Earl and Natalie Norris
ANADYR SIBERIAN HUSKIES
© 1996 by Bob and Pam Thomas
Five decades -- 50 years -- half a century! No matter how you add it up, it is a truly remarkable achievement in the history of our breed. From the first litter in 1946 right up to the training of the current Alaskan Kennel Iditarod team, Earl and Natalie Norris have become synonymous with outstanding Siberian sled dogs. There has never been a Siberian kennel active for such a long span of time, and probably never will be again.
The Norrises have literally devoted their lives to the goal of improvement in performance of the Siberian while still retaining type. The revival of the Siberian in Alaska after World War II is solely the result of their efforts. During the late 1950s, through the 70s when most other long time Siberian mushers turned at least partly to the Alaskan Husky, Earl and Natalie stayed with their beloved Siberians, ensuring that we would have world class Siberian sled dogs today. For this loyalty to the breed, Siberian dog mushers now and in the future will always be indebted. This special issue is our way of saying thanks for all they have done.
EARL
Earl actually established his 'Alaskan' kennel name in Idaho in 1936. With the entrance of the U.S. into World War II in 1942, Earl managed to get a position in Alaska with the Civil Aeronautics Administration which was constructing airfields and navigation facilities around Alaska. Earl homesteaded just outside Anchorage and built up a small kennel of Alaskan Malamutes. (Today the homestead has been swallowed up by the city - the University Mall area just east of Anchorage's public library sits on the original homestead) By 1950 Earl was Director of Logistics for the Port of Anchorage and working downtown. He remembers that in the years after World War II, he often drove the dog team to work, Anchorage being much smaller than it is now!
NATALIE
Natalie Jubin was born in Lake Placid, NY in 1924 and by age 12 had her own team of sled dogs of mixed heritage. Lake Placid had a history of sled dog use dating back to World War I when the practice of hauling tourists by dog team originated. The first annual Lake Placid sled dog race was held in 1928 and many New England mushers attended, including Leonard Seppala. When World War II ended, Natalie worked for Short Seeley at Chinook Kennels, Wonalancet, NH. She had the opportunity to run in harness such dogs as Champion Wonalancet's Baldy of Alyeska, Champion Wonalancet's Disco of Alyeska and Waska. In the fall of 1945, Natalie decided that Alaska was the place she wanted to be. Short selected two Siberians from Chinook Kennel for Natalie to take with her and her other dogs. In early 1946 Natalie set out with her dogs and very little money. Fortunately, however, Earl Norris knew she was coming after seeing an article about Natalie and how she planned to emigrate to Alaska in a syndicated Sunday newspaper magazine titled 'This Week .' He had written to her before she left New Hampshire, advising her that he would be available to help her get settled in Alaska. So it came to pass that Natalie's wayward troop settled in with Earl's dogs at his homestead just outside Anchorage.
At this point in Alaska, 1946, no one was breeding Siberians, so Earl and Natalie immediately embarked on a breeding program. One of the dogs selected by Short Seeley, Terry, a half-brother to Aladdin, was not used due to an illness from which he never fully recovered. The other male, however, would be the foundation of what would become the greatest modern Siberian kennel in Alaska. Chinook's Aladdin of Alyeska, born May 9, 1944, was out of Czar of Alyeska and T-cheeakio of Alyeska. After placing third in the 1946 Fur Rondy, Earl won the 1947 race with Natalie's Malamute bitch, Suggen, in lead. In 1950, the Fur Rondy expanded to four heats of 25 miles each. In 1951, Earl's team - once again Aladdin leading a team of his own offspring - set a track record on the fourth heat of 1 hour, 39 minutes, 27 seconds, averaging 15.08 miles per hour. The record would stand until 1962 when the renowned George Attla bested it in a race which had been reduced to 3 heats of 25 miles each. It should also be pointed out that Earl set the record with a 9-dog team - Attla had 16. It appears that 'Short' had selected one heck of a dog for Natalie! Aladdin ran single lead for Earl in every race he entered between 1948 and 1953.
Also during the late 1940s to the early 1960s, Earl and Natalie were instrumental in the initial organization of several sled dog clubs in Alaska. In addition to Earl's role in the first Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, Earl and Natalie became charter members of the Alaska Dog Mushers' Association. (ADMA) in 1945, which holds the North American Championships each year in Fairbanks. In 1949, Earl was instrumental in the foundation of the Alaska Sled Dog Racing Association (ASDRA), which took responsibility for the Fur Rendezvous race. Natalie was the editor for the first Fur Rondy magazine as well.
The Norrises were also largely responsible for the 1949 founding of the Alaska Kennel Club, which brought the first dog shows to Alaska, and the formation of the Siberian Husky Club of Alaska. This club held the first independent Siberian Husky Club specialty show - ever - in 1956. The entry of 32 Siberians was the largest in an AKC show to that date.
Vixen of Anadyr was bred to Alyeska's Sugrut of Chinook and whelped the fastest dog Earl and Natalie have ever owned - Alaskan's Nicolai of Anadyr. Nicolai ran single lead and Earl says he was never able to buy a dog, of any background, who could run with him - so, Nicolai had to produce his own competition, and was bred to Alaskan's Bon-Bon of Anadyr to produce Alaskan's Astro of Anadyr, a promising young dog, in 1965. Tragically, Nicolai got loose and onto the highway where he was killed by a car.
Astro was a piebald and the main Siberian leader through the late 1960s and into the 70s. In 1970, in fact, Astro led Natalie's team to win at the Women's Open North American Championships in Fairbanks. On that same team was one of Astro's offspring, a 2 year old black and white male out of Alaskan's Sestra of Anadyr, II - Alaskan's Nicolai of Anadyr II. This young dog would go on to outshine Astro, Nicolai, and Bonzo as that greatest Siberian ever produced by Earl and Natalie, and arguable the greatest Siberian leader of modern sled dog racing.
Nicolai II lived a long life and was able to sire many good dogs over the years. This enabled the Norrises to shrink the size of their kennel as the Nic II gene pool produced a good percentage of outstanding dogs.
The Norrises have always bred heavily on their leaders as they naturally were the fastest and most aggressive running dogs. As a result, the percentage of Alaskan/Anadyr Siberians with lead ability is very high. This trait showed itself to be useful with the fundamental shift from sprint racing to longer distance racing, which began with the first Iditarod in 1973. The need to have several reliable lead dogs on a team made the Norris Siberians, Nicolai II offspring in particular, valuable dogs to have.
The Norrises are world renowned for their assistance to novice mushers who want to winter over in Alaska and learn the craft. This apprentice-like program became very popular with the growth of the Iditarod race. Quite a few mushers have run Anadyr Siberians in the Last Great Race, including Martin Buser (twice).
The first Iditarod was held in 1973 and a fundamental change in racing in Alaska was soon to take place. Harkening back to the All-Alaska Sweepstakes dogs, mushers desired to test their teams in longer races. Earl and Natalie's association with the Iditarod began in 1975, the 3rd running of the "Last Great Race." Chris Camping, a Canadian, ran a team of Alaskan/Anadyr Siberians. That experience has since led to a total of 11 teams completing the race with primarily Anadyr dogs. All the teams, except one (Earl's personal 1985 team) have been driven by mushers who spent the season(s) at Willow, training the dogs, racing in preliminary races, and finally tackling the Iditarod. In 1980 and 81, Martin Buser of Switzerland ran Alaskan/Anadyr teams, getting him started on one of the most notable dog mushing careers in Alaska. Martin has gone on to win the Iditarod in 1992 and 1994. As far as Earl and Natalie are concerned, their favorite Iditarod musher would have to be Kari Skogen of Norway, who completed the race in 1984 and 1986 with Alaskan/Anadyr teams. This would be of course, because Kari subsequently married Earl and Natalie's son, J.P.! Earl ran the Iditarod in 1985 himself. It's claim to fame was the worst weather one could imagine, but Earl finished 31st despite torn ligaments in his knee suffered early in the race which eventually slowed him down.
Both Earl and Natalie have been in great demand as a result of their immense knowledge of the breed. Natalie has been an AKC licensed judge of Siberians for some time now. She always appears on everyone's short list of breeder-judges. Natalie is one of the few judges with extensive racing qualifications, so her view of the show ring is one that almost all exhibitors are interested in. People are honored to show their Siberian to Natalie, and she draws good entries.
Earl and Natalie are two of the few who knew the pioneers. Fortunately, Earl had, for some time, studied the history of sled dog racing, especially in Alaska and had given seminars that combine history with sled dog training. Both he and Natalie have traveled all over the world to present this knowledge to interested fanciers. Earl amassed a large collection of sled dog memorabilia, books, photographs and equipment.
Credit is given to Bob and Pam Thomas of No-Kita Siberian Huskies
© 1996 by Bob and Pam Thomas
Five decades -- 50 years -- half a century! No matter how you add it up, it is a truly remarkable achievement in the history of our breed. From the first litter in 1946 right up to the training of the current Alaskan Kennel Iditarod team, Earl and Natalie Norris have become synonymous with outstanding Siberian sled dogs. There has never been a Siberian kennel active for such a long span of time, and probably never will be again.
The Norrises have literally devoted their lives to the goal of improvement in performance of the Siberian while still retaining type. The revival of the Siberian in Alaska after World War II is solely the result of their efforts. During the late 1950s, through the 70s when most other long time Siberian mushers turned at least partly to the Alaskan Husky, Earl and Natalie stayed with their beloved Siberians, ensuring that we would have world class Siberian sled dogs today. For this loyalty to the breed, Siberian dog mushers now and in the future will always be indebted. This special issue is our way of saying thanks for all they have done.
EARL
Earl actually established his 'Alaskan' kennel name in Idaho in 1936. With the entrance of the U.S. into World War II in 1942, Earl managed to get a position in Alaska with the Civil Aeronautics Administration which was constructing airfields and navigation facilities around Alaska. Earl homesteaded just outside Anchorage and built up a small kennel of Alaskan Malamutes. (Today the homestead has been swallowed up by the city - the University Mall area just east of Anchorage's public library sits on the original homestead) By 1950 Earl was Director of Logistics for the Port of Anchorage and working downtown. He remembers that in the years after World War II, he often drove the dog team to work, Anchorage being much smaller than it is now!
NATALIE
Natalie Jubin was born in Lake Placid, NY in 1924 and by age 12 had her own team of sled dogs of mixed heritage. Lake Placid had a history of sled dog use dating back to World War I when the practice of hauling tourists by dog team originated. The first annual Lake Placid sled dog race was held in 1928 and many New England mushers attended, including Leonard Seppala. When World War II ended, Natalie worked for Short Seeley at Chinook Kennels, Wonalancet, NH. She had the opportunity to run in harness such dogs as Champion Wonalancet's Baldy of Alyeska, Champion Wonalancet's Disco of Alyeska and Waska. In the fall of 1945, Natalie decided that Alaska was the place she wanted to be. Short selected two Siberians from Chinook Kennel for Natalie to take with her and her other dogs. In early 1946 Natalie set out with her dogs and very little money. Fortunately, however, Earl Norris knew she was coming after seeing an article about Natalie and how she planned to emigrate to Alaska in a syndicated Sunday newspaper magazine titled 'This Week .' He had written to her before she left New Hampshire, advising her that he would be available to help her get settled in Alaska. So it came to pass that Natalie's wayward troop settled in with Earl's dogs at his homestead just outside Anchorage.
At this point in Alaska, 1946, no one was breeding Siberians, so Earl and Natalie immediately embarked on a breeding program. One of the dogs selected by Short Seeley, Terry, a half-brother to Aladdin, was not used due to an illness from which he never fully recovered. The other male, however, would be the foundation of what would become the greatest modern Siberian kennel in Alaska. Chinook's Aladdin of Alyeska, born May 9, 1944, was out of Czar of Alyeska and T-cheeakio of Alyeska. After placing third in the 1946 Fur Rondy, Earl won the 1947 race with Natalie's Malamute bitch, Suggen, in lead. In 1950, the Fur Rondy expanded to four heats of 25 miles each. In 1951, Earl's team - once again Aladdin leading a team of his own offspring - set a track record on the fourth heat of 1 hour, 39 minutes, 27 seconds, averaging 15.08 miles per hour. The record would stand until 1962 when the renowned George Attla bested it in a race which had been reduced to 3 heats of 25 miles each. It should also be pointed out that Earl set the record with a 9-dog team - Attla had 16. It appears that 'Short' had selected one heck of a dog for Natalie! Aladdin ran single lead for Earl in every race he entered between 1948 and 1953.
Also during the late 1940s to the early 1960s, Earl and Natalie were instrumental in the initial organization of several sled dog clubs in Alaska. In addition to Earl's role in the first Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, Earl and Natalie became charter members of the Alaska Dog Mushers' Association. (ADMA) in 1945, which holds the North American Championships each year in Fairbanks. In 1949, Earl was instrumental in the foundation of the Alaska Sled Dog Racing Association (ASDRA), which took responsibility for the Fur Rendezvous race. Natalie was the editor for the first Fur Rondy magazine as well.
The Norrises were also largely responsible for the 1949 founding of the Alaska Kennel Club, which brought the first dog shows to Alaska, and the formation of the Siberian Husky Club of Alaska. This club held the first independent Siberian Husky Club specialty show - ever - in 1956. The entry of 32 Siberians was the largest in an AKC show to that date.
Vixen of Anadyr was bred to Alyeska's Sugrut of Chinook and whelped the fastest dog Earl and Natalie have ever owned - Alaskan's Nicolai of Anadyr. Nicolai ran single lead and Earl says he was never able to buy a dog, of any background, who could run with him - so, Nicolai had to produce his own competition, and was bred to Alaskan's Bon-Bon of Anadyr to produce Alaskan's Astro of Anadyr, a promising young dog, in 1965. Tragically, Nicolai got loose and onto the highway where he was killed by a car.
Astro was a piebald and the main Siberian leader through the late 1960s and into the 70s. In 1970, in fact, Astro led Natalie's team to win at the Women's Open North American Championships in Fairbanks. On that same team was one of Astro's offspring, a 2 year old black and white male out of Alaskan's Sestra of Anadyr, II - Alaskan's Nicolai of Anadyr II. This young dog would go on to outshine Astro, Nicolai, and Bonzo as that greatest Siberian ever produced by Earl and Natalie, and arguable the greatest Siberian leader of modern sled dog racing.
Nicolai II lived a long life and was able to sire many good dogs over the years. This enabled the Norrises to shrink the size of their kennel as the Nic II gene pool produced a good percentage of outstanding dogs.
The Norrises have always bred heavily on their leaders as they naturally were the fastest and most aggressive running dogs. As a result, the percentage of Alaskan/Anadyr Siberians with lead ability is very high. This trait showed itself to be useful with the fundamental shift from sprint racing to longer distance racing, which began with the first Iditarod in 1973. The need to have several reliable lead dogs on a team made the Norris Siberians, Nicolai II offspring in particular, valuable dogs to have.
The Norrises are world renowned for their assistance to novice mushers who want to winter over in Alaska and learn the craft. This apprentice-like program became very popular with the growth of the Iditarod race. Quite a few mushers have run Anadyr Siberians in the Last Great Race, including Martin Buser (twice).
The first Iditarod was held in 1973 and a fundamental change in racing in Alaska was soon to take place. Harkening back to the All-Alaska Sweepstakes dogs, mushers desired to test their teams in longer races. Earl and Natalie's association with the Iditarod began in 1975, the 3rd running of the "Last Great Race." Chris Camping, a Canadian, ran a team of Alaskan/Anadyr Siberians. That experience has since led to a total of 11 teams completing the race with primarily Anadyr dogs. All the teams, except one (Earl's personal 1985 team) have been driven by mushers who spent the season(s) at Willow, training the dogs, racing in preliminary races, and finally tackling the Iditarod. In 1980 and 81, Martin Buser of Switzerland ran Alaskan/Anadyr teams, getting him started on one of the most notable dog mushing careers in Alaska. Martin has gone on to win the Iditarod in 1992 and 1994. As far as Earl and Natalie are concerned, their favorite Iditarod musher would have to be Kari Skogen of Norway, who completed the race in 1984 and 1986 with Alaskan/Anadyr teams. This would be of course, because Kari subsequently married Earl and Natalie's son, J.P.! Earl ran the Iditarod in 1985 himself. It's claim to fame was the worst weather one could imagine, but Earl finished 31st despite torn ligaments in his knee suffered early in the race which eventually slowed him down.
Both Earl and Natalie have been in great demand as a result of their immense knowledge of the breed. Natalie has been an AKC licensed judge of Siberians for some time now. She always appears on everyone's short list of breeder-judges. Natalie is one of the few judges with extensive racing qualifications, so her view of the show ring is one that almost all exhibitors are interested in. People are honored to show their Siberian to Natalie, and she draws good entries.
Earl and Natalie are two of the few who knew the pioneers. Fortunately, Earl had, for some time, studied the history of sled dog racing, especially in Alaska and had given seminars that combine history with sled dog training. Both he and Natalie have traveled all over the world to present this knowledge to interested fanciers. Earl amassed a large collection of sled dog memorabilia, books, photographs and equipment.
Credit is given to Bob and Pam Thomas of No-Kita Siberian Huskies
Dog-mushing legend Earl Norris was an Alaskan to the core
Posted: Friday, November 16, 2001
By CRAIG MEDRED
Anchorage Daily NewsANCHORAGE (AP) -- Wherever sled dogs showed up in the modern history of Alaska adventure and sport, there was Earl Norris.
When Barbara Washburn became the first woman to reach the top of Mount McKinley in 1947, Norris and his dogs were the vital support team, ferrying supplies up Muldrow Glacier.
When Anchorage in 1946 decided it needed a cornerstone for its annual winter carnival, Norris was there to help put the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous World Championship Sled Dog Race on the streets.
When a young Swiss named Martin Buser wanted to learn about mushing in 1979, Norris became his teacher. Norris taught Buser a gangline from a neckline, a brush bow from a snow hook.
What he did for Buser, who would go on to become a three-time champion in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, was what Norris had done for so many others.
Among them was Iditarod veteran Bob Chlupach of Willow, Norris' neighbor for more than a decade. For old times' sake, Chlupach guided a team of Norris' dogs up the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail to Nome this year.
It would prove to be the last time the grand old man of Alaska mushing, who twice raced in the Iditarod, got to see a team of his beloved Siberians finish the race.
As winter returned to Alaska this year and mushing began again, Norris died Oct. 31 at his Willow home next to the kennels of dogs to which he'd devoted his life. He was 81 and Alaskan to the core.
''Earl Norris is grizzled,'' former Daily News sport editor Lew Freedman wrote back in the 1990s. ''That's the only fair word. Nearly bald, a white stubble of beard. It is the look of the sourdough.''
Of course, Norris, like the late Joe Redington, father of the Iditarod, never worried much about looks. They were dog men, and sled dogs were their lives. They loved them.
Siberian huskies were the particular passion of Norris and his wife, Natalie.
''Earl made the statement, at one time,'' Chlupach said, ''that Siberians had always been real good to him, and he was going to stick it out with them.''
Long after the mixture of blood from pointers, retrievers and hounds had transformed the husky from a steady working dog into a fast-paced racing dog, Norris clung to purebred Siberians.
And the world of Siberians, an almost cultish collection of dog breeders and nostalgia-inspired mushers, clung to the Norrises. Almost any time anyone, anywhere in the world, talked Siberian huskies, the names of Earl and Natalie entered the discussion.
It could not have been otherwise.
The high honors of the breed were owned by the pair. Norris won the Fur Rendezvous World Championship with Siberians in 1947 and 1948. Natalie almost won it in 1949 when Earl had the flu.
Nearly 40 years before Roxy Wright Champaine set all of Alaska to talking about whether a woman could win that race (Wright Champaine succeeded for the first time in 1989), Natalie almost accomplished the feat sans fanfare.
Had she won, Chlupach said, it would have come as no surprise. The Norrises always were a team. In 1952, the couple put two teams in the Rondy.
Earl finished second, only about 30 seconds behind Gareth Wright, Roxy's father and one of the key pioneers in the modern-day breeding of sled dogs for speed. Natalie was fourth.
Now, she will mush on alone.
''They chose kennel life,'' Chlupach said, ''and they were successful at what they did, because they worked hard at it.''
Some might even have said that Earl picked a mate in the way of a good breeder. He went after one with the looks he liked and the temperament he needed. That was in 1946.
Norris was already in Alaska. He saw a newspaper magazine with a cover graced with the photo of a parka-clad young woman with three huskies. The story said the aspiring musher planned to move to Alaska from Lake Placid, N.Y. -- then the stronghold of Lower 48 dog driving.
Norris wrote the young woman a letter offering to help her get settled in the great, white silence. Through thick and thin, including Norris' heart attack and heart operation in the early '90s, they spent the next 55 years together.
The couple homesteaded in what is now South Anchorage, but moved north when the city became too big for them. They raised two sons, John P. and Theodore, and one daughter, Edgarita, and helped dozens of mushers mature from youth to adulthood.
How many?
''That's a hard one to answer,'' said Chlupach. ''There were so many. Earl and Natalie always had kennel help from Europe.''
Some of those Europeans, like Buser, stayed. Others went back to form the foundation for the European sled dog racing circuit.
''Earl had a great impact in Europe on racing,'' Chlupach said. And he had an even bigger impact on an Alaska now almost gone.
There was a time less than three decades ago when television programs arrived a day late on tape from Seattle. That was a time when Alaska had a unique culture, when men like Norris and George Attla were celebrities.
''When I got into sled dogs,'' Chlupach said, ''the headlines in the paper weren't Shaquille O'Neal dunks 75 times' or anything like that. They were all about Doc (Roland) Lombard, Attla and Norris.''
They were the legends of their time.
Posted: Friday, November 16, 2001
By CRAIG MEDRED
Anchorage Daily NewsANCHORAGE (AP) -- Wherever sled dogs showed up in the modern history of Alaska adventure and sport, there was Earl Norris.
When Barbara Washburn became the first woman to reach the top of Mount McKinley in 1947, Norris and his dogs were the vital support team, ferrying supplies up Muldrow Glacier.
When Anchorage in 1946 decided it needed a cornerstone for its annual winter carnival, Norris was there to help put the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous World Championship Sled Dog Race on the streets.
When a young Swiss named Martin Buser wanted to learn about mushing in 1979, Norris became his teacher. Norris taught Buser a gangline from a neckline, a brush bow from a snow hook.
What he did for Buser, who would go on to become a three-time champion in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, was what Norris had done for so many others.
Among them was Iditarod veteran Bob Chlupach of Willow, Norris' neighbor for more than a decade. For old times' sake, Chlupach guided a team of Norris' dogs up the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail to Nome this year.
It would prove to be the last time the grand old man of Alaska mushing, who twice raced in the Iditarod, got to see a team of his beloved Siberians finish the race.
As winter returned to Alaska this year and mushing began again, Norris died Oct. 31 at his Willow home next to the kennels of dogs to which he'd devoted his life. He was 81 and Alaskan to the core.
''Earl Norris is grizzled,'' former Daily News sport editor Lew Freedman wrote back in the 1990s. ''That's the only fair word. Nearly bald, a white stubble of beard. It is the look of the sourdough.''
Of course, Norris, like the late Joe Redington, father of the Iditarod, never worried much about looks. They were dog men, and sled dogs were their lives. They loved them.
Siberian huskies were the particular passion of Norris and his wife, Natalie.
''Earl made the statement, at one time,'' Chlupach said, ''that Siberians had always been real good to him, and he was going to stick it out with them.''
Long after the mixture of blood from pointers, retrievers and hounds had transformed the husky from a steady working dog into a fast-paced racing dog, Norris clung to purebred Siberians.
And the world of Siberians, an almost cultish collection of dog breeders and nostalgia-inspired mushers, clung to the Norrises. Almost any time anyone, anywhere in the world, talked Siberian huskies, the names of Earl and Natalie entered the discussion.
It could not have been otherwise.
The high honors of the breed were owned by the pair. Norris won the Fur Rendezvous World Championship with Siberians in 1947 and 1948. Natalie almost won it in 1949 when Earl had the flu.
Nearly 40 years before Roxy Wright Champaine set all of Alaska to talking about whether a woman could win that race (Wright Champaine succeeded for the first time in 1989), Natalie almost accomplished the feat sans fanfare.
Had she won, Chlupach said, it would have come as no surprise. The Norrises always were a team. In 1952, the couple put two teams in the Rondy.
Earl finished second, only about 30 seconds behind Gareth Wright, Roxy's father and one of the key pioneers in the modern-day breeding of sled dogs for speed. Natalie was fourth.
Now, she will mush on alone.
''They chose kennel life,'' Chlupach said, ''and they were successful at what they did, because they worked hard at it.''
Some might even have said that Earl picked a mate in the way of a good breeder. He went after one with the looks he liked and the temperament he needed. That was in 1946.
Norris was already in Alaska. He saw a newspaper magazine with a cover graced with the photo of a parka-clad young woman with three huskies. The story said the aspiring musher planned to move to Alaska from Lake Placid, N.Y. -- then the stronghold of Lower 48 dog driving.
Norris wrote the young woman a letter offering to help her get settled in the great, white silence. Through thick and thin, including Norris' heart attack and heart operation in the early '90s, they spent the next 55 years together.
The couple homesteaded in what is now South Anchorage, but moved north when the city became too big for them. They raised two sons, John P. and Theodore, and one daughter, Edgarita, and helped dozens of mushers mature from youth to adulthood.
How many?
''That's a hard one to answer,'' said Chlupach. ''There were so many. Earl and Natalie always had kennel help from Europe.''
Some of those Europeans, like Buser, stayed. Others went back to form the foundation for the European sled dog racing circuit.
''Earl had a great impact in Europe on racing,'' Chlupach said. And he had an even bigger impact on an Alaska now almost gone.
There was a time less than three decades ago when television programs arrived a day late on tape from Seattle. That was a time when Alaska had a unique culture, when men like Norris and George Attla were celebrities.
''When I got into sled dogs,'' Chlupach said, ''the headlines in the paper weren't Shaquille O'Neal dunks 75 times' or anything like that. They were all about Doc (Roland) Lombard, Attla and Norris.''
They were the legends of their time.
2000 Interview
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