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In late 1925, Diphtheria broke out in the remote town of Nome Alaska, and so began “The Great Race of Mercy”. 20 dog mushers and 200 dogs swiftly mobilized their teams to bring the much needed anti-toxin to the ailing group of 1430 townspeople separated from any means of contact and resources as they fought to stave of eminent death.
Winter had its icy grip on Nome Alaska and the only means of transportation was by dog team since the steam ship ports were iced in and the airplanes that serviced Nome were unable to fly in the severe cold of 1925. The 928 miles of the Iditarod Trail was the only accessible route to deliver the Diphtheria anti-toxin to the people of Nome, and it was throughout the commitment and determination of the dog mushing community with their rugged four legged crew, that the fate of the entire community of Nome was forever changed.
Fast forward nearly 100 years. In February through April 2021, I was fortunate to work along side a group of equally dedicated individuals who’s mandate was to to deliver the Covid 19 Moderna vaccine to every Yukon community in much the same manner as the 1925 “Great Race of Mercy”, although the dog sleds were not necessary this time. The two mobile Covid 19 vaccine teams, affectionately named Balto and Togo, were deployed from Whitehorse by road and by air to service all of the outlying Yukon communities and also the Northern town of Atlin BC.
The organizational mechanics of this operation has been directed by a large group of members from the ECC ( Emergency Coordination Centre ) who have a plethora of experience coordinating and implementing emergency response teams to deal with natural disasters that affect humans and the environment. ECC organized the rollout of equipment and personal along with the scheduling and follow up of services throughout the Yukon and Atlin BC and is also responsible for the coordination of the “Fox” clinic in Whitehorse proper.
It was during my time working with the Balto team that I had some time to reflect on the magnitude of this operation and the long history of Yukoner’s helping one another through desperate time. For example, it’s been commonplace in the early 19th century to “grubstake” a miner for the gear he/she would need to get through a long dark winter in the Klondike and I can firmly say that the helpfulness that was prevalent in the old days is still alive and well in our communities.
The delivery of medical services to outlying communities has been first and foremost in the minds and hearts of all members of the remote teams and the people behind the scenes organizing this initiative. People in the communities have been extremely thankful and appreciative and I’ve personally seen that it’s not uncommon for Native Elders to gift hand crafted beadwork crests to a Balto team members or to simply say Sóga Sínlá or Kwànàschis for coming to their community. This type of thankfulness and joyful banter was prevalent in every clinic we set up and during the return visits as members of the communities would often be dancing their traditional dances, lighting ice candles along the highways leading into town, and singing in their traditional languages.
I was inspired to give back whatever I could to the people we were seeing and I did so by adding music to our days in the mobile clinic, playing familiar and not so familiar songs to people entering the clinic and making their experience as pleasant as possible. This is something that I currently do at the Fox clinic when time permits, and it undoubtedly puts a smile on all of those masked faces who have the suggested 15 minute post injection time to wait before leaving the clinic.
During a long bus ride back from Watson Lake, I started to think about the history of the Yukon once again and also about our Alaskan neighbours to the west since we did indeed adopt their Balto name for our team. By the time we arrived back in Whitehorse I had a good idea of what the chorus of my song would sound like and how I could establish a time, place and “feeling” within the first verse of the song and how the tempo, rhythm, and overall vibe would reflect the determination and cadence of a group of people/dogs working towards delivering a serum during these trying times.
I immediately went to see my song writing partner Chic Callas and sat down at the piano with a guitar, pencil and paper and came up with a sketch outline of a cord structure that would bring it all together. We followed a fairly formulaic structure and then proceeded to lay the bed tracks for the percussion, guitar parts, and vocals. Chic recorded the piano parts at my FACE The Music Productions studio and I sent the rough mix mp3 file to Don Bishop in Victoria. He quickly sent his bass line back to me and I added it to the equation. After a few days of mixing and mastering the song, I’m pleased with the results and I hope you enjoy the melodic history lesson that pays tribute to the early Alaska vaccine delivery teams and the parallel mission of the Balto and Togo vaccine teams who have been visiting every Yukon community.
The Balto & Togo song is available as a free downloadable mp3 on the My Amazing Yukon Life website and I’d be thrilled if you’d send it to your friends and favourite radio station in your area, so we can share our Yukon experience and with the rest of the world .
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I hope you enjoyed this podcast, pictures, and links and I thank you for joining me as a “M.A.Y.L. carrier”, as we deliver our amazing Yukon life stories to the outside world.
Cheers
“Trapper Dan your Renaissance Man”
Daniel Halen
Nice music; continue the good work!!
Thanks Leslie
I’m glad you liked the song and I appreciate the encouragement.
Cheers