Chinook's Operation

Walden and his dog, Chinook

Boston Herald 1928 February 8

CHINOOK, FAMOUS LEAD

DOG, HAS OPERATION

    Chinook, famous former lead sled dog

in the racing team of Arthur T. Walden,

of Wonalancet, N.H., which was oper-

ated on yesterday morning by veteran-

arians at the Angell Animal Hospital

was resting comfortably last night and

within a week or so will be in as good

condition as ever, according to officials

of the hospital last night.

    The dog was operated on for an abcess

on the orbit of the eye, and the opera-

tion was entirely successful, the sight of

the eye being saved.

    Walden, who is president of the New

England Sled Dog Club and well known

both in the United States and Canada

where dog sled races are held, is pre-

paring for the South Pole trip of Comdr.

Byrd, which will depart next September.

He will accompany the expedition and is

planning to take Chinook with him.

    The dog has taken part in many point

to point races and led his team to vic-

tory many times.  He is now 11 years old

and too old for racing and was retired

after his last point to point race two

years ago, which took place in New

Hampshire.  He is the pal of his master

and accompanies him wherever he goes.

How famous was Chinook? 

In February of 1928, before Walden even took his dog, Chinook, on the Byrd Expedition to Antarctica, Chinook was admitted to the Angell Animal Hospital in Boston.  Angell is a world-renowned veterinary hospital still in existence.  We adopted our first cat from Angell when we were first married in 1983.  The newspapers in Boston and across the country reported the news that Chinook had been admitted.

Why was this dog so famous even before he left for Antarctica?

There was a bit of a mania about sled dogs in this early part of the twentieth century.  The Alaskan God Rush just at the turn of the century renewed interest in using sled dogs as transportation.  Then the Peary Expedition in 1909 featured sled dogs, and in 1925 the famous serum run to Nome, Alaska by sled dogs (featuring the famous Siberian Husky dog named Balto) took place and established the Iditarod Trail.  Sled dogs, sled racing, the Arctic and Antarctic expeditions made sled dogs a very popular news item.

Chinook was already a champion racer during the early 1920s.  Chinook’s record as a champion persuaded Admirial Richard Byrd to accept Walden as the head of the sled dogs for his 1928 expedition. By the time this news article had been written, Chinook had already been selected as the lead dog, so he was already a celebrity!  Even his overnight in a veterinary clinic in Boston made headlines locally, and across the USA.

Boston Herald 1928 February 16

CHINOOK READY TO

      TAKE TRAIL AGAIN

     "The famous sled dog, Chinook, which

has been at the Angell Memorial Hos-

pital for the last nine days for treat-

ment of abscesses behind the ear, has

now recovered and tomorrow will ac-

company his master, Arthur T. Walden,

noted musher, back to Wonalancet,

N.H.

    Chinook was a happy dog yesterday

when Walden called at the hospital to

get him.  He thumped his tail on the

floor of his cage and bounded against

the bars, and when he was let out of

the cage he leaped to Walden’s chest

and made dog sounds expressing his

delight.  Walden took the dog with him

to the Hotel Statler, and tomorrow they

start back to New Hampshire and the

snow."

Part One of this series "Who was Chinook" is available at this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/05/who-was-chinook.html

Part Three of this series "Chinook's Final Great Adventure at the South Pole" (to be posted May 21st):
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/05/chinooks-great-adventure-at-south-pole.html 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Chinook's Operation", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 14, 2020, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/05/chinooks-operation.html: accessed [access date]).