iqaluit) alone, approximately 200 dogs died within one month and a half. The dogs belonging to the Force at Lake Harbour (now Kimirut) became so emaciated and run down that six that did not die were humanely destroyed. Apparently several dogs also died in the Western Arctic at the Aklavik Detachment due to bad fish. In any event, the R.C.M.P. dog breeding program was born, and the detachment at Fort Norman became the breeding station. (*5)
To facilitate this program:
“Literature on the breeding and training of dogs was procured and sent to Fort Norman and instructions issued to enter upon a breeding program that would eventually, possibly within five years, supply each detachment in our North with well-bred efficient, sturdy sled dogs.”
To further ensure the success of this endeavour, Superintendent Fraser:
“transferred to Fort Norman a junior corporal who had previous experience in dog breeding and was in fact before he joined the Force, associated with breeding of pure-bred cattle.”
Now in many ways Superintendent Fraser could be called in dog mushing lingo “a real dog man”. At a time when various forms of motorized transportation were steadily gaining ground in the North, this man was expounding the cause of the sled dog, and was actively campaigning to enhance the position of the sled dog in the Force. As far as there being a future for the sled dog in the North, the Superintendent was operating under the handicap of his personal biases, and a few basic misconceptions about the breeding of sled dogs.
The misconceptions involved his statement that “the breeding was running out”. It is not clear just what this means, but it probably refers to the fact that some sled dogs, bred in relative isolation, within the limits of the existing kennel were becoming in-bred, and the negative traits present in the gene pool were becoming re-enforced. If this was the case, it could be easily corrected by breeding an outcross or two, with a view to building on positive traits. Superintendent Fraser’s comment seems to infer that there just weren’t any good sled dogs left in the North, and this simply isn’t true. It may have some relevance to the Yukon, where the influx of poor quality dogs during the Klondike Gold Rush severely deteriorated the quality of sled dogs in that Territory. The dogs in the N.W.T. however, were ideally suited for the various tasks they were called upon to do, and were, in fact, the result of generations of selective breeding. “Only the fit survive” is a northern adage made popular by Robert Service, it is nowhere more true than when applied to sled dogs. This means that only the best dogs, who could meet the demands of their masters and of the climate lived to reproduce.
To his credit, Superintendent Fraser points out that a proper breeding program was being embarked upon by the force. Steps were clearly taken to improve the breeding techniques, to overcome some of the problems referred to above. Rather than utilizing the dogs presently available using better breeding methods, it was felt necessary to introduce a new type of dog, and this, as time was to show, was not necessarily a beneficial step. It might have been more realistic for the Force to look at the care being given to their dogs in an effort to improve their quality. While it is true that in the past four decades a great amount of knowledge has been gained concerning the care of dogs working under stress, and certainly this wealth of knowledge was not available to the force even as recently as the 1960’s, possibly greater care and consistency in vermifuging, vaccinating, watering, feeding and housing the dogs might have enhanced their quality.
When I talk about Superintendent Fraser’s bias, I am referring to his preference for the Siberian Husky. Given the fact that we are talking about 1960, it is perhaps not too difficult to understand the leaning toward the Siberian Husky. This was the time when many of the top names in sled dog racing were using the Siberian Husky exclusively. Dr. Roland Lombard and Dr. Charles Belford for example, both top dog mushers of this era were breeding, training and winning with Siberian Huskies.(*6) In a paper entitled “Siberian Huskies in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police”, written in March 1962, Superintendent Fraser extols the virtues of this sled dog breed. He quotes from the Canadian Kennel Club breed standard when he describes the Siberian Husky as:
“alert, intelligent, most tractable and easily trained…a graceful animal of medium size, quick on his feet and superb in action. He has a strongly built body with a deep chest, well-muscled shoulders and straight long legs.”
Superintendent Fraser goes on to say that these animals are:
“naturally friendly, and can actually live with the people in their tents or igloos on the barrens if necessary…men travelling alone in the wild inaccessible areas in the North are starved of human companionship and as a result they not only develop a respect for their dogs but become very attached to them.”(*7)
For Superintendent Fraser, the Siberian Husky presented as a very positive alternative to the “viscious in-bred killers” that the Siberian Husky was to replace. To further indicate his preference for the breed, Superintendent Fraser personally purchased a purebred Siberian Husky, sent him to the R.C.M.P. breeding station at Fort Norman, and gave him the commanding, but somewhat undignified name of Moose.
Given the above-mentioned facts as far as the state of R.C.M.P. sled dogs was concerned, and given Superintendent Fraser’s inclinations, it is perhaps not too surprising to read in the above-mentioned memo of 15 November 1960:
“6. Early in June of this year a member of this Division whilst on leave in Alberta learned that one of Walt Disney’s Enterprises known as Cangary Films Ltd., were in possession of several purebred Siberian Husky dogs whose services were no longer required in the making of a film depicting life in the North and the constant use of sleigh dogs. This member contacted those in authority there and learned that these dogs would no longer be required and if the proper representations were made to the higher authorities of the organization, it was possible that these dogs would be turned over to us.
7. This matter was pursued and as a consequence, we recently received from Cangary Films and shipped to Fort Norman, two pure-bred male Siberian Huskies, six female Malamute and Siberian Husky dogs, there being very little and practically indefinable differences between the Malamute and Siberian Husky, and one female with a litter of 8 one month old pups. This was indeed a fortunate circumstance for us and placed us in a position where we will have the get of nine separate sires to draw from because two of the females delivered to us have been bred to outside sires, that is not the sires that were given to us. This then, with the dogs already in our possession at Norman, places us in a most favourable position insofar as breeding and stocking our detachments with better quality dogs is concerned.”
This is how the Walt Disney Siberian Huskies came to join the R.C.M.P. The only discrepancy is that there is almost a 100% chance that the dogs weren’t Siberian Huskies at all. All that can be said for certain is that they were bred to look like Bill Bacon’s Smokey. In a report dated November 25, 1965, C/Supt. Macdonnel, C/O “G” Division, writes:
“Although all dogs displayed characteristics of the Siberian Husky, their ancestral background is not known.”
This means that the value of the dogs received from Walt Disney was purely an individualized thing. These were either good sled dogs or not-so-good sled dogs, it had nothing to do with the merits of the Siberian Husky breed.
Before the dogs were received from Walt Disney, the Force already had nine Siberian Huskies “on strength” at Fort Norman. This could account for the fact that several photos of R.C.M.P. teams that pre-date 1960 show dogs with obvious Siberian Husky characteristics. In addition to Moose (m) mentioned above, these nine Siberian Huskies consisted of Shango (m), a dog registered as Shady Lane’s Chinook and donated by a woman in Toronto, and seven dogs of undetermined origin named Silver (f), Pepper (m), Rex (m), Tess (f), Homer (m), Belle (f), and Jenny (f). Dogs were “taken on strength” by the Force when they reached the age of six months, and at that time they were given an official identification number beginning with the letter “G”. Careful records were maintained on these dogs following the introduction of the breeding program in Fort Norman and after the spring of 1962 at Herschel island, when the breeding station was moved to that location. The breeding of these dogs continued at Herschel island until 1965, when the program was terminated.
In all, 19 dogs were received from Walt Disney. In November 1960 the following dogs were received at the Fort Norman breeding station:
G3792 Roxy (f) 5 years old
G3793 Rita (f) 9 months old
G3794 Rossi (f) 9 months old
G3795 Reni (f) 9 months old
G3796 Rilla (f) 7 months old
G3797 Rejane (f) 7 months old
G3798 King (m) 2 years old
G3799 Kenny (m) 2 years old
The following dogs were received at the same time but were held at Fort Smith, N.W.T.:
G4424 Lady (f) believed by the force to be Nikki, star of the movie
G4426 Gypsy (f) All of the following are pups of Lady
G4427 Trixie (f)
G4425 Cindy (f)
G4428 (Jack (m)
Three dogs were sent directly to the Eskimo Point (now Arviat) Detachment in June 1961:
G4035 Jack (m)
G4036 Butch (m)
G4037 Queenie (f)
Finally, in March 1962, the Calgary Zoo donated two Disney dogs which were sent to Fort Norman. These dogs were:
G3867 King (m)
G3868 Cheetah (m)
What happened to these dogs and their offspring?
G3792 Roxy had four litters, being bred to G3867 King twice, G3179 Rex once and a dog named Gus (see below). Roxy’s pups went to Fort Liard, Baker Lake, and Fort McPherson. G3792 Rita also had four litters. The puppies of the first two litters (sired by G3156 Shango and G3179 Rex) all died. Pups from the other two litters (sired by dogs named Gruben and Grube) ended up in Cambridge Bay, Aklavik, Coppermine (now Kugluktuk), Fort McPherson and Herschel Island. G3794 Rossi (Rosie) had three litters. Pups sired by G3179 Rex all died and litters sired by Grube and G4416 Moose ended up in Herschel Island, Old Crow, and the Central Arctic Subdivision. The dogs that went to Old Crow were sired by Grube, and were probably a little more well-known than others due to their exposure at the Whitehorse Sourdough Rendezvous.(*8) These dogs were G1515 Bimbo, G1525 Buster and G1535 Butch. G3795 Reni had four litters. Pups from a litter sired by G3867 King ended up at Fort Liard and Fort Norman. Pups sired by Grube went to Herschel island, Old Crow and Sachs Harbour. The three pups that went to Old Crow were G1485 Gump, G1495 Gimpy, and G1505 Gook. The first dog Gump was the leader used by Peter Benjamin on the running of the Last Patrol, and he is featured in many photos of the Whitehorse Sourdough Rendezvous, leading the R.C.M.P. team in the mid 1960’s Pups sired by an “unknown Indian dog” were given away. G3796 Rilla had no pups that lived. G3797 Rejane had one pup G3861 Gus, sired by G4416 Moose (good old Moose!). G4424 Lady had five litters. Puppies from a breeding to G4416 Moose ended up in Fort Good Hope and Fort Liard. Puppies from a breeding to G3179 Rex went to Herschel Island. Puppies from a breeding to G3861 Gus ended up in the Central Arctic, while Lady herself was sent to Spence Bay (now Taloyoak). G4426 Gypsy had two litters sired by a male named Pepper and by G4416 Moose. Moose’s pups went to Fort Good Hope. G4427 Trixie had one litter sired by G4416 Moose and these pups went to Fort Good Hope. The three dogs that were sent to Eskimo Point (now Arviat) seem to have died or were destroyed there. G3798 King and G3799 Kenny were destroyed. Nick was sent to Fort Liard and Cindy and Jack died at Fort Smith. It is not known exactly what happened to the two males donated by Disney via the Calgary Zoo. It is known that all of the original dogs donated by Disney were dead by 1965 having died from natural caused or been destroyed for humane reasons. Their offspring, however were spread throughout the various detachments still using dogs.
During 1959 there were 264 sled dogs “on strength” throughout the North. In that year 53,443 miles of patrol were arried out by dog team, and 2,487 miles by snowmobile. There followed a gradual increase in the use of snowmobiles, particularly after 1965, but dogs held their own up until 1967 when 41,733 miles were patrolled by snowmobile and 21,932 by dog team. In 1967 only 13 of the 41 permanent detachments in “G” Division still had sled dogs. In 1968 10 detachments still had sled dogs as follows:
Old Crow………………………20 dogs Baker Lake………………..1 dog
Arctic Red River (Tsiigehtchic).....20 dogs Grise Fjord……………….23 dogs
Fort Good Hope………………..16 dogs Spence Bay (Taloyoak)…..18 dogs
Sachs Harbour………………….26 dogs Pond Inlet………………...17 dogs
Fort Liard……………………….13 dogs Eskimo Point (Arviat)..….....5 dogs
(Note: It is interesting that there is no mention in this list, of dogs being located at Herschel Island. Of course this is because in 1968 there was no longer a detachment at Herschel Island, which now has heritage site status. Yet even today, in 2014, significant physical evidence of the sled dog breeding station that once existed in this remote location is still in place)
In 1969, the year of the Last Patrol, only 4 detachments had sled dogs, with 24 in Old Crow, 14 in Arctic Red River (Tsiigehtchic), 17 in Sachs Harbour and 23 in Spence Bay (Taloyoak). These detachments were ordered to dispose of these dogs at this time, many of these dogs were pups and grandpups of the Disney dogs. This year, just nine years after the inception of Superintendent Fraser’s ambitious breeding program, the use of sled dogs by the R.C.M.P. was to be no more. The dogs were shot on orders in most of the detachments, a difficult job for their masters. Some were given away, and throughout the North the breeding is still occasionally evident. Two are on display in the R.C.M.P. museum in Regina, Saskatchewan. In Old Crow the dogs of the Last Patrol were given to Peter Benjamin. Peter’s wife Martha and her brother Stephen Frost raced these dogs in the Whitehorse Sourdough Rendezvous, and at that time the breeding remained very strong in the isolated community of Old Crow. When Whitehorse musher Bill Hodgson shattered the Sourdough Rendezvous track record in 1976, it was a great grandpup of the Disney dogs, Frosty, that was leading his team.
Now, over 5 decades after the introduction of the Disney dogs into the R.C.M.P. dog teams and with the benefit of hindsight, the whole project can be examined critically. It would seem that in large part the breeding program and the Disney experiment was at best marginally successful. The Disney dogs did not have the physical or mental stamina to perform in the harsh condition of the Central and Eastern Arctic. They are simply two very different types of sled dogs. There, where dogs are driven with whips, the Disney dogs proved to be no match for the Eskimo Dogs, and were quickly written off. As an aside, it has also been claimed that their presence, and consequent breeding with the “pure” Canadian Eskimo Dogs was one of the factors that contributed to the latter’s near brush with extinction. There could be some merit to this argument, however by the 1960’s there were significant numbers of “southern” dogs living in the Arctic, brought there by their white southern owners, and no-doubt these dogs were breeding with native Eskimo dogs as well.
Their performance in the Western Arctic was acceptable, particularly in the forested areas, but they did not prove to be better dogs than the Mackenzie Huskies that had been there all along.
It is true that the temperament of the Disney dogs, even though they were not purebred Siberian huskies was different and in some ways an improvement over the aggressive, often mean temperament of the dogs that traditionally were used in the Arctic. Possibly a better assessment of the program would have been possible had not technology so rapidly overtaken it, with the help of advances in technology associated with the snowmobile, the bush airplane and wireless communication (there’s that Sputnik again).
Possibly it is only right that these dogs, which initially gained recognition amidst the romance of Hollywood cameras, were destined for the romance that seems to go hand-in-hand with scarlet coated Mounties, frozen tundra, mad trappers and Sergeant Preston. Probably no sled dogs are more readily identified, even by those who are only casually interested. These dogs have captured our imaginations, and played with our fantasies. It must have been the influence of Hollywood that made it possible for this story to have taken place when it did. In any event, these dogs are now an entrenched part of the history of Canada’s North.
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This article was first written in May, 1979. This current version remains true to the original although reflects changes in the North as well as changes in perception that hopefully have led to a more informed understanding of the sled dog and of the incredible contribution that sled dogs have made to Canada’s rich history and heritage.
Jeffrey Dinsdale,
Quesnel, British Columbia
December, 2014
Notes
(*1) North-West Mounted Police -- The NWMP was the precursor to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (R.C.M.P.). Established in 1873 by Canada’s fledgling Federal government along quasi militaristic lines similar to forces operating in Britain, the N.W.M.P. was conceived as the Force that would bring law and order to a vast area then referred to as the Northwest Territories. Canada became a nation in 1867 but at that time Canada only consisted of four provinces, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Much of the rest of what is now Canada was then known as Rupert’s Land, a vast area of land consisting of all the rivers and streams that flow into Hudson Bay (the Hudson Bay drainage basin). This land had been ceded to the Hudson’s Bay Company by the British government in 1670, giving the company control over and exclusive use of this part of what was then called British North America. In 1870, the HBC surrendered its charter to the British Crown in return for a payment of 300,000 British pounds by the Government of Canada. The British government in turn admitted most of this vast territory to the newly formed country of Canada. This area consisted of what is present day Manitoba, most of Saskatchewan, southern Alberta, southern Nunavut and parts of present-day Ontario and Quebec. (and to be totally correct, it initially also included the northern parts of some of the Midwestern states but this all changed over time with the eventual establishment of the 49th parallel as the boundary between Canada and the U.S.). This vast area, along with the remainder of present-day Alberta, Saskatchewan and the present day N.W.T. became known as the Northwest Territories. In 1904, the name of the N.W.M.P:. was changed to the Royal North-West Mounted Police. In 1920, this group was merged with the Dominion Police, a force that had been established in 1868 to protect federal government buildings and naval yards and to operate a secret service, to become the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
(*2) The N.W.M.P. were actually present in the Yukon before the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. They had established Fort Constantine at the site of 40 Mile in 1894. There was a strong belief that a major gold rush was pending and the Canadian government was concerned about maintaining sovereignty over Canadian soil. It was anticipated that there would be a major influx of gold seekers from other countries, particularly from the United States. When it became evident that all the action was going to be taking place at the mouth of the Klondike River, the N.W.M.P. moved their base from 40 Mile, south to Dawson City. In fact, in 1898 the Canadian government sent a second body to represent and enforce Canadian interests in the Klondike and to support the N.W.M.P., the Yukon Field Force which consisted of members of the permanent force of the Canadian militia. This group was headquartered at Fort Selkirk (which is located on the bank of the Yukon River at the mouth of the Pelly River , approximately half way between present-day Whitehorse and Dawson City) with a small detachment in Dawson City. These two groups were essentially the Canadian government’s eyes, ears and representatives in the Yukon. As such they assumed all of the responsibilities and performed all of the duties expected of a sovereign nation….including delivering the winter mail by dog team when there were no other contractors to do the job. Duties assumed by members of the NWMP included collecting taxes, acting as magistrate, enforcing boundary issues, enforcing mining regulations, all of this in addition to duties normally associated with “normal” police work.
(*3) The term Malamute (some prefer the spelling Malemute), especially when referring to a working sled dog, first appears during the Klondike Gold Rush. It would appear that it was used to refer to a “traditional” looking northern dog, as opposed to one of the many floppy-eared dogs from the south that Jack London referred to as the “Outlanders”. Also, during the Klondike Gold Rush, the terms Malamute and Husky seem to have been used interchangeably and they have no relationship to the dog that is now known as the Alaskan Malamute. Robert Service certainly did his bit to popularize the word, with references to the “Malamute Saloon” and the ear pleasing alliteration of the phrase “Mush You Malamutes”. There is every reason to suspect that the word Malamute has its origins in the name of the Mahlemiut people who emigrated from Asia, (as did all Inuit), and settled in the Kotzebue Sound area of Alaska. The dogs possessed by the Mahlemiut people were primitive aboriginal Inuit sled dogs,. While Inuit or Eskimo dogs are often referred to as being a “breed” of dog, they should more correctly be referred to as being a “landrace“, which is a domesticated species of animal that has developed or evolved over time through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment and in isolation from other populations of the species. The dogs of the Mahlemiut people were really no different from the dogs associated with all groups of Inuit living along the Arctic coastline and a few interior regions of Alaska, Canada and Greenland. The Alaskan Malamute on the other hand is the name given to a man-made breed of dog that didn’t actually exist until the breed was registered with the American Kennel Club in 1935.
(*4) The Mackenzie Husky was not a man-made breed of dog, rather it is a term that was used to describe a type of dog that evolved throughout the Mackenzie River Watershed. This means that the Mackenzie Husky existed in areas stretching from the Athabasca River, Lake Athabasca, the Slave River, Great Slave Lake, the Mackenzie, Liard and Peel Rivers, Great Bear Lake and all rivers and streams flowing into and out of these bodies of water. The origins of the Mackenzie Husky are found in the primitive aboriginal Inuit sled dogs used by the Inuit people of the Central Arctic, the prick-eared fox or wolf-like dogs possessed by the Dene people, used for packing and pulling and described by Samuel Hearne in his journal A Journey from Prince of Wales Fort to the Northern Ocean and the influx of Alaskan dogs of all types that transported their masters eastward along the Arctic Coast to the Mackenzie Delta area in the late 19th century, drawn by the hunt for the Bowhead whale, a hunt which at the time was centred at Herschel Island. These three sled dog influences came together in the Mackenzie Delta area, which acted like a large vortex, resulting in a type of dog that existed for about 75 years beginning in the very early 20th century and which became known as the Mackenzie Husky. The Mackenzie Husky evolved as a fairly large (males 70 -90 lbs., females 40 - 60 lbs), thickly furred, long legged animal that moved with a fluid lope, not necessarily fast but strong and powerful. This dog evolved to withstand cold temperatures and harsh conditions where they received minimal care, They had good feet and were hardy eaters -- eating primarily fish and wild meat. They were generally used in small teams of 5 - 7 dogs where their strength was an asset. They were not identical in appearance, some with floppy ears, others with prick ears, they came in all colours, they had reasonable temperaments but were also known to fight for dominance. These dogs were ideal for the purposes (transporting reasonable loads over long distances in harsh winter conditions -- trapping, transporting freight, personal travel/communication), and for use in the terrain of the Mackenzie Basin. Over the vast area of the Mackenzie River Watershed there were some variations, most notably in size. This was due primarily to diet as well as local terrain. Those dogs that ran primarily on large lakes tended to be smaller, of course breeder preferences sometimes played a role in determining local characteristics. These dogs were eventually replaced throughout the Mackenzie River Watershed by the smaller and faster Alaskan Husky as sled dog racing became the dominant sled dog activity pursued by dog mushers and as the use of snowmobiles, wireless radio and aircraft increasingly took over the working/communications role that had been the trademark of the Mackenzie Husky. It is quite possible that in the early 1960’s, genes from the Disney Dogs, particularly those dogs that would have been placed in Fort Smith, Fort Norman, Herschel Island and Old Crow became part of the larger Mackenzie Husky gene pool.
(*5) The death of large numbers of working sled dogs throughout all of Canada’s North, particularly in the Arctic over a very short period of time, has been the focus of intense debate and study in Canada, particularly in the past 20 years. The primary focus of this discussion has been whether or not there is a link between these dog deaths and a concerted attempt on the part of the dominant (white) decision makers to eliminate/destroy the culture of the Inuit/First Nations people. One strong allegation has been that it was the task of the R.C.M.P. as the “agent” of the government in power, to eliminate thousands of working sled dogs. This matter actually surfaced in Canada’s House of Commons, the seat of the Federal Government, on March 11, 2005 when the Commons Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development called on the federal government to inquire into the alleged slaughtering of Inuit sled dogs in the North between 1950 and 1970. Eventually not one but three separate studies of this issue were implemented. The first was the response of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police which was based on the Force’s internal review of its files, a summary of the oral history of surviving former members of the R.C.M.P. who worked in the North during the time in question, the oral history of other, non-R.C.M.P. officials and community representatives and a review of other published sources of information. The second was the Qikiqtani Truth Commission, a body charged by the House of Commons with investigating the alleged slaughter of sled dogs by the RCMP in the Eastern Arctic from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. A third study was undertaken by the province of Quebec and the Makivik Corporation, a body which promotes aboriginal development and culture in Nunavut (northern Quebec). The results of all of these studies/enquiries were inconclusive. The R.C.M.P. review cleared the Force of any wrongdoing. Inuit testimony on the other hand supported the suggestion that the Mounties were indeed used as the agents of change by the government of the day. There is no question that hundreds of sled dogs died or were killed during the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s., and it is a fact that the traditional nomadic way of life of the Inuit changed forever as the Inuit took up permanent residence in communities that were established throughout the North.
The following excerpt is from an article written by this writer, entitled Sled Dogs of the Central Arctic and it discusses the multitude of factors that influenced the significant decline in the numbers of sled dogs . “The 1950’s and 60’s saw the beginning of the dramatic decline in the numbers of sled dogs throughout the Canadian North and Arctic. When Sperry (Reverend Jack Sperry, Anglican Missionary) first arrived in Coppermine (Kugluktuk) in the early 1950‘s, the numbers of sled dogs was probably at its zenith. This was the time when the Inuit of the Central Arctic still lived on the land in small family groupings and large dog teams were absolutely necessary for travel over extended traplines. However a number of factors contributed to the downward spiral in numbers of sled dogs, particularly among the Inuit. A decline in the market for furs and therefore a decline in trapping activity negated the need for large dog teams. The establishment of localized services in the major settlements (like Coppermine) attracted people to a different lifestyle remaining sedentary near the school, store, church and nursing station..the settlement was no place for large numbers of sled dogs which became a liability as they wandered throughout the settlement and many of them were killed as a precaution/result. The dawn of air and snowmobile travel throughout the north meant that there were now readily available and reliable alternatives to the dog team. The availability of wage employment on the Dew Line sites that were built every 50 miles along the arctic coastline meant that a traditional hunting and gathering lifestyle which required the use of dog teams was under further attack. Fatal epidemics of distemper swept through communities, often killing the vast majority of the dogs in that community. The recently-released NFB video Qimmit, A Clash of Two Truths examines this loss of thousands of sled dogs, particularly in the Eastern Arctic during this period, with the premise that these dogs were deliberately killed by the RCMP as a way to put a stop to the a traditional way of life, all of this as part of a bigger plan by the government to assimilate the Inuit into the white mainstream. I believe that this video does not succeed in upholding the premise upon which it is based. However, if nothing else, this video sheds light onto the complex combination of factors that contributed to the loss of thousands of sled dogs in a very short period of time.”
(*6) The Siberian Husky is another man-made dog breed that was recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1930. The origins of this breed of dog in North America coincide with the birth and growth of interest in sled dog racing in Nome Alaska. During the Klondike Gold Rush and the ensuing gold rushes that essentially opened up all of Alaska, eventually ending on the sandy shore line of the Arctic ocean in Nome, the emphasis was on big, strong, tough working dogs, certainly not racing dogs. Human nature being what it is, it was perhaps inevitable that men would have to find a way to prove that their dog team was better than the next fellow’s team., and that inevitably meant proving which team was the fastest.
First, dog mushers had to figure out just how to stand on the runners of their sleds, if they were going to race their dogs, there was no way that they could run behind the team and expect to keep up and certainly they couldn’t walk at the front of the sled holding a gee pole. The origins of the lightweight racing sled lies with the Alaskan Natives. As they used 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.
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, up to this point, the 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. 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. 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.
The evolution in sled design was initially made for working or freighting dogs. The first basket sleds were definitely built for carrying heavy loads, the smaller racing sleds came later. This fact is confirmed by Earl Norris, quoted in Bill Vaudrin’s book, Racing Alaskan Sled Dogs.
“A regular mail team, with freighting harnesses and sled won the first All-Alaska Sweepstakes; but before the following spring a great deal of experimenting with sleds and harnesses took place. Various designs were tried, but it was Scotty Allan who had a sled weighing only 31 pounds built for the 1909 race. Current racing sleds are modeled closely after this type of sled with varying basket lengths.”
Early in the history of the All Alaska Sweepstakes sled dog race, mushers introduced dogs from Siberia. These dogs were “substantially different in size, disposition and appearance from the local dogs. Whereas the native dogs were large, rangy, fierce, often wolf-like dogs, prone to fighting and giving the impression of great strength, these Siberian dogs were compact, small docile and rather more fox-like than wolf-like in appearance.” (The Complete Siberian Husky, Lorna Demidoff; Michael Jennings). These dogs gained favour, they proved that they were able to win races over the Alaskan dogs, they were championed by Leonhard Seppala who travelled extensively with his dogs, they proved their mettle in the famous 1925 Serum Run and as sled dog racing grew in popularity, particularly in New England, these became the dogs of choice. The breed was created based on the dogs that were imported from Chukchi breeders located along the Anadyr river in Siberia. Right up to the early 1970’s, the Siberian Husky held its own in competition against other racing sled dogs, including those “village dogs” that were emerging from the small, isolated villages located along Alaska’s major rivers and which today are known as Alaskan Huskies. The movie Nikki -- Wild Dog of the North was made when the popularity of the Siberian Husky as a working/racing dog was at its peak, and this could certainly account for Superintendent Fraser’s enthusiasm for the breed and his desire to see them incorporated into the Force’s breeding program.
(*7) The temperament of sled dogs. Superintendent Fraser refers to the Force wanting to have sled dogs that “can actually live with the people in their tents or igloos on the barrens if necessary…men travelling alone in the wild inaccessible areas in the North are starved of human companionship and as a result they not only develop a respect for their dogs but become very attached to them.” He is actually talking about a couple of different issues. There is no question that dog mushers in the North were very proud of their dogs and dogs were a big part of almost every conversation between dog mushers. Mushers would brag about their animals and speak of them in the same manner that men today talk about the merits of their Chevy pickup or their Ford 4x4. The merits of a musher’s dogs were seen as being an extension of the musher himself. It is also true that mushers would show affection to their dogs, with the hope that some might be returned. However this is where the dog’s temperament comes into the equation. Some sled dogs are by nature more affectionate than others. Eskimo Dogs are on record as being reckless, hardy, aggressive dogs, particularly with dogs of the same sex. The males will fight with other males and the females will do the same with other females. It is all about survival of the fittest, which dog will get the last morsel of food, which stud will get to breed the bitch in heat in order to ensure that his/her bloodline continues…in other words, which dog will survive in the face of the harshest environment on the face of the earth. These dogs are not “mean” in the sense that they would intentionally harm the musher, but it is very difficult to see these dogs “living…..in the tents and igloos” with their masters. Similarly, the Mackenzie Husky was a large, very strong dog and while it was definitely more tractable, it had retained some of the combative traits of the Eskimo Dog, and it is difficult to picture them “living in the tents and igloos” as well. The Siberian Husky, like all dogs, can be aggressive, but it is true that they do not give off the same kind of stiff legged, hackles raised, stare-you-in-the-eye competitive message to other dogs, essentially inviting the other dog to come and fight, that you see with Eskimo Dogs. Siberian Huskies are milder, shyer, less aggressive dogs and they do not fight for dominance in the same way as the Eskimo Dog and the Mackenzie Husky.
(*8) The Whitehorse Sourdough Rendezvous is a mid-winter festival/carnival that has offered a family friendly fun-filled break from Yukon winter weather extremes for 50 years. Sled dogs and sled dog racing have always been part of this event, but many would agree that sled dog racing during the Rendezvous reached its zenith in the 1970’s. Dog mushers and their teams travelled to Whitehorse from all over the Yukon and as the dog race grew in popularity, dog teams from the rest of Canada, the lower 48 States and Alaska also came to take part. The race in Whitehorse has never reached the standard and status of the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous or the Fairbanks North American sled dog races, but it was nevertheless a big deal in the Yukon. In the 70’s, the race covered a 15 mile trail, starting and finishing on the Yukon River just below the old White Pass rail station. There was a splendid backdrop to this event….two retired sternwheelers, the Casca and the Whitehorse stood high and dry and side by side until they were destroyed by fire in 1975. The trail ran north west on the river with a loop that took the teams off the river at the half way turn around point before they rejoined the outgoing trail for the sprint back to the starting point. What was unique about this race is that all teams competed against each other, regardless of team size. There were 5 dog trapline teams from Teslin and Carmacks competing against 10 and 12 dog teams from Whitehorse, Ontario and Tok. This was classic old time dog mushing, watched by fur-clad crowds numbering in the hundreds. One of the true feature attractions of this race was the appearance of the team from Old Crow Yukon…..inevitably there would be “Disney Dogs” in the Old Crow team. In addition to the Old Crow mushers, there are many (significant to dog mushing) names associated with this race. Wilfred Charlie was a First Nations musher from Carmacks who won this race with only five dogs, he ran almost the whole trail himself. For two young teenage brothers from Fort Nelson, the journey north to participate in the Sourdough Rendezvous was their introduction to big time racing. It might be said that this is where Terry and Eddy Streeper got their start. Herb Brade, a well known marathon canoe racer from Vanderhoof British Columbia was no slouch when it came to running dogs. Herb ran a team of purebred Siberian Huskies from the Norris Anadyr kennel. This was a time when the Sibes could still compete with the Alaskans, something that was to change very quickly. Elmer “Flash” Bankhead actually gathered up the neighbourhood dogs on his way to the race and they became his team. He made it about 100 feet out of the starting chute before grinding to a halt, then he calmly went through each dog in the string before finding one that would lead the team out along the trail. Ed Bauman, who always ran the race wearing his rubber boots. Chris Camping who started day 1 wearing running shoes and paid the price, finishing with one frozen foot. The next day he started wearing one felt pack boot and one running shoe. Delbert Hoffman from Tok Alaska, who gave everyone a preview of just how Alaskan Huskies were capable of performing.
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