Have you ever seen this statue in New York City? It's a statue of a sled dog named Balto. He's famous for running in Alaska's "Great Race of Mercy."
Balto was a Siberian husky. He worked as a sled dog, carrying supplies to miners. Then, in January 1925, a disease called diphtheria broke out in the city of Nome, Alaska. Children were in danger, and the disease was spreading fast. Doctors needed medicine, but there was no way to get it to Nome. Weather conditions were terrible, so planes couldn't fly, and the sea was full of ice. The nearest train station was 1,085 kilometers away in Nenana. There was only one solution for this frozen land—dogsleds!
The medicine would be sent to Nenana by train. Then twenty mushers would transport the medicine by dogsled in a relay race to Nome.
Balto's owner, Leonhard Seppala, didn't think Balto was special. So he chose a dog named Togo to lead his sled, and didn't put Balto on his team. But a musher named Gunnar Kaasen knew Balto well. He thought Balto was smart and strong. He made Balto the leader of his team.
On January 27 the first musher picked up the medicine in Nenana. It was packed in a metal cylinder, and the whole package weighed nine kilograms. When the musher's sled set out, it was dark and freezing cold—45 degrees below zero! But his team ran well, delivering the medicine to the next team.
On and on the relay went. Some dogs died when their lungs burst from the cold. While Balto and Kaasen waited, the weather grew worse. Then, five days after the race began, Balto heard barking. The sled was here!
When Balto took off, fierce winds howled. Snow swirled, blinding Kaasen. Most people thought Balto would lose track of the trail. Yet Balto kept running well.
Suddenly a powerful wind gust blew the dogs off the trail. The medicine flew off the sled! Kaasen frantically searched for it in the snow. By the time he found the package, his hands were frozen. Then the team took off again!
Finally the team reached its stop. But the building where the next musher was waiting looked dark. Kaasen thought the musher was asleep. To save time he decided to keep going.
On February 2, after running for seven and a half hours, Balto's team reached Nome. Balto had led them for 85 kilometers, through darkness and a blizzard. They had safely delivered the medicine, saving the town from disaster.
News of Balto and Kaasen's heroic run spread quickly. The heroes appeared in newspapers, and Balto's statue was placed here in Central Park. The two even starred in a silent movie about the race.
Balto's owner, however, felt ignored and jealous of Balto and Kaasen's fame. Eventually, Balto was sold to a traveling show. After that, he was sold again to another show where he lived in terrible conditions. Luckily, some people rescued him and found him a new home at a zoo in Cleveland, Ohio.
Today Balto is still famous for delivering the medicine to Nome. I like to visit his statue and read these words: "Endurance, Fidelity, Intelligence."
What a hero!