The Explorers' Club, № MLXXII

Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars—The Nome Serum Run
27 January-1 February 1925: Twenty mushers & their sled dogs relayed diptheria antitoxin (serum) 674 miles through blizzards from Nenana, Alaska to Nome, which was suffering a diptheria epidemic & could not be reached by ship, rail, or aeroplane; most famous were musher Gunnar Kaasen & his lead dog, Balto (the final leg into Nome), & Leonhard Seppala & his lead dog, Togo (the longest leg).

Commentary: Without enough antitoxin, the diptheria epidemic was expected to claim about 10,000 souls, especially amongst the Alaska Native villages around Nome; thanks to the Serum Run, the death toll was seven.

Lest we forget.