Without antitoxin, they believed that the  mortality rate could be close to 100 percent. Realizing that an epidemic was imminent, Dr. Welch called Mayor George Maynard to arrange an emergency meeting. Ivanoff had just left Shaktoolik with the serum. Following his death, Seppala had Togo custom mounted. The darkness and a blizzard also made it impossible for Leonhard Seppala to see where he was going. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25). While shakiness is a common aspect of dog behavior in old age, a dog who is dying may experience severe muscle twitching or mild convulsions. The Togo team, travelling by coach from their training ground in Congo-Brazzaville, had just entered Cabinda when they came under heavy fire. Togo passed away in 1929 at 16 years old. He was sick as a puppy, was difficult and mischievous, and did not seem suited to be a sled dog. … This can lead to death from asphyxiation. Olympio, a Ewe from the south who appeared to disregard the interests of northerners, was killed by Kabyé soldiers as he sought refuge in the US embassy. Eventually, Seppala is convinced to collect the serum and race back, and decides to take The creed states, "He descended into hell." Togo survives the events of the film. Share Togo was the true champion of the Serum Run. DeKryger, 46, was initially treated for malaria and typhoid. The famous Siberian Husky sled dog Balto, who led the team to bring serum to stop a diphtheria epidemic, died in 1933, at 14 years of age. The peaceful demonstration took place by the roadside between the monument roundabout and the national road number 1. His journey through white-out storms and twice across the unforgiving Norton Sound was by far the most perilous leg of the run. The town’s single doctor and four nurses watched helplessly as a three-year-old boy died, soon followed by a seven-year-old girl. This seems to be exaggerated a bit for the film. Though Balto often gets the credit for saving the town of Nome, it was Togo, a Siberian Husky, who led his team across the most dangerous leg of the journey. Togo, the dog that started the 650-mile run across Alaska during a 1925 storm finished by Balto, finally gets his due in a new movie, “Togo,” streaming Friday on Disney+. After he reached his adult weight of only about 48 pounds, the real Togo had a brown, black, and gray coat that made him look constantly dirty. The Togo true story reveals that as a young puppy Togo required excessive care from Leonhard Seppala's wife Constance. Under the employ of the Pioneer Mining Company, Seppala began making a name for himself as one of the strongest mushers in Nome. With the lack of appetite, his weight might drastically go down. He made his comments before news that two members of the Togo delegation had died from wounds suffered in yesterday's attack. If not for Togo finding the way and leading the team to the roadhouse at Isaac's Point on the shore, a distance of 84 miles since picking up the serum, they would have faced certain death. The father and grandmother of a one-year-old boy killed in a Brooklyn shooting demanded answers Monday from “the cowards that did this” and asked if “baby lives” matter. Seppala had immigrated to Alaska from Norway when his friend Jafet Lindeberg convinced him to come work for the mining company he started in Nome. Many of the 150 dogs who took part in the 1925 Serum Run to Nome lost their lives, mainly due to exposure. Leonhard Seppala and his sled dog team led by Togo traveled 340 miles roundtrip to pick up the serum and start bringing it back, eventually handing it off to Charlie Olson's team. Togo retired in Poland Spring, Maine, where he was euthanized at the age of 16. When Leonhard Seppala and his lead sled dog Togo began the relay to transport diphtheria antitoxin to Nome, Togo was 12 years old, which is practically ancient for a sled dog. They encountered each other while Ivanoff was untangling his team on a trail outside of town, at which time Seppala took possession of the serum. You can actually still see Togo today. He died from his injuries the following day. On Wednesday 20 September, Rachad Maman and his father arrived at the location where the demonstration was to take place at around 8 am. The bundle containing the serum was knocked out and he dug with his bare hands in the snow to find it. By that time, he had already been a lead sled dog for seven years. Eventually Seppala gave Togo up for adoption. Faure Gnassingbé. The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University houses the skeletal remains in their collection. It is still unclear what caused his deadly infection, said Jeffrey Burr, pastor of Forest Hills Baptist Church. Kaasen, who was in charge of Balto, suffered frostbite to his fingers after strong winds blew his sled over. Balto ran 55 miles, while Togo's leg of the journey was the longest and most dangerous. Named after Heihachiro Togo, a Japanese Admiral who fought in the war between Russia and Japan (1904-05), Togo was the lead sled dog of Leonhard Seppala. His stamina, loyalty and intelligence could not be improved upon. Togo was smaller than the usual size of a Siberian husky. During this time the only link to the rest of the world, was the Iditarod Trail, which runs 938 miles from the port of Seward to Nome.Several months before the winter of 1924-1925, Curtis Welch, the only doctor in Nome, ordered more diphtheria antitoxin. Togo was the best dog that ever traveled the Alaska trail.". She too was at risk of being stricken with diphtheria. Flying was relatively new at the time and winter flight was still largely untested. Yes. Through his journey to take a miner to Dime Creek, Seppala moved Togo up the line until he was sharing the lead position with the lead dog, named Russky. Togo was the lead sled dog of Leonhard Seppala (a musher and a Siberian husky breeder). And neither Togo nor Balto was alone in running the race. The Apostle Paul wrote, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Philippians 1:23). The only planes they had were water-cooled aircraft from World War I, which didn't perform well in cold weather. The victory is depicted as a flashback in the movie. Nome is clear across the state from Fairbanks, a flight distance of approximately 521 miles. He said goodbye to Togo and gave the dog to fellow sled dog musher, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Symptoms usually begin two to five days after exposure and include a fever, sore throat and weakness. Unlike the movie, Leonhard Seppala eventually decided that he wanted Togo to live out the remainder of his life in comfort. He died in May of 1934 at the age of 86, and the naval parade commemorating his funeral was attended by warships from the United States, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Italy, and China. While only black and white photos exist of Togo when he was alive, Leonhard Seppala had him custom mounted after his death at age 16. In researching the Togo true story, we learned that in real life Leonhard and his wife Constance had a daughter named Sigrid, who was eight years old at the time of the 1925 Serum Run to Nome. Between 2005 and 2011, the country … What Makes Togo an American Hero? Togo retired in Poland Springs, Maine. Yes. Togo was the first African country to experience a military coup following independence. Unfortunately, the shipment did not arrive before the port closed for the winter. When he died on March 14, 1933, at 14, it was a national news event. The true story behind Togo confirms that as a result of his relatively small size, illness, and bad behavior as a young puppy, Leonhard Seppala decided that Togo was not sled dog material and gave him away to be a house pet when he was six months old. In advanced cases, diphtheria can also cause the neck to swell, in part due to swollen lymph nodes, resulting in a condition nicknamed "bull neck" (visible below). It is important to note that Balto was not the original name of this dog, but Togo. Leonhard Seppala and his sled dog team led by Togo spent three days traveling 170 miles from Nome to Shaktoolik to pick up the diphtheria serum on January 31, 1925. His skeleton is in the Peabody Museum of Natural History's collection at Yale University. Clearly, Jesus was in the grave when he died but God did not leave him there to rot; God raised him up from the dead. Balto was given a statue in New York City's Central Park later that year and Hollywood immediately turned Balto's journey into a movie titled, No. His replacement was then deposed by … Togo refused to be parted from Seppala and his teams and later escaped his adoptee's home by jumping through a window. Togo sired some offspring during that time, and then died of old age in 1929 (Seppala had him "put to sleep" to ease his passing). In researching the. Welch had ordered more diphtheria antitoxin from the health commissioner in Juneau, but the port closed for the winter before the shipment arrived. Between November and July, the port into Nome on the southern shore of Seward Peninsula in the Bering sea was icebound and inaccessible by steamship. His mounted skin is currently on display at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters museum in Wasilla, Alaska. More than 150 dogs ran the race to deliver the medicine and many died or was later incapable of racing. Maybe cook him some chicken or ground beef. Yes. Seppala and his team again traversed the exposed open ice of Norton Sound, which was breaking up. Yes. Togo was dark brown with cream, black and grey markings. He was a Siberian husky with a black, brown and gray coat, and he weighed less than 50 pounds. A quarantine was immediately implemented. He was 14 years old. May … And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. Mix it up if you have to. Togo was the first African country to experience a military coup following independence. Following his death, Seppala had Togo custom mounted. In 1914, he competed in the All Alaska Sweepstakes, a sled dog race. He lived to be sixteen years old. Togo D. West Jr., Clinton appointee who investigated Army abuses and led veterans affairs, dies at 75 ... died March 8 on a Silversea cruise ship traveling between Barbados and Puerto Rico. Adam’s son Seth lived to be 912 years (Genesis 5:9). Temperatures across the Interior were at 20-year lows. A relay of 20 sled dog teams then traveled a distance of 674 miles from Nenana to Nome. Davell Gardner Jr. died after being shot in the stomach Sunday in a drive-by shooting while the Gardner family was having a cookout at the Raymond Bush Playground. Did Jesus really go to the place of suffering and torment called "hell"? A common teaching is that Jesus was in hell between the time He died on the cross and when He was resurrected. Seppala was a Norwegian breeder and racer of Siberian huskies from the Chukchi Inuit stock of Siberia. Those dogs, topping out around 50 pounds… Yes. Olympio, a Ewe from the south who appeared to disregard the interests of northerners, was killed by Kabyé soldiers as he sought refuge in the US embassy. Seppala gave him away when he was six months old to be a pet dog at a house several miles from his home. It was also the longest by roughly 200 miles. (The mounted body still remains on display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.) To keep him calm, Seppala harnessed Togo in one of the wheel position directly in front of the sled. According to UN reports, Togo has become a major hub of drug trafficking and money-laundering in west Africa. The issue has been complicated by a clause in the Apostles' Creed (which is not part of the Bible). "He died not just for Togo but for Africa." Located 2 degrees south of the Arctic Circle, Nome was home to 455 Alaskan Natives and 975 European settlers. After he reached his adult weight of only about 48 pounds, the real Togo had a brown, black, and gray coat that made him look constantly dirty. Faure Gnassingbé. Since no plane or ship could reach the isolated town, a unanimous decision was made to use multiple dogsled teams to transport the medicine across the dangerous land. Seppala became interested in dog sledding during his first winter in Alaska when he became a sled dog driver for Lindeberg's company. What colors was Togo? Togo was the best dog that ever traveled the Alaska trail."). Copyright © 2021 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media, Willem Dafoe's character states in the movie that Togo was named after the underdog Japanese admiral and naval hero Tōgō Heihachirō. This membrane (visible below over a patient's tonsils) covers healthy tissues in the throat, nose, tonsils and voice box, causing a croup-like cough, as well as severe difficulty breathing and swallowing. The next day a seven-year old girl died. Desperate, he sent radiotelegrams to the other major towns in Alaska and one to the U.S. Public Health Service in Washington, D.C., pleading for help. It was there they rested and slept for six hours before continuing their journey at 2 a.m., heading into another bad storm. A troublesome and mischievous puppy, Togo harassed Seppala's teams when he was harnessing up a team or whenever they were on a trail. A new Disney+ movie that debuted last week seeks to set the record straight, shining new light on the heroic dog who ran most of the race – 250 miles to Balto's 31: Togo. In 1925, diphtheria swept through the small Alaskan town of Nome. More than 150 dogs ran the race to deliver the medicine and many died or was later incapable of racing. The peaceful demonstration took place by the roadside between the monument roundabout and the national road number 1. In the winter of 1924-1925, a diphtheria epidemic was threatening the town of Nome, located on the southern Seward Peninsula on the northwestern coast of Alaska. To a large degree, yes. As a puppy, Togo developed a painful throat disorder that caused Seppala to lose interest in him. He died from his injuries the following day. Seppala gave him away when he was six months old to be a pet dog at a house several miles from his home. As depicted in Disney+'s Togo, the titular pooch had a very sickly youth and required the excessive care and attention of Seppala's wife Constance (portrayed by Julianne Nicholson).As a professional dog breeder and racer, Seppala's relationship with the dogs he worked with was exactly that: strictly professional. This declaration, made in profound grief, may sound like hyperbole, but the political turmoil that has racked Togo, … He … When his condition didn't improve, he was moved to a hospital in Cologne, Germany where he died Friday, Feb. 26, with his wife, Jennifer by his side. Within days of the last ship leaving the port, Dr. Welch treated a few children for what he first diagnosed as tonsillitis. A voiceover describes that he passes peacefully after several years of retirement, although this is not shown on screen. It was only in the previous February that the first airmail flight in Alaska took place. Though Balto received the credit for saving the town, to those who know more than the Disney story, Balto is considered the backup dog. As depicted in Disney+'s Togo, the titular pooch had a very sickly youth and required the excessive care and attention of Seppala's wife Constance (portrayed by Julianne Nicholson).As a professional dog breeder and racer, Seppala's relationship with the dogs he worked with was exactly that: strictly professional. Impressed, Leonhard decided to keep him. It was −50 °F in Fairbanks. In Feb. 2005, Eyadema died—he had … The next day a seven-year-old girl was diagnosed and Welch tried to give her expired antitoxin (all that was on hand) in hopes that it would work, but she died several hours later. The mounted skin was … He had ice blue eyes and weighed about 48 pounds at maturity. He was sick as a puppy, was difficult and mischievous, and did not seem suited to be a sled dog. After his death, he was put on display in Yale’s Peabody Museum. Notes: Diphtheria can attack healthy tissues in the respiratory system. His career took off when he won the Sweepstakes the following year, beating experienced musher Scotty Allan by two hours. The diphtheria serum was first transported by train from Anchorage northward to Nenana, Alaska. Try to give him anything that he will eat. But again, at the time Togo was 12 years old and this was long behind him. Dr. Welch began to get concerned about the possibility of diphtheria. His replacement was then deposed by … While none of the mushers lost their lives, several of them succumbed to frostbite, including Charlie Olson and Gunnar Kaasen, who completed the final two legs of the journey. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” So, Moses was allowed to SEE the promised land, but he was not permitted to ENTER it. Despite rough beginnings, Togo saved the lives of thousands of people. Today, the mounted skin is on display at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Headquarters museum in Wasilla, Alaska  following a campaign by Alaskan students to return Togo to Alaska. By mid-January, Dr. Welch made the first official diagnosis of diphtheria in a three-year old boy; the child later died two weeks after displaying the first symptoms. In 1960, Seppala said that "I never had a better dog than Togo. Not counting Enoch, the ten patriarchs who were born before the Great Flood of Noah’s time lived an average of 900 years. Togo was the lead sled dog of Leonhard Seppala (a musher and a Siberian husky breeder). Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Davell Gardner Jr. died after being shot in the stomach Sunday in a drive-by shooting while the Gardner family was having a cookout at the Raymond Bush Playground. The father and grandmother of a one-year-old boy killed in a Brooklyn shooting demanded answers Monday from “the cowards that did this” and asked if “baby lives” matter. https://www.outsideonline.com/2407232/togo-true-story-disney-movie-balto The Nome Relay had been his last long distance race. The young samurai ran immediately to his battlestation – manning a bigass anti-ship cannon at one of Kagoshima's forts — and started raining fire back at the bombarding warships. He immediately began the trek back across Norton Sound without pausing to rest.The conditions on the return trip were even worse. While only black and white photos exist of Togo when he was alive, Leonhard Seppala had … So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. He was 14 years old. Togo, the dog that started the 650-mile run across Alaska during a 1925 storm finished by Balto, finally gets his due in a new movie, “Togo,” streaming Friday on Disney+. Togo was smaller than the usual size of a Siberian husky. His telegram is pictured below. Diphtheria is a bacterial infection caused by exposure to the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae, often by way of direct contact or through droplets in the air (sneezing or coughing). Seppala also won the All Alaska Sweepstakes in 1916 and 1917, before the race was canceled until 1983. Decades later, he was moved back home to Alaska. The mounted skin was put on display at the Shelbourne Museum in Vermont. The real Togo spent a few weeks at his new home before he jumped through the glass of a shut window and ran several miles back to Leonhard's kennel. After four children took ill and died, the town's only doctor, Curtis Welch, eventually diagnosed diphtheria in three-year-old Billy Barnett, who died just two weeks after the onset of symptoms. On Wednesday 20 September, Rachad Maman and his father arrived at the location where the demonstration was to take place at around 8 am. Togo Heihachiro was just 15 years old when this went down, but as a proud member of warrior caste, he had a duty to do. In 1960, in his old age, Seppala recalled "I never had a better dog than Togo. The Norwegian-born Seppala first arrived in Alaska in 1900, when most sled dogs were burly Alaskan Malamutes or mixed breeds. Leonhard Seppala's experience and fame as a champion dog musher are why he was chosen to drive a sled dog team in the Serum Run. Answer: Adam was 930 years old when he died (Genesis 5:5), and his children and grandchildren shared similarly long life spans. Not only did he bear the wrath of God on our behalf; he endured death, the separation of his soul from his body. Around that time, the first known Siberian Huskies in America were brought to Nome by Russian fur trader William Goosak. Dead tissue then builds up in the throat or nose, forming a thick, gray coating dubbed a "pseudomembrane". Under pressure from the West, Eyadema legalized opposition parties in 1993, but the first multiparty presidential election in Aug. 1993 (which gave Eyadema more than 96% of the vote) was considered fraudulent, as was his 1998 reelection. Loss of Muscle Control. Lead sled dog of Leonhard Seppala and his dog sled team in the 1925 serum run to Nome across central and northern Alaska. He remains there, on display in the museum/gift shop at the official Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla. Early on, it was believed that the individual attention led to his rowdiness and mischievous behavior. His body was in Joseph’s tomb (Luke 23:50–53), and his soul was three days in Sheol, “in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). Despite doing most of the work, the credit instead largely went to the Gunnar Kaasen-controlled sled dog Balto, who completed the last, 55-mile stretch of the Serum Run through a blizzard. His stamina, loyalty and intelligence could not be improved upon. Like in the film, Seppala almost missed musher Henry Ivanoff, who had been in Shaktoolik in case Seppala didn't arrive. Over the next few weeks, the cases on tonsillitis grew and four children died. But again, at the time Togo was 12 years old and this was long behind him. Our conclusion then is that Lazarus went to " the realm of the dead, the grave", when he died- just like every other human, before he was resurrected. During his first day in the harness, Togo ran over 75 miles, a distance unheard of for an inexperienced young sled dog.By the time Togo led his team over 261 miles during the Great Race of Mercy to deliver diphtheria anti-toxin, he was 12 years old. The polar night also meant that there were limited hours of daylight to fly. Seppala's easy choice had been his older, trusted leader, a small, tough husky called Togo. Despite the challenges of the real events that this film is based on, no other dogs are shown or mentioned as being hurt. History vs. Hollywood visited the headquarters in 2013 and captured the photo of Togo displayed below. And neither Togo nor Balto was alone in running the race. Despite this, there were over 20 confirmed cases of diphtheria and at least 50 more at risk by the end of the month. This article is more than 10 years old. The true story behind Togo reveals that the temperature was approximately −30 °F with gale force winds making it feel like −85 °F. Dr. Welch had discovered that the batch at the 25-bed Maynard Columbus Hospital had expired. Balto ran 55 miles, while Togo's leg of the journey was the longest and most dangerous.Togo retired in Poland Spring, Maine, where he was euthanized at the age of 16.