Serum Run dogs who were stuffed and mounted

MayaHuskee

■

There has already been some discussion, on various Balto movie fan forums, about how Balto (the real one) and Togo, following their deaths, were mounted and put on display. I see that people have divided opinions on this. Of course, no matter what your personal beliefs regarding taxidermy (stuffing and mounting a dead animal), people were still very much in love with the serum run heroes even when they died and, right or wrong, they wanted some way to keep their memory alive in a very tangible way. This, they apparently felt, was the best way to achieve that.

Of the 150 dogs which were involved in the 1925 Nome Serum Run, only three were ever stuffed and mounted following their deaths: Balto, Togo and Fritz (Togo's half brother). In each case (except Togo, as you'll see below), only their skins (including the fur, obviously) were mounted, stretched over frameworks made to sort of resemble the dogs themselves. These were each done at separate times. Now, there is no known record as to what happened to the viscera of each dog (the innards, to be blunt about it); it is possible that they were either buried with respect, or just as possible that they were simply discarded (which would be a terrible shame if that ever becomes known to have been the case). In the specific case of Togo, not only was his skin saved and mounted, but his skeleton was also saved, and mounted separately. It is not clearly known why, but speculation is possible. Seeing as Togo was held up, at the time, as the QUINTESSENTIAL husky, I am sure there was a desire to preserve the skeletal structure of what was viewed as an ideal specimen.

Below are pictures of the mount of each dog, and as much information on them as is available:

BALTO
People who visit the mount of Balto in the Cleveland (Ohio) Museum of Natural History often get confused when they see it. They find themselves standing opposite a mount with brownish-mahogany colored fur, but were told that Balto was a black dog. And then others will say that the fur of black dogs often fades in time due to constant exposure to bright light and/or sunlight. So then they wonder if Balto really ever was black. Here is what the mount looks like today:

However, while it is true that dogs with black fur sometimes experience fading of their coats (to a dark brown...either all over, or only in certain areas), this could not have been very pronounced on Balto in life. Why, you ask? Well, look at this earlier picture of the Balto mount, taken years before the above photo, and when the mount was displayed differently (and in much brighter light):

The evidence is clear: while this photo is in black & white (and has not been altered or retouched), it STILL demonstrates that most of the fading of Balto's fur happened AFTER it was mounted (after he was already deceased) and exposed to heavy light, and even out in the open (rather than in an enclosed, humidity-controlled case, which is how it is displayed now, and under lower light). Hardly any of it (IF any) occurred while he was still alive:

Here are two shots of Balto, in life, for comparison:

Here's a good story about the mount by one visitor: http://www.fortunecity.com/boozers/elephant/114/baltomus.htm.

TOGO
Togo's body was preserved a bit differently. While the skin and fur were mounted like Balto's, the skeleton was also kept, and mounted separately. Both were originally displayed at Yale University's Peabody Museum of Natural History in Connecticut - protected by display cases. The skin mount was then purchased by the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont...and displayed out in the open, without a case, where visitors could (and did) pet it and photograph it. Moisture and light also took their toll on the mount at this location too. As a result, the fur of the once luxuriant coat gradually pulled away from the dead, preserved skin. In 1979, it was placed into storage, where it languished for years out of sight (probably exposed to more moisture and perhaps even to vermin).

A newspaper story about the mount, and about Togo himself, set off a campaign by Alaskans to get it returned to its home state. In 1983, a deal was worked out, and Togo's skin/fur mount was shipped to where it is now on display, at the Iditarod Trail Museum in Wasilla, Alaska (a suburb of Anchorage). The skeletal mount, however, still resides in the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University...and is currently in storage.

Note, from the two pictures below, how the condition of the skin/fur mount has deteriorated...and how much fur has been lost (even though, currently, it is displayed properly...low light, enclosed in a climate-controlled case):

Here are two life pictures of Togo, so you can see just how bad things really have gotten compared to when he was alive (the tail, in the pictures above, was probably bent or damaged in transport, or while still in storage in Vermont):

FRITZ
The least-known of the three serum run heroes discussed here, Fritz was also one of Seppala's prized sled dogs, and much respected and loved. He also contributed much by way of breeding to the modern-day Siberian Husky lines, and also to the present-day lines of the Seppala Siberian Sled Dog.

Here is an article describing the mount's own interesting and dramatic history: http://www.adn.com/front/story/6163088p-6042574c.html.

The mount of Fritz is currently displayed at the Carrie L. McLean Memorial Museum and library in Nome itself. Here is a picture of Fritz's skin/fur mount, and a couple of life pictures below that for comparison:

Fritz in life (at right in the last picture):

Age : 17 Joined : 07 Oct 2007 Posts : 83 Location : Sweden

One day ill go see all of them =D , Fritz looks best of them, Best preserved to.
lol Fritz looks smaller in the mount compared to the pictures were hes alive :/
and i like the look on Fritz face ^^ he looks happy, Not overly happy but just happy :]

Joined : 20 Jun 2008 Posts : 6

Cool topic! I've seen Balto in Ohio before, but I want to see Togo and Fritz. Sad