Talk:1925 serum run to Nome

Name

I've never seen it referred to as just the "Mercy Race to Nome" (which gets 43 Google hits). It's either the "Great Race of Mercy to Nome" (872 hits), or the "1925 serum run" (843; "1925" and "serum run" gets 3,560). Either would be a better title :) 68.81.231.127 20:08, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Oh, the section on Togo should probably go back. It's very specific to Togo, and I intended it to eventually become a summary of this article, whenever it got created :). 68.81.231.127 20:18, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Huh, when I did a search for--um, whatever I searched for--I think Balto and Nome and diphtheria or something--I kept seeing the Mercy Race to Nome, so that's what I called it. I don't know that it matters too much as long as we've got something to call it other than just having every reference to it here in Wikipedia (not too many yet, but they're out there) all linking to Iditarod instead. If it were me-- "1925 serum run" is too vague and I don't know that I'd recognize it if I saw it (and I've been at least vaguely familiar with the story most of my life for unknown reasons); the longer version just seems, I dunno, long. But, as I said, I'm not emotionally attached to any one. As for Togo-specific section, OK, it can go back; I had more envisioned that this article would be fleshed out in detail so that the Togo section wouldn't stand out so blatantly as being so detailed. Again, though, I'm easy. :-) I just barged in here & started shuffling stuff around because I wanted to have a page to link to. Elf | Talk 22:46, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

any one who reads this page or wrote it is a major dummy like so wrong half of this stuff is I've been using "1925 serum run" in the wording of most of the articles that I eventually planned to link here (I like short titles :), but I think anything that makes an easy link would work and the "Mercy" variants are certainly more memorable. "Great Race of Mercy", maybe? 68.81.231.127 23:04, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I think that having "Nome" in the title would be particularly helpful. Beyond that--I'm dumping it back in your lap because you're doing a wonderful job on this article. Looks great. Elf | Talk 01:02, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Thank you. I've summarized it enough times in other articles that it's easy enough to expand. I was thinking about whether Nome should be added to title as well. Hmm. It's a hard one. There is no official name, and the number of permutations gets silly. Though if Nome is included, it boils down to either "1925 serum run to Nome" or "Great Race of Mercy to Nome." Either works. And anyway, it can't be up to me. I can't move articles :p Oh, I think I confused things earlier. I meant the parts on Togo should be added back to the article on the dog. Even if there is a separate article on the serum, there still needs to be a summary (though it could use an edit). 68.81.231.127 01:24, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Well, I can move articles. OK, um, er, I vote for "1925 serum run to Nome". Shall I do it, then? BTW, yes, I meant moving the text back to Togo would be OK if you wanted to. Elf | Talk 01:49, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Whichever you like. :) 68.81.231.127 02:30, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Also, this sentence could use some minor punctuation work: "The sled dog was the primary means of transportation and communication in subarctic communities around the world, and the race became both the last great hurrah and the most famous event in the history of mushing, before the first aircraft in the 1930s and then the snowmobile in the 1960s drove the dog sled almost into extinction." Maybe split it into two sentences? It's close to being a run-on. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.196.143.94 (talk) 15:41, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Bravo

This is a great article. Good work to all involved. jengod 18:33, August 2, 2005 (UTC)

I second that sentiment! Terrific article.

I noticed a probable misspelling of Wrong Font Thompson's name -- it appears to be "Fentress." And speaking of which, the man sounds like he should have his own wiki article. Here's a link with information on him.

http://www.buy.com/prod/fighting-for-the-forty-ninth/q/loc/106/211310304.html

I'd do it myself but am concerned about copyright issues and so forth, not to mention never having created a wiki link before.

Regardless, if anybody else concludes that his name is misspelled, kindly edit it.

IvyGold (talk) 23:55, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

1975 and President Reagan??

I don't understand. The article says there was a reenactment run in 1975, and in the same paragraph, mentions President Ronald Reagan. Reagan didn't become president until 1981. In 1975, the president was Gerald Ford.

GBC 01:15, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

Reread the paragraph. It's OK. Elf | Talk 02:48, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

Second Relay

I agree, a fine article. However: "Contacted Thompson and Sutherland, and Darlington made a..." Could we please have a complete sentence here? A subject, perhaps? J S Ayer 05:27, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Donald Duck and the serum race

I was introduced to this race through a Carl Barks version with a cold-war twist. Read it a long time ago. Anyone remember that story? A reference in the article would be great. Thanks! Jørgen 21:46, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

We'd probably want to come up with more notable references to the race, of which there are undoubtedly many, before including only a donald duck cartoon for "References in fiction" or some such heading. Elf | Talk 19:13, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

If you think you might have references to fiction in this article you could include the Balto movie. Just a thought.--Shishigashira 20:12, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Alameda

Why is this not listed on the Alameda page??

Thank You,

[[ hopiakuta Please do sign your signature on your message. ~~ Thank You. -]] 00:35, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm a bit confused. Is there a reason for it to be on the Alameda page? Coaster1983 05:25, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

It's highly unlikely that the victims and the mushers Victor Anagick and Myles Gonangnan were "Inuit", as the Inuit live in Canada and Greenland. They were more likely to be Inupiat (with Yupik or Athabascan also a possibility). "Eskimo" is a perfectly acceptable term for both Inupiat and Yupik within Alaska, but if you're going to be ultra-PC (by Canadian standards) and avoid the term Eskimo, at least have a care to use the right name. It's like calling an Italian a Spaniard because they both speak Romance languages (and, of course, Athabascans are a completely unrelated group). Changed "Inuit" to Alaska Native throughout the article. If someone does the research and learns the actual ethnicity of these people, please put it in, but "Inuit" is almost certainly wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.134.235.169 (talk) 21:03, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

It's even more complex than that: natives of Greenland (the same ethnic group as other Arctic Natives) prefer to be called Greenlanders! As noted above, Inuit is NOT a generic term for all northern native peoples, even those of related ethnic groups (probably descendants of the Thule people). Unfortunately, as also noted above, it has become PC in Canada to refer to Arctic natives as Inuit. In fact, I am given to understand by ethnographers that Eskimo is more widely acceptable despite it being regarded as a pejorative term in parts of Canada.--APRCooper (talk) 18:40, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Dead link

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Dead link 3

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An IP removed the background section on the epidemic in November, without explanation [1]. I have restored it. If there are issues with the section, please discuss here. Buddy431 (talk) 18:58, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Dragons

"Henry Ivanoff's team ran into a Dragon and got tangled up just outside of Shaktoolik. Seppala still believed he had more than 100 miles (160 km) to go and was racing to get off the Norton Sound before the storm hit. " I'm a bit confused by what Dragon means, as the link directs me to the mythical creature of dragons. Dhua315 (talk) 04:35, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

Fox

• A BBC4 television program (Sunday 15 June 2014, 9.45 to 10.45 pm by British time) said that Balto's reported achievements as lead dog were actually done by a dog named Fox, but that the newspaper report changed the name in case readers misunderstood the name and thought that the animal was not a dog but a fox (Vulpes sp.). Anthony Appleyard (talk) 23:50, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

Yes, he was the less able dog, it seems. Martinevans123 (talk) 17:04, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Inconsistency

An Athabascan Native, no information regarding Titus's team, time or travel along the trail. Met Dave Corning at Kallands. 34 mi (55 km) Dan Corning Kallands to Nine Mile Cabin

Unable to say which is correct, though I think Dan is mentioned in the narrative text. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.174.227.100 (talk) 20:28, 11 February 2017 (UTC)

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A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion:

• Togo the dog 2014-06-17 22-40.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 01:05, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

Mileages make no sense

It looks like people have been throwing all sorts of numbers for Seppala's run into this article, mostly by including the miles he ran from Nome to where he picked up the serum for his leg and making it sound like those miles were part of his actual leg. The math doesn't add up. They are in multiple places in the article. I will try to fix what I can but I'm not confident enough of what the numbers should be to make it right. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lynn Ami (talk • contribs) 10:03, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Considering that Seppala's run out from Nome to meet the Serum was particularly dangerous and included some of the more deadly parts of the entire relay, I believe it's reasonable to include them. The others who ran out from other locations to wait on the west end of the relay did not run in a single leg from Nome, and stayed at roadhouses to wait unlike Seppala. I am happy to reconcile some of these numbers with my copy of "Leonhard Seppala: The Siberian dog and the golden age of sled dog racing" when I have it on hand - However I believe the miles out to relay stop points should absolutely be included in the distance for all mushers including Seppala. If this warrants another column in the table to note miles traveled only with the serum in hand, we should add one. Mcfuggins (talk) 10:45, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

I have made some edits to hopefully make clear what miles are being referred to in the text and changed the number in the table to from 261 miles to 91 so that it matches what the other numbers in the table are representing, for now. I have no objection if you want to add another table column so both numbers can be reflected, that sounds like a good idea! I had to look up an external map (since the one on this page is of the Iditarod route, not the serum route) to even make sense of some of what was being talked about. Lynn Ami (talk) 11:41, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

After consulting "The Cruelest Miles" I feel that the best way to note the serum run mileage would be the way Salisbury does in the Apendix B - For Seppala, list 91 miles, and simply add a footnote or other note to comment on his total mileage. Mcfuggins (talk) 12:13, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

I like that. Looking forward to reading that book, it's waiting for me at the library. Lynn Ami (talk) 12:31, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Better map

Would it be possible to use the second map from this page instead of the existing one? It's much more helpful to be able to see all the rest stops and relay hand-off points mentioned in the article labeled on the map, as well as the clearer line of the run. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lynn Ami (talk • contribs) 11:49, 2 February 2021 (UTC)

Article issues

This is a B-classed article that is tagged since September 2020 for reference problems. This fails #1 of the assessment criteria There are large chunks of content that is lacking sources and the article is better suited as C-class. Otr500 (talk) 01:24, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

Can we generate a master list of areas of content with reference problems? I own a number of the sources in print listed for citation on this article and would like to work towards improving this to keep B-class for this article. Mcfuggins (talk) 12:58, 20 May 2021 (UTC)