Voices from the Flats – Iditarod 2011

By Jim Wright The following story of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race first appeared on Stonekettle Station in 2009. With this week’s kickoff of the Last Great Race, and my well known passion for it, a number of folks have asked about the origins of the event. Here’s the story: AN EPIDEMIC OF DIPHTHERIA IS ALMOST INEVITABLE HERE STOP I AM IN URGENT NEED OF ONE MILLION UNITS OF DIPTHERIA ANTITOXIN STOP MAIL IS ONLY FORM OF TRANSPORTATION STOP … Those lines were part of a message sent by Curtis Welch, MD, on January 22nd, 1925 via radio telegram from…