Question

By the 1920s, dogsleds had long been the primary means of travel for mail, cargo, and people in the vast wilderness of Alaska. Recent advances in aircraft technology however were quickly making air travel a favored transportation mode in remote Alaska and dogsledding would soon become obsolete.

—“Iditarod,”
Alaska Public Lands Information Centers

Paraphrase this passage from Alaska Centers.

Answer 1

Answer:

Although Alaska's Iditarod trail is best known today for the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the race is really only one aspect of the trail's rich history. Before any Russian or European influence in Alaska the precursor to the trail was a large network of traditional trade and travel routes used by Alaska Natives primarily for winter travel under the Aurora borealis and gleaming sun dogs. In 1908, the trails were used by government employees to explore a route from Seward to Nome but the route they cleared saw little use for its first few years. However, just as mineral discovery had driven many of Alaska's previous periods of rapid growth, increased use of the trail came in 1910 when outside prospectors heard news of gold in the area around what is today the abandoned town of Iditarod. During the ensuing gold rush, miners used the trail to connect interior Alaska with important sea ports along the coast. As the Iditarod mining district developed, the trail subsequently became the main mail and supply route from the coastal towns of Seward and Knik to the mining camps at Flat, Ophir, Ruby, and all the way to the west coast communities of Unalakleet, Elim, Golovin, White Mountain, and Nome. These prospectors also recognized the value in dogsled travel in the remote and expansive wilderness of Alaska. Dog sled teams were used to carry the mail, supplies, even gold into and out of these remote areas of Alaska.

George Nollner with his dogsled team

George Nollner was one of twenty mushers to help relay serum from Nenana to Nome.

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The Importance of the Sled Dog

By the 1920s, dogsleds had long been the primary means of travel for mail, cargo and people in the vast wilderness of Alaska. Recent advances in aircraft technology however were quickly making air travel a favored transportation mode in remote Alaska and dogsledding would soon become obsolete. In 1925 though, The significance of sled dogs and the Iditarod trail would be impressed upon the world one more time. In that year, the city of Nome on Alaska's remote Seward Peninsula suffered a diptheria outbreak that threatened to exact a tragic death toll on the people of the community and surrounding area if life-saving serum could not be delivered to the city in time. Unfortunately, flying the serum from Anchorage to Nome in the dead of winter at the time was just not feasible. Instead, the serum was carried north from Anchorage to Nenana on the Alaska Railroad where it was to be picked up by the first team in a chain of dogsled teams that would quickly relay the serum to Nome. With each village along the trail offering their best musher and dogsled teams, the serum was carried the almost 700 miles to Nome in just over five days. This epic serum run made heroes out of a few mushers and sled dogs and would later be part of the inspiration for today's annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Map of the Iditarod historic trail

The Iditarod National Historic Trail encompasses several connecting trails extending from Seward to Nome.

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Iditarod trail through the brush in summer

A portion of the Iditarod Trail as it looks today near Knik Lake.