Wonderful post- love the history! My close friend Greg Heister films the Iditarod for NBC Sports every year. I think it is finishing any time? It really is awesome!
Sorry to revive this thread. Just had to answer the question. The Iditarod was finished early Tuesday. Researching the Iditarod led to this article. Why no one wrote anything like this before, is beyond me. I suppose it's because we're the dumbest people on earth.
Essentially, our mascot is the animal used by master mushers responding to a historic medical emergency. Obviously, this story was popular. The Washington Huskies were named in 1923. And they don't have any statue that looks like Balto's statue in NYC. It's also ironic to see we're the "Yukon Huskies". The spirit of that story lives on.