Saving Balto, Part 1

In the early morning hours of February 2, 1925, Balto led Gunnar Kaasen's sled dog team into Nome with lifesaving diphtheria serum. The people of Nome were rescued from this horrifying disease. Balto and his canine teammates became instant celebrities around the world. Soon Balto and friends were traveling across the United States making appearances in towns and carnivals as the "Heroes of Alaska." (My information for this post comes from a brochure called, "Balto and the Hero Dogs of Alaska" that my family received on a visit to the Cleveland Museum of Natual History.)

By the time 1927 rolled around, the dogs began to lose popularity. A Cleveland businessman named George Kimball found the dogs in Los Angeles, ill and mistreated in a "dime" museum.
He mounted a campaign to raise $2000 to bring Balto and his buddies to Cleveland in order to have the dogs live the rest of their lives in a comfortable home, the Brookside Zoo (now the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.)