History3

Balto Balto and his team had to run serum twice as far as other dog teams. Diphtheria was a disease that caused sore throat and swelling of the neck. There was only one way to save the children with this disease and that was an antitoxin. The serum was transported to anchorage and then sent by dogsled to Nome. Over 20 Teams joined in the rally to save the children with diphtheria and that’s when it all began. The reason that Balto was led to fame was because Balto and his team missed the Checkpoint so Balto and his team had to run twice as far as they were originally assigned. For along time here was controversy between Balto and Togo. But one day Togo gave up And all the glory went to Balto. There is a statue of Balto inside central park in New York. They even made a movie by Universal Pictures Balto. By: Tristan and Kortlund 

Nome, Alaska showed up on the map during one of the world’s greatest gold rushes. Found on the Seward Peninsula, by the year 1900 the town’s population had grown to 20,000 once the gold was discovered on the beaches along the Bearing Sea. In 1925 almost all the gold had gone and the population had gone down to about 1,400 people at the frozen outpost. For seven months of the year Nome was icebound. The nearest railroad was more than 650 miles away in a different town called Nenana.

On January 20, 1925, a radio signal was sent out, flashing for miles around the frozen tundra: On January 20, 1925, a radio signal came from Nome, Alaska cried out across the vast frozen landscape that was Alaska. It flashed this message. NOME CALLING...NOME CALLING.. WE HAVE AN OUTBRAK OF DIPHTHERIA... NO SERUM...URGENTLY NEED HELP... NOME CALLING.. NOME CALLING... Diphtheria is an extremely contagious disease. The frantic search for antitoxin began. SEATTLE CALLING...SEATTLE CALLING...FRESH SERUM AVAILABLE HERE...AIRPLANES STANDING BY TO FLY TO NOME... SEATTLE CALLING The weather was dropping to tempertures far below zero, Smothering the city with a blanket of snow. This was a serious problem; the planes coundn't fly in this weather. Another call called out; ANCHORAGE CALLING...ANCHORAGE CALLING...300,000 UNITS OF SERUM LOCATED IN RAILWAY HOSPITAL HERE...PACKAGE CAN BE SHIPPED BY TRAIN TO NENNA... PACKAGE WEIGHS 20 POUNDS... COULD SERUM BE CARRIED TO NIME ON IDTEROD TRAIL BY MAIL DRIVERS AND DOG TEAMS? The next day three children in Nome, Alaska died because of diptheria. Time was a matter of life and death. And there were more cases being diagnosed.