![](https://iditarod.com/wp-content/themes/iditarod/images/icon-instagram.png"){kind=icon}
History
Today is Indigenous People’s Day. This designation provides the opportunity to stop and reflect on the rich heritage of the people and cultures that inhabited North America prior to European exploration. The Iditarod Trail crosses the Indigenous lands of the Athabascan, Iñupiaq, and Yup’ik/Cup’ik people. The Iditarod Race interacts with these vibrant cultures at many …
“Always striving to find ways to get the trail recognized, another idea was hatched at one of the many meetings. The Iditarod Trail was a mail trail, so why not have each musher carry mail? An arrangement was made with the U.S. Postal Service to carry cachets, packets of letters, over the Iditarod to Nome. …
Our Virtual Fall Conference this month is focused on technology as teachers around the world are pushing tech to its limits dealing with distance, hybrid, and in person learning, sometimes all at the same time! Technology used by fans, students, and teachers to follow the race has certainly grown and changed over the years. Today, …
In August, the hashtags #womenshistory and #Beyondthe19th were trending. Here’s a little bit of Iditarod #womenshistory for you and your students! Share the primary source with the students and give them some time to examine it on their own. This source is featured in the Iditarod On-Line Museum (click the photo for a larger image). …
*There’s a big myth and it’s time to bust it! You can help! Myth: Iditarod is run each year to commemorate the Serum Run. Truth: Although that event is an extremely important event in the history of Alaska, the fact is, the founders of the race did not take the Serum Run into account when …
Ever wonder how the dog teams from the lower 48 – perhaps Michigan, Colorado or Montana get to Alaska to compete in the Iditarod? They drive and there aren’t many choices for routes. They take the notorious Alcan Highway. My black lab friend, Ellie, travels the highway frequently. Hoping that I might have the opportunity …
I can’t believe I’m actually standing at mile 0.0 of the infamous Alaska Highway! It’s my black lab friend Ellie and me traveling with Ellie’s human Pam Flowers. Oh this is so exciting, I can hardly keep from jumping and barking! From my last story you know the history of this storied road. It was …
We’re back on the road, looking at Dawson Creek and Mile Zero in the rear view mirror. This portion of the Alaskan Highway is also known as British Columbia Highway 97. Ellie has told me that we’re going to see amazing things today. We’ll be going up and over the Canadian Rockies and there’s bound …
We’re heading down from 4,250 feet, the highest point on the Alaskan Highway. Visibility at the summit was limited – maybe a quarter of a mile. We had to drive very cautiously. We have a saying in Wisconsin – if you don’t like the weather wait five minutes it’ll change. Lucky for us, the same …
Six hundred and five miles from Dawson Creek, we leave British Columbia behind. Ellie and I are quite excited about reaching the Yukon Territory. We’re now traveling on Yukon Highway 1. Watson Lake is the first settlement we come to – it’s known as the “Gateway to the Yukon.” Handler has filled us in on …