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Non-Iditarod Mushing Journeys

The Iditarod is set against the (much) bigger backdrop of Alaska. This category includes some selected general-purpose reference works to assist non-Alaskans (or even for Alaskans who are not quite familiar with their home state) to better understand the Last Frontier.

Tracks Across Alaska: A Dog Sled Journey

by Alastair Scott

Pages: 248

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press, New York (1990)

ISBN: 0871134705

Intended Audience: Grades 6 and up

This is a classic travelogue of a modern-day trip in the finest tradition of the best English (and Scottish) travel writers. Scott makes an old-time, traditional village-to-village journey across western Alaska with a dog team, stopping to spend time in each settlement (and even between them). Everything is here in the right proportions--people, scenery, commentary, and much more. A wonderful read and a good model for young writers.

Over the Top of the World

by Will Steger
Jon Bowermaster

Pages: 64

Publisher: Scholastic, New York (1997)

ISBN: 0590848607

Intended Audience: Grades 6 and up

Steger's diary of his 1994 expedition over the North Pole by dogsled and canoe sled. Plenty of adventure and color photographs. This is a good example of using sled dogs in the traditional manner--as work and expedition dogs.

With Byrd at the Bottom of the World

by Norman D. Vaughan

Pages: 224

Publisher: Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA (1990)

ISBN: 0811719049

Intended Audience: Middle school and up

Colonel Norman Vaughan has led a life that almost defies description and has redefined what it means to be old in Alaska. He dropped out of Harvard to go with Commander Byrd on the famous "Little America" expedition of 1928-1930, when Byrd made the first flight over the South Pole. To secure himself a spot, Vaughan learned how to mush dogs, quickly becoming Byrd's chief dog wrangler for the duration of the expedition. The book is a fascinating look at one of the great exploring journeys of this century, in which Vaughan played a major role (so much so that Byrd named a 10,000-foot Antarctic mountain for him). Vaughan focuses on the dogs for much of the book, and on their importance to the expedition. Vaughan, of course, never lost his love for dogs even after he returned from Antarctica--he stands as the oldest person ever to finish the Iditarod, at age 84 in 1990, and still mushes occasionally even at 93.

Mush, You Malemutes!

by Father Bernard Hubbard

Pages: 179

Publisher: America Press, New York (1932)

Intended Audience: Grades 4 and up

Father Hubbard was also known as the "Glacier Priest," and made a number of exploring trips in Alaska in addition to his Jesuit missionary work. This book is a collection of his accounts previously published in The Saturday Evening Post, including a dogsled trip from Nenana to the Bering Sea coast and back to the Catholic mission at Holy Cross on the Yukon River. Hubbard's writing and descriptions are somewhat dated, but fascinating and good reading nonetheless, and provide a telling look at the influence of missionaries on Alaska Natives. Any musher will understand exactly his experiences learning how to drive his dogs. And in a page taken directly from Jack London, Father Hubbard ends his book with a last entry from the Santa Clara Valley where he has brought two of his beloved malemutes to live in the "Valley of the Heart's Desire."

Alaska: Reflections on land and spirit

by Olaus Murie
Robert Hedin

Pages: 97

Publisher: University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ (1989)

ISBN: 0816510938

Intended Audience: Grades 5 and up

Olaus Murie was one of Alaska's pioneer naturalists, working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on many surveys and expeditions in the early part of the century. He used dog teams in the everyday course of his work, and "With Dogs Around Denali" is a classic story of a 1922 trip to gather specimens in the Denali area. The first part of his trip was on the original Iditarod Trail in its heyday, including a stop at the now-abandoned Mountain Climber Roadhouse (near the present-day Finger Lake checkpoint). Fascinating reading and a glimpse into the "real" Iditarod. (The book is a first-rate collection of short pieces from a wide variety of writers, both Alaskan and others, new and old, and is highly recommended.)