One may ask: What's Balto? Well, I'll tell you. Balto is a movie loosely based on the event of the epidemic in Nome, Alaska. The rather small town of Nome, stuck right smack in the middle of an Alaskan wilderness, was effected by a diphtheria disease. Since this disease had never struck the town before, the people were not immune to it, and many children suffered deaths. It was the worst weather ever seen, and a quarantine was set up. Airports were shut down due to the weather, and even the toughest icebreakers could not make it to Nome's sea port. The only supply of medicine was in Ancourage, about 3,000 miles or more away. The only safe form of transportation was dog sleds. Ancourage sent their medicine by rail to the closest train station, in Nenana, about 300 miles away from Nome. The race was a rally; certain members met up at a rendezvous point. Togo, another sled dog, went farther then any other team, but Balto, the lead dog of the last team, fought his way through a vicious snowstorm. Togo did not get as much credit, though both he and Balto are believed to be true heroes.

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Fluke's Tribute to Balto