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HISTORY
FROM DOG TRAINS TO DOG TEAMS
Working dogs have long been part of life and
survival in the North. In the late 1700s, explorer
Samuel Hearne described dogs used by the
Dene people as trained, docile and tractable.
Generations later, after the turn of the 20th
century, dog trains used for traveling and
hunting were sought after for their speed
and endurance as racing teams. By the late
1930s, formal races were organized on Great
Bear Lake near the Eldorado Mine. Races in
Yellowknife began to make the newspapers
by 1946.
A RACE IS BORN
In 1955, the NWT Fish and Game Association
decided that it would be fun to put on an annual
"Sleigh Dog Race" in Yellowknife. The prize
of
$50 for first place was awarded to Alfred Drygeese,
who ran the 40 mile race in five hours, twenty-seven
minutes and thirty seconds. Prizes for other racers
consisted of sacks of flour, groceries and rifle shells.
The race was such a success (there were thirteen
racers instead of the expected eight), the prize
money had already blossomed to $500 by the
following year.
BUILDING A CHAMPIONSHIP
Around 1964 the Elk's Club took over management
of the Yellowknife Dog Derby, and expanded it into
the 150 mile race we know today. In 1972 the Rotary
Club took up the challenge and managed the race for
the next 27 years. During that time, the prize money
got higher and racers came from further away. The
Canadian Championship Dog Derby has seen racers
from as far away as France, Austria and Spain and as
close as around the corner and down the street.
MEMORABLE MUSHERS
Local racers have fared well in the race. Winners
from NWT include: Alfred Drygeese, Philip Goulet,
Jonas Sangris, Peter Sangris, Frank Kelly, Peter
Norberg, Dan McQueen and any of the male members
of the Beck family old enough to race. The most
consistent non-Northerner to win has been Tim White
of Grand Marais, Minnesota.
CHANGING TIMES
For its first 20 years, the derby had been considered
by most mushers to be a long distance race, but in
1973 the Iditarod in Alaska set new parameters for
"long distance," covering over 1,000 miles
and taking
over two weeks to complete. The Canadian Championship
evolved into a 3-day, 150-mile event and has since
become one of the world's most popular races.
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