Leonhard Seppala was a Norwegian emigrant who went to Alaska during the Nome Gold Rush seeking employment and adventure. He was given charge of fifteen puppy and female Siberian sleddogs by his employer Jafet Lindeberg. Originally these dogs were intended as a gift to explorer Roald Amundsen who intended an expedition to the North Pole. Admiral Peary got there before the Amundsen expedition got started, so the dogs stayed with Seppala. He trained them and entered the 1914 All Alaska Sweepstakes, but had such difficulties that he failed to finish the race.

The next three years were a different story . . .