Gunnar Kaasen
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2008-05-29T00:32:49Z
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'''Gunnar Kaasen''' ([[1882]] – [[1960]]) was a [[Norway|Norwegian]] [[mushing|musher]] who delivered a cylinder containing 300,000 units of [[diphtheria]] [[antitoxin]] to [[Nome, Alaska]] in [[1925]], as the last leg of a [[dog sled]] relay that saved the U.S. city from an [[epidemic]].
Kaasen was born in [[Burfjord]], [[Norway]] and went to the [[United States of America|United States]] to [[gold mining|mine for gold]] in [[1903]], in the wake of the discovery of gold-bearing sands on [[Cape Nome]] in [[1898]], which triggered one of several [[gold rush]]es in the state between [[1891]] and [[1898]]. Kaasen became an experienced musher and a resident of Nome. While the boom was spent by 1905, the [[port]] of Nome sits on [[Norton Sound]], which is usually icelocked and inaccessible by [[ship]] between October and June. [[Dog sled]]ding remained the primary transportation and communication link to the outside world during the winter months.
== Last leg of the Great Race of Mercy ==
''Main article: [[1925 serum run to Nome]]''
In [[1925]], an outbreak of diphtheria threatened Kaasen's adopted home, and the disease could easily spread across the northern Alaska villages of which Nome was the hub. The [[Inuit]] children in particular had no immunity to the "white man's disease".
The port was frozen. No [[train]] routes or regular roads extended to the northern coast of Alaska. [[Bush pilot]]ing was in its infancy; the only two [[aircraft]] in the state had open-cockpits, and had never been flown in the winter. Given the choices, [[Governor of Alaska|Governor]] [[Scott Bone]] authorized the transport of 300,000 units of serum in [[Anchorage, Alaska|Anchorage]] to [[Nenana, Alaska|Nenana]] by [[train]], where it was picked up by the first of twenty mushers and more than one hundred dogs who relayed the serum the remaining 674 miles ([[1 E6 m|1,085 km]]) to Nome.
Kaasen was scheduled to transport the 20 pound ([[1 E0 kg|9 kg]]) cylinder of serum along the next-to-last leg of the relay, from [[Bluff, Alaska|Bluff]] to [[Point Safety, Alaska|Point Safety]]. At Bluff, Charlie Olson passed the serum to Kaasen, who left with a team of 13 dogs, led by the black [[husky]] [[Balto]]. Kaasen traveled through the night, in the middle of winds so severe that his sled flipped over and he almost lost the cylinder containing the serum. Visibility was so poor he could not always see the dogs harnessed closest to the sled.
Kaasen reached Point Safety ahead of schedule on [[February 2]], at 2 <small>AM</small> [[Alaska Standard Time]]. Ed Rohn, the next musher in the relay was sleeping, so Kaasen pressed on the remaining 25 miles (40 km) to Nome, reaching Front Street at 5:30 <small>AM</small>. Kaasen traveled a total of 54 miles ([[1 E4 m|87 km]]).
Kaasen gave the serum to Dr. Curtis Welch, the only [[physician]] in Nome, who distributed the serum. No further deaths from the disease were reported. A second batch of serum, from [[Seattle, Washington]] arrived in [[Seward, Alaska]] five days later, and was transported to Nome in the same fashion. Prior to 1925, the disease killed 20,000 people a year in the U.S. The worldwide publicity the event received helped spur widespread diphtheria [[inoculation]]s, which greatly reduced that number.
== Celebrity ==
Like all mushers who participated, Kaasen was given a citation by the Governor of the [[Alaska Territory]]. All mushers also received a daily wage from a public fund of between [[United States dollar|USD]] $30 and $40. The [[H. K. Mulford Company]], who manufactured the [[antitoxin]], awarded medals to all participants in the first relay.
Unlike the other mushers, Kaasen became a celebrity. In addition to the medal, the H.K. Mulford Company awarded him $1,000, and he was even offered a role in a [[film|movie]]. Balto became even more famous. On December 17, 1925, a bronze statue of the large black dog was unveiled in [[Central Park]], New York City, he appeared in [[Madison Square Garden]] before a crowd of 20,000 people. Another statue of Balto was raised in downtown Anchorage.
Other mushers, including Rohn, accused Kaasen of being a publicity hog. Kaasen's defenders believed he made the right choice: Rohn had no experience mushing in stormy weather. The most prominent critic was Togo's owner [[Leonhard Seppala]], who drove the longest leg of the relay. Seppala was particularly upset when Balto, primarily a freight dog, a second string dog, and not a speedy racer, became the canine hero of the event. When choosing his team, Seppala had deliberately passed over the black husky in favor of [[Togo (dog)|Togo]], a champion racer.
The modern [[Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race]], which has many traditions commemorating the serum run, celebrates Seppala as the true hero of the event.
== References ==
* Iditarod Trail Committee. [http://www.iditarod.com/geninfo/serumrun.php The 1925 serum run to Nome]. Retrieved March 8, 2005.
* Sherwonit, Bill (1991). ''Iditarod: The Great Race to Nome''. Alaska Northwest Books. ISBN 0-88240-411-3.
==External links==
*[http://www.baltostruestory.com History of the 1925 Nome Serum Run] <small>(Earl J. Aversano)</small>
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[[Category:Norwegian dog mushers]]
[[Category:Norwegian-Americans]]
[[Category:People from Alaska]]
[[Category:1882 births]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[no:Gunnar Kaasen]]