The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1913-03-13
Teams of Three or Four CANNES
Bring $1,000.
They Are Used to Draw Sleds In Win
ter and Carts in Summer; Also
Used in Mines and on Trails
for Packing.

Miss Emma Leonidas Kelly, the
first white woman to go down the Yu-
kon, has qualified by many strenuous
experiences in Alaska to be considered
an authority on the dog teams of that
country. The native animals are the
malamute, the huskie and the Siwash.
The first comes from the coast of
Boring sea and is a cross between the
Russian terrier and the Siwash. He
is small, weighing SO to 70 pounds,
and has shaggy hair, which makes
him look twice his real size. Under
this is a coat of short, warm fur that
protects him in the most severe
weather.
The huskie comes from the McKen-
zie river, is a. large gray dog weighing
from 125 to 100 pounds and Is covered
with short, stubby fur, with an under
coat of thick fur. They can stand
more hardships and go without food
longer than any other dog in the
north.
The Siwash dogs, which are i'll the
majority, are a cross between wolf
and a dog, and usually gray or white
in color, but occasionally black. Their
weight is from so to 80 pounds. They
rarely sleep under shelter, preferring
to curl up in the snow, even with the
mercury 60 degrees below zero.
In this respect the native animals
are better fitted for their work than
the immigrant dogs, says Miss Kelly
in Country Life in America. In severe
weather the latter wear little mecca
sins made of heavy moose skin, while
nature has provided the native dogs
with heavy fur covering the whole
foot, even between the toes.
The sleds in general use are Z feet
long, IL inches wide and 7 inches
high, and an immense load of freight
can be packed and dashed on them
The sled is guided in the trail by a
pole known as the &c" pole.
The dogs are hitched about six feet
ahead of the sled, and the driver walks
back of the sled, holding on to the
&c" pole to keep the heavily loaded
sled straight in the narrow trail SO
that it will not tip over on the rough,
sliding places.
In case the sled is heavily loaded
the dogs are hooked up close to the
sled and the driver rides a greater
part of the time-that is, if the wealth
er Is not too cold, in which case he
prefers running to keep warm.
On the creek beds there is often
from one to five inches of watGT, and
1t ia always a difficult matter to make
the dogs go through this. They dis
like getting their feet wet, but they
must keep the trail and pull through it.
Immediately after getting out of the
water it begins to form in little ice
balls between their toes, and the
whole team of dogs will lie down on
the trail in their harness and go to
picking and cleaning their feet, which
are rarely ever sore or frozen unless
they have been in water several hours.
From the last snow in the spring un-
til the first in the fall the dogs have
but little to do. At the trading posts
Dawson, Circle City, Fairbanks,
Eagle, Minook-and number of other
camps where they have fair streets or
roads the dogs are used to draw light
freight about in little two-wheeled
carts, and they are used in the mines
and on the trails for packing. The
pack saddles are made of heavy can
vas and the average dog will pack
thirty or forty pounds.
Some dogs will lie down in the mud
or water with their packs on, while
others seem 20 feel the responsibility
of protecting their packs and are ex-
ceedingly careful in picking their way
through thick brush or over fallen
trees that obstruct the trail, leaping
over pools of mud and picking their
footing with great care on the small
rocks in fording the streams. They
rarely bark.
The dogs are fed once day when
working; the best feed is the Yukon
dried salmon, but failing this bacon
has proved the best substitute.
The price of Alaskan dogs is gov
erned by the number of stampedes
during a winter, which creates great
demand for dog teams with which to
reach new gold fields at an early date.
At such times teams of three or four
dogs have brought as high as $1,000
or $4,000, where their usual price
would be about 500 or $500