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Sights and sounds of the Rocky Mountains

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This "Sunday Morning" Moment of Nature takes you to the Rocky Mountain National Park where there's still plenty of last winter's snow left to melt.

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iditarod trail sled dog race (recurring event)

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Long-time Iditarod racer DeeDee Jonrowe shares her experience of life on the Iditarod Trail, her connection with her dogs, and perseverance through health struggles. Video: Hanna Craig Music: Starship Amazing, "If Love Is A Fire, We Will Set This City Ablaze"

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What does Iditarod Mean?

The following is from an article in the Anchorage Times following the 1973 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, written by Gordon Fowler, Times Sports writer: "Iditarod means clear water and was named by the Shageluk Indians for the Iditarod River."

The following came from one of the Anchorage papers during the 1983 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race: "The word comes from the Ingalik Indian word HaIditarod which was the name for the river on which the town was built. It means distant place."

James Kari, Assistant Professor, University of Alaska Native Language Center in 1979 stated: "The name Iditarod came from an Ingalik and Holikachuk word hidedhod for the Iditarod River. This name means distant or distant place. This word is still known by elders in the villages of Shageluk, Anvik, Grayling and Holy Cross."

Iditarod Facts

The first Iditarod race to Nome started March 3, 1973.

Broken Records: In 1986, Susan Butcher broke Rick Swenson's record, set in 1981, by completing the 1049+ miles in 11 days, 15 hours and six minutes, and this was done on the longer 'Northern' Route. In 1987 she broke her own record by finishing in 11 days, two hours, five minutes and 13 seconds. Then in 1990 she broke her record again, finishing in 11 days, one hour, 53 minutes, 23 seconds. In 1993, Jeff King broke all previous records, finishing in 10 days, 15 hours, 38 minutes, 15 seconds. In 1994 Martin Buser again set the record in 10 days, 13 hours, 02 minutes, 39 seconds. In 1995, Doug Swingley of Sims, Montana broke two records when he became the first musher from outside of Alaska to win the Iditarod and he did the 1150+ mile course in 9 days, 2 hours, 42 minutes and 19 seconds. In 2002, Martin Buser broke the record when he crossed the finish line in 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and 2 seconds.

Carl Huntington won the 1974 race with the slowest winning time, 20 days, 15 hours, two minutes and seven seconds.

The teams average 16 dogs, which means over 1,000 dogs leave Anchorage for Nome.

There are 26 checkpoints on the northern route, the first in Anchorage and the last in Nome. On the southern route, there are 27 checkpoints.

The closest finish was in 1978. Dick Mackey finished one second ahead of Rick Swenson. Mackey's time was 14 days, 18 hours, 52 minutes and 24 seconds. The winner was decided by the nose of the lead dog across the finish line.

The largest number of mushers to finish a single race was 77 in 2004.

A red lantern is awarded to the last musher to finish Iditarod. The longest time for a Red Lantern was 32 days, 15 hours, nine minutes and one second by John Schultz in 1973. The quickest Red Lantern musher Celeste Davis with a time of 13d 05h 06m 40s.

Rick Swenson is the only five time winner of "The Last Great Race", having won in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1991. He is now the only person to win the Iditarod in three different decades, a record that will probably never be broken.

Four time winner, Susan Butcher, claimed Iditarod victories in 1986, 1987, 1988 and again in 1990. Susan retired from long distance racing after the 1993 race in order to start a family with husband Dave Monson, himself a Yukon Quest champion. Their first daughter, Margarith, was born in the spring of 1995.

Dallas Seavey turned 18 on March 4, 2005. He is the youngest musher to run the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race. The oldest musher to ever compete was Col. Norman Vaughan who completed the race four times.

Rick Mackey won the race in 1983 to become the first son of an Iditarod champion to match his father's accomplishment. Lance Mackey won in 2007 to become the second son of an Iditarod champion. To further set a record, father and both sons were wearing bib number 13 when they crossed the finish line in first position, and they all three won in their sixth Iditarod. Anyone superstitious? (Emmitt Peters was also wearing bib #13 when he won the Iditarod in 1975.) Add one more for Lance - he had just won the Yukon Quest two weeks before, so now he is the first person to win both the Quest and Iditarod in the same year.

Iditarod Traditions

The Story of the Widow's Lamp

During the days of Alaska sled dog freighting and mail carrying, dog drivers relied on a series of roadhouses between their village destinations. Since these mushers ventured out in most all kinds of weather, for safety reasons they found the idea that pilots rely on, known today as the flight plan. Word was relayed ahead that a musher and team were on the trail, and a kerosene lamp was lit and hung outside the roadhouse. It not only helped the dog driver find his destination at night, but more importantly, it signified that a team or teams were somewhere out on the trail. The lamp was not extinguished until the musher safely reached his destination.

In keeping with that tradition, the Iditarod Trail Committee will light a "Widow's Lamp" at 10:00 a.m., on the first Sunday in March, in Nome at the trail's end. This lamp, which will be attached to the Burled Arch, our official finish line, will remain lit as long as there are mushers on the trail competing in the race. When the last musher crosses the finish line, officials will extinguish the "Widow's Lamp" signifying the official end of the Iditarod for that year.

All too often, public and media think of the race as being over when the winner crosses the finish line, yet there are still teams on the trail. Let it be remembered, Iditarod is not over until the last musher has reached Nome and is off the trail.

*Iditarod staff member, Greg Bill, was instrumental in starting this tradition for Iditarod.

History of the Red Lantern

Often the "Red Lantern" is confused with the "Widow's Lamp." They are not the same. An article several years ago in Alaska magazine states that the first red lantern was awarded in the 1953 Fur Rendezvous Race. According to Alaska,

"Awarding a red lantern for the last place finisher in a sled dog race has become an Alaskan tradition. It started as a joke and has become a symbol of stick-to-itiveness in the mushing world."

How does Iditarod keep Track of the Dogs?

Microchipping

What are microchips? The "microchip" is a tiny computer chip programmed with an identification number and encapsulated by a biocompatible material. Microchips are about the size of a grain of rice. They are usually implanted under the dog's skin either in the shoulder area, back of the neck or behind the ear, where they stay for the life of the animal. The process is quick and easy. Microchips are small enough to fit inside of specially designed hypodermic needles, which enables them to be injected in a manner similar to vaccinating. The needles are sterile and disposed of as clinical waste. Microchip use is not restricted to dogs, but is applicable to all animal species. Animals of any age may receive a microchip implant. They are safe and do not cause any discomfort.

How do the chips work? Special low powered readers have been designed to send a radio signal, which empowers the chip to transmit a specific code. Each chip has its own eight digit number, and extreme care is taken in the manufacturing of the chips to ensure that there are no duplicates.

Animals of any age can be injected with the microchip. Puppies and kittens are can have their chips injected during their initial vaccine series or at any time in their life. Other animals can be treated the exact same way.

There are several companies that are presently making microchips. AVID (American Veterinary Identity Devices) is one of the largest and provides the microchips used by the Iditarod International Sled Dog Race. By race rule, all dogs preparing to compete in the Iditarod are required to be identified by a microchip. Those not already having a chip from previous races will receive one at the time of their pre-race blood work and ECG recordings.

Veterinarians or veterinary technicians perform Microchipping. Typical costs to the owner include the veterinary charges for implanting the chip and a registration fee. A registry is maintained by AVID for locating owners of found animals. Access to this information is attained via an 800 number, twenty-four hours a day. The AVID registry is called PETtrac. Owners pay a one-time fee for registration. There are no annual fees; but there is a charge for information changes such as change of address. Change of ownership requires a new registration.

Since your pet is unable to ask directions or tell anyone who he/she belongs to, we always suggest to our fans that they have their pets microchipped.

Collar Tags

In the Iditarod Race, dogs are marked in two ways, by the microchip identification system and by collar tags.

Upon establishing the starting position of each musher, they are given a packet of items at the pre-race banquet that includes their handlers' armbands, truck passes to get into the chute area and the all-important dog tags. Each tag has the bib number of the musher and a letter of the alphabet. The musher puts the tags on the dogs prior to the start in Anchorage on Saturday. At the start, he/she will turn in a list showing the dog that corresponds with each tag number. For example: 'Chopper 20-D'. The dropped dog coordination office at the Millennium Hotel has a copy of this list and if for any reason they cannot get a scan on a dog, they can use the tag. However, the musher must be careful to make sure that the information is accurate.

When a musher leaves (drops) a dog at a checkpoint, he fills out a form on that dog and the checker scans the dog for the microchip and checks the collar tag. This information is noted on the 'dropped dog paperwork' which will remain with the dog as it is moved back to Anchorage. The dog collar and microchip is rechecked each time the dog is moved along his/her trip to Anchorage. Once in Anchorage, the information is checked by the crew that will transport the dogs to the Eagle River Correctional Institute where a group of inmates care for them until the mushers' handlers arrive to take them home. The prisons also have a copy of the paperwork and a microchip reader. Each dog is rechecked when picked up to insure the correct dog is released to the handler.

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The following is from an article in the Anchorage Times following the 1973 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, written by Gordon Fowler, Times Sports writer: "Iditarod means clear water and was named by the Shageluk Indians for the Iditarod River."

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Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version Download sample

Historical Background

The term 'Iditarod' was derived from the Athabaskan word haiditarod, which means far distant place.

Prior to the arrival of Russian fur traders in the 1800s, Native Alaskan Eskimos, Inupiaq and Athabaskan people used parts of the Iditarod Trail. By 1898, gold and coal miners started to explore the area after the Alaska gold rush in Nome.

During the winter of 1908, Allan "Scotty" Alexander Allan started the All-Alaska Sweepstakes. Two years later, the event introduced Siberian huskies, which became more popular racing dogs.

Walter Goodwin surveyed the main route of the Iditarod Trail. The trail from Seward to Nome extends 1,510km, while the entire network covers a total of 3,940km.

In 1914, Leonhard Seppala, a Norwegian immigrant took part in his first All-Alaska Sweepstakes. He never finished, but the following year through to 1917, he won.

The Serum Run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy, happened in 1925 and became the most famous Alaskan mushing story in history. Sled dogs ran in relays to deliver the supply of antitoxin to Nome when a diphtheria epidemic threatened the town.

Iditarod Race and Traditions

By the 1970s, the trail was composed of two routes: The longer northern route, which is run on even-numbered years, and the additional southern route, which is run on odd-numbered years. Both follow the trail from Anchorage to Ophir but diverge from there and meet again at Kaltag.

Checkpoints and restart locations are occasionally dropped and added, depending on the weather. There are 25 checkpoints on the northern route and 26 checkpoints on the southern route.

On March 3, 1973, the first Iditarod Race to Nome started. In 1974, Carl Huntington won the race in 20 days, 15 hours, 2 minutes and 7 second, the slowest winning time in the race's history.

In 1986, Susan Butcher set a new record after finishing the northern route in 11 days, 15 hours and 6 minutes. She broke her own record again in 1987 and 1990. Doug Swingley set a new record in 1995 of 9 days, 2 hours and 42 minutes. Swingley was the first musher from outside of Alaska to win the Iditarod Race.

Mitch Seavey, with his lead dogs Pilot and Crisp, holds the current record of finishing the 2017 race in 8 days, 3 hours, 40 minutes and 13 seconds.

Rick Swenson is the only person to win the Iditarod Race in different decades. In addition, he holds the record of winning The Last Great Race five times; 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, and 1991.

There are over 1,000 dogs that leave Anchorage because teams consist of an average of 16 dogs.

The youngest musher to run the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is Dallas Seavey, who turned 18 on March 4, 2005.

The tradition of lighting a Widow's Lamp happens on the first Sunday in March, at the trail's end in Nome. When the last musher crosses the finished line, officials extinguish the lamp, symbolizing the end of the race. The tradition of the Widow's Lamp originated when dog drivers of mail-carrying sled dogs used the light of kerosene lamps outside roadhouses as their guide.

Another Alaskan tradition is the awarding of the Red Lantern for the last place finisher of the race.

Some of the most common breeds of sled dogs are Alaskan husky (Indian dogs), Alaskan Malamute, Canadian Eskimo, Chinook, Samoyed, and Siberian husky.

Each year, more than 50 mushers join the race. Most of them are from rural Central Alaska. There are only a small percentage of participants from overseas. In order to qualify for the Iditarod Race, mushers are required to first participate in three smaller races.

After musher John Suter joined the race with his European poodles, the organization handling the race insisted that only northern breed dogs could race. It was meant to protect the welfare of dogs not suited for cold-weather racing.

Iditarod Worksheets

This bundle is what we like to call one of our BUMPER bundles with over 42 pages of worksheets all ready-to-use. These worksheets are perfect for students to learn The Iditarod is the world's most famous dog sled race. It is an annual race that starts on the first Saturday of March in Anchorage, Alaska and ends in Nome, Alaska.

Iditarod Race Facts

The Greatest Race

To the Finish Line

Winter Vocabulary

Winter Sports

Mushing Position

All About Dogs

Iditarod Task Cards

Women of the Iditarod

Odd One Out

For or Against Mushing?

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These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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The Iditarod 2019 Facts, Worksheets & Historical Information For Kids

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Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version Download sample The term 'Iditarod' was derived from the Athabaskan word haiditarod, which means far distant place. Prior to the arrival of Russian fur traders in the 1800s, Native Alaskan Eskimos, Inupiaq and Athabaskan people used parts of the Iditarod Trail.

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Scholastic | Books for Kids | Learning Resources

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Find the best kids books, learning resources, and educational solutions at Scholastic, promoting literacy development for over 100 years.

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The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North America.

The Rocky Mountain Range actually represents a series of more than 100 separate mountain ranges, rather than one uninterrupted mountain chain.

The Rocky Mountains stretch some 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) from British Columbia and Alberta in Canada through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and down to New Mexico in the U.S.

The Rockies vary in width from 110 to 480 kilometers (70 to 300 miles).

The Rockies are located between the Great Plains on the east (from which they rise abruptly for most of their length) and a series of broad basins and plateaus on the west.

The Rocky Mountains were initially formed from 80 million to 55 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny, in which a number of plates began to slide underneath the North American plate. Although some portions of the southern mountains date from uplifts during the Precambrian age (3,980 million to 600 million years ago).

The Rockies form the Continental Divide, separating rivers draining to the Atlantic and Arctic oceans from those draining to the Pacific. The major Atlantic-bound rivers rising in the Rockies include the Rio Grande, Arkansas, Platte, Yellowstone, Missouri, and Saskatchewan. Those draining to the Arctic include the Peace, Athabasca, and Liard rivers. Flowing to the Pacific Ocean are the Colorado, Columbia, Snake, Fraser, and Yukon rivers.

Topographically, the Rockies are usually divided into five sections: the Southern Rockies, Middle Rockies, Northern Rockies (all in the United States), the Rocky Mountain system of Canada, and Brooks Range in Alaska.

The range's highest peak is Mount Elbert located in Colorado at 4,401 meters (14,440 feet) above sea level.

The popular Pikes Peak, the second most visited peak in the world (behind Japan's Mount Fuji), is only the 31st highest, rising 4,300 meters (14,110 feet) above sea level.

Like most mountain ranges, the Rocky Mountains have also been affected by severe erosion which has caused the development of deep river canyons as well as intermountain basins.

In addition, the last glaciation which occurred during the Pleistocene Epoch and lasted from about 110,000 years ago until 12,500 years ago also caused erosion and the formation of glacial U-shaped valleys and other features such as Moraine Lake [photo below] in Alberta, throughout the range.

Temperature and rainfall varies greatly also and thus the Rockies are home to a mixture of habitats including the alpine, subalpine, alpine tundra, boreal habit, coniferous forests, wetlands and prairie.

The Rocky Mountains are very biodiverse, there are more than 1,000 types of flowering plants as well as trees.

The Rocky Mountains are an important habitat for a great deal of well-known wildlife, such as elk, moose, mule and white-tailed deer, pronghorn, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, badgers, black bears, grizzly bears, wolves, coyotes, lynx, and wolverines along with a great variety of small mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians and over 300 species of birds.

Because of the vast expanse covered by the Rocky Mountain Range, it holds several national parks. On the Canadian side, Banff, Kootenay, Yoho and Jasper National Parks protect the landscape and wildlife of the Rocky Mountains. On the US side, the Rocky Mountain National Park, Yellowstone National Park [photo below], Grand Teton National Park, Glacier National Park and the Royal Gorge Park, among others, all give guests the opportunity to explore the Rockies.

The name of the mountains is a translation of the Cree Indian name " as-sin-wati ", given as, when seen from across the prairies, they looked like a rocky mass. The first mention of their present name by a European was in the journal of Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre in 1752, where they were called "Montagnes de Roche".

Since the last great ice age, the Rocky Mountains were home first to indigenous peoples including the Apache, Arapaho, Bannock, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Crow Nation, Flathead, Shoshone, Sioux, Ute, Kutenai (Ktunaxa in Canada), Sekani, Dunne-za, and others. Paleo-Indians hunted the now-extinct mammoth and ancient bison (an animal 20% larger than modern bison) in the foothills and valleys of the mountains.

The Rockies have been traversed by a number of explorers, the first being Vasquez de Coronado in 1540.

Human population is not very dense in the Rocky Mountains, with an average of four people per square kilometer and few cities with over 50,000 people.

Because of their large presence in North America, water from the Rockies supplies about ¼ of the United States.

Economic resources of the Rocky Mountains are varied and abundant. Minerals found in the Rocky Mountains include significant deposits of copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, silver, tungsten, and zinc.

People visit the Rockies for many recreational activities especially for hiking, camping, mountaineering, fishing, hunting, mountain biking, skiing, and snowboarding.

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Interesting facts about the Rocky Mountains

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The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountain Range actually represents a series of more than 100 separate mountain ranges, rather than one uninterrupted mountain chain.

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Rocky Mountains Facts: Lesson for Kids - Lesson | Study.com

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Explore the Rocky Mountains, a large mountain chain in North America. Discover how the Rocky Mountains formed through plate tectonics and erosion.…

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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Information, photos and printable worksheets about the Rocky Mountains.