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GEORGE ATTLA of Huslia, Alaska

The legendary open-class sprint dog racer has won more Fur Rendezvous World Championships (10 wins) than any other musher to date.  He won 8 North American World Championships and 9 ISDRA unlimited class metals. His book, Everything I know about Training and Racing Sled Dogs, is still considered the musher’s bible. His life story became the subject of a film, Spirit of the Wind and a book of the same title has been published. In 2000 he was awarded the Best Musher of the 20^th Century and voted No. 2 Alaskan Athlete of the Century. In 2007, he was inducted into the first Alaska Sports Hall of Fame. 2008 marked his 50th year of competitive sled dog racing. In April 2011, he won the Bergman Sam Memorial Koyukuk River Championship in Huslia. Attla turns 79 years old in August 2012.

George Attla will never hesitate to tell you that there were many amazing dogmen who helped him over his long sled dog racing career. The stories that go along with these Native people are just as remarkable: from one old-timer who built a racing sled and delivered it on the day before George’s first Fur Rondy, to a trapper in a remote part of Alaska who gave George his two best dogs still in harness on the trap line, to many others who graciously gave George advice on dog care and training whenever he asked.

When you understand the huge support network George had throughout his life, you begin to understand part of the reason why he was so driven to be the best in the world. George also attributes his way with dogs as a special gift. He explains it as a pride of the people, and it is this pride in his working with dogs and his sharing of knowledge that he hopes to pass on to others.

There are many old-timer dogmen who George wants to acknowledge. There is one dogwomenlisted who is his paternal grandmother. She was a well-respected dog medicine woman of the Koyukuk River area, and she lived with George and his immediate family when he was a little boy. George said he has probably left someone off this list by mistake, but will add names when he remembers them. 

The names are listed in alphabetical order: Anna Attla, Alfred Attla, George Attla Sr., Steven Attla Sr., Henry Beatus, Cue Bifelt, Winkler Bifelt, David David Lester Erhart, George Frank, Jimmy Huntington, Sidney Huntington, Andy Kokrine, Henry Kokrine, Edmund Lord, Jimmy Malemute, Beatus Moses Sr., Pat Moore, Raymond Paul, Bergman Sam, Lester Sam, Lucian Sam, Henry Smoke, Horace Smoke, Bobby Vent, Bergman Sam, Lucin Sam, Charlie Stevens, Bobby Vent, Ed Vent, Freddy Vent, Warner Vent, Bill Williams, and Gareth Wright.

    1959.02.00- LIFE IN ALASKA (PDF 24 MB)

About Girl Scouts’ Display of Alaska Native Mushers

In honor of the 50^th anniversary of the Open North American World Championship Sled Dog Race, in the spring of 1996 Girl Scout Cadette Troop #2 and Girl Scout Troop #193 of Fairbanks made a 6-panel display showcasing poster sheets about well-known Alaska Native mushers. Eight girl scouts worked together to find a good photo and information about each sprint sled dog racer. The original display can be seen at the Dog Mushing Museum, which is part of the Fairbanks Community Museum located on Cushman Street in downtown Fairbanks. In addition to sharing important historic information about Alaska Native mushers, the display also serves as a thank you to ALASCOM for their sponsorship of the world-class champion sprint race.

movie…

Spirit of the Wind (book)

by Lew Freedman

The Story of George Attla, Legendary Sled Dog Sprint Champion: In 1958, no one in the Fur Rendezvous World Championship Sled Dog Race knew the Athabascan Indian from Huslia who limped to the starting line in Anchorage. But when he finished with the winning time, George Attla opened a new chapter in the history of sprint sled dog racing. For decades, Attla, the “Huslia Hustler,” reigned as Alaska’s most winning sprint champion, having overcome crippling TB as a child.

Special note to readers: This is a new edition, with a new title, new introduction and new epilogue, of a work first published by Stackpole Books in1993 with the title, George Attla: The Legend of the Sled-dog Trail. As of 2012, Spirit of the Wind in print. Published by Epicenter Press, this book is a print-on-demand title, so there are occasional stocking gaps, but it is reprinted before the mushing and summer seasons. To purchase, go to http://www.epicenterpress.com.

Windows to the Land, An Alaska Native Story

by Judy Ferguson

Vol. Two: Iditarod and Alaska River Trails, ISBN: 9780971604452 features Iditarod, Iron Dog, Yukon 800, and World Eskimo-Indian Olympics champions including George Attla and Reggie Joule, as well as Alaska Native subsistence advocate Katie John. With maps, timelines, and photos on every page, Windows presents the face of Alaska dog racing and Iñupiaq games of strength where it began: in the village. This is classic Alaska, “that kind you won’t see no more,” said Oscar Albert of Northway.

For more information, go to https://judysoutpost.com/

ISBN: 9780971604483, available in 2013, published by Voice of Alaska Press. 

2013- Windows to the land, Chapter about Attla (PDF 427 KB)

Everything I Know about Training and Racing Sled Dogs

by George Attla, edited by Bella Levorson

In the first comprehensive book ever written about sled dog racing, George Attla, one of the world’s top-ranking mushers, passes on all the secrets he has learned in a lifetime devoted to this highly competitive sport. George tells everything he knows, from the breeding, feeding, and training of sled dogs, to the equipment needed and the strategy of winning a race. And he tells it all in an easy, informal style, sprinkled with anecdotes and homespun philosophy. George’s collaborator Bella Levorsen trained and raced a team herself.

Special note to readers: The first edition was published in 1972 by Publishing Service. The second edition, published in 1974 by Arner Publications, contains a bonus chapter entitled “Beyond Knik – The Iditarod Trail!” Both editions are out of print; however, copies have been sold by Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Know-About-Training-Racing/dp/0914124021.

• Author: George Attla
• Publisher: Arner Pubns; 2nd edition (June 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0914124021
• ISBN-13: 978-0914124023

From a speech by Ginger Attla at the celebration of George Attla’s  50 Years of Competitive Racing. The event was held in Huslia in April 2008.

In 1958 at the age of 24, George began his career in dog racing by winning the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous. Everybody knows that George’s racing team was made up of the best dogs of the Koyukuk River area. In an interview with George, he told me that his winning team had dogs from Steven Attla, Cue Bifelt, Lucien Sam, George Frank, and Sidney Huntington, among others. George said he learned from other incredible dogmen like his father George Attla Sr., Bergman Sam, Bobby Vent, Winkler Bifelt, Alfred Attla, and others. He said that all the original Koyukuk River dog racers were his “professors.”

He also told me that he felt it was an incredible privilege to grow up in such great country with an amazing breed of work dogs that had been developed over a long period of time. He said it was everything about the Koyukuk River area including all of its history that inspired him to become the best dog racer he could be.

The back wall of the gym shows what Alaska reported to the world about dog racing. From left to right, the articles cover 50 years of George’s racing. Please take time to look at the articles. All the poster boards will stay in the school for the students in Huslia. Of course, the best stories you can hear directly from George and the many other mushers from the Koyukuk River area. I’ll read you some letters about George from dog mushers from all over Alaska:

•Roxi Woods:
“I can remember listening to dog races on the radio when I was living in Circle from 1960 to 1964. I would hear my Dad, Gareth Wright competing with George and Doc Lombard. Little did I know I would someday be racing all of them. When George came in for his first race, he had to beat my Dad who was the reigning champion. Then in 1989 when I won my first Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, it was none other than George Attla who came in second. George is a legendary musher; he knows dogs, was always a tough competitor, and his racing career has spanned nearly a half a century! I wish I could be there to join all my friends in honoring George and the Koyukuk River Championship.”

•Marvin Kokrine:
“He’s been an inspiration to me. He was a good friend of my dad’s. He is a good friend of mine. I got inspired by being around him. He’s always trying to find a better and faster way of racing. Everything he did was geared to win dog races. No matter what was happening, nothing slowed him down. That’s what inspired me. He is always up and would come away with a good attitude. He doesn’t let anything slow him down. One year his leader died 1-2 weeks before North American Championship, and he just went about his business trying to put in another leader. “

•Steven Bergman:
“He’s the greatest. Did pretty good over the years and he sure helped the Native mushers.”

•Egil Ellis:
“He is the true hero in the sport and it’s an honor to be up there with him.”

•Hugh Bifelt:
“He is the ‘King”

TOK RACE OF CHAMPIONS

The last race of the Alaska dog mushing season, the Tok Race of Champions, held since 1954, is one of the oldest sled dog races in the state. Located in the Tanana Valley between the Tanana River and the Alaska Range and known also as one of the centers of dog breeding, training, and mushing in Alaska, Tok claims to be the Dog Capital of the state. Mushers from Alaska, Canada, and the Lower 48 participate in six-dog, eight-dog, and open-class events for cash prizes.

Tok Race of Champions Past Winners: 1954- 2011