Gunnar Kaasen
Gunnar Kaasen | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | November 27, 1960 Everett, Washington, United States | (aged 78)
Occupation | Musher |
Gunnar Kaasen (March 11, 1882 – November 27, 1960) was a Norwegian-born 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.[1][2]
Background
Gunnar E. Kaasen was born the son of Hans and Anna Kaasen in Burfjorddalen, in Troms, Norway. He went to the United States to 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 rushes 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 ice locked and inaccessible by ship between October and June. Dog sledding remained the primary transportation and communication link to the outside world during the winter months.
Last leg of the Great Race of Mercy
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
Kaasen reached Port Safety ahead of schedule on February 2, at 2 AM
Kaasen gave the serum to Dr. Curtis Welch, the only
Celebrity
Like all mushers who participated, Kaasen was given a citation by the Governor of the
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 movie. Balto became even more famous. On December 17, 1925, a bronze statue of the large black dog was unveiled in Central Park in New York City. Although news sources promoted the idea that this was a statue of Balto, his name does not appear on the dedication plaque, but instead reads, "Dedicated to the indomitable spirit of the sled dogs that relayed antitoxin six hundred miles over rough ice, across treacherous waters, through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the Winter of 1925. Endurance · Fidelity · Intelligence".
Balto appeared in Madison Square Garden before a crowd of 20,000 people. Another statue was erected in downtown Anchorage, Alaska as well, depicting a sled dog in mid-stride, and though most consider this to be another likeness of Balto, the plaque itself, like the NYC statue never mentions the famous dog and instead is dedicated “to all dog mushers and their heroic dogs.”
Kaasen lived in Everett, Washington, from 1952 to 1960. He was 78 when he died of cancer in 1960. He was buried at Everett's Cypress Lawn Memorial Park next to his wife, Anna.[6]
References
- ^ Balto & Togo (WorkingDogWeb)
- ^ Gunnar E. Kaasen - Hans Kaasen - Anna (State of Washington Death Index)
- ^ Togo and Balto, Dog Heroes (University of Alaska Anchorage)
- ^ The Serum Run of 1925 (Jennifer Houdek, University of Alaska Anchorage)
- ^ History of the 1925 Nome Serum Run (Earl J. Aversano)
- ^ Balto's musher lived quiet life in Everett (The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA.)
Other source
- Sherwonit, Bill Iditarod: The Great Race to Nome. (Alaska Northwest Books. 1991) ISBN 0-88240-411-3.
- Salisbury, Gay and Laney The Cruelest Miles (W.W. Norton. 2003)
- Murphy, Claire Rudolf and Jane G. Haigh Gold Rush Dogs (Alaska Northwest Books. 2001)