Samuel Balto

Samuel Johannesen Balto (1862-1922) was a Norwegian explorer and adventurer. A Sami from the town of Karasjok, he was recruited by Fridtjof Nansen for an expedition to Greenland in 1888 and participated in the first recorded crossing of the interior of the island together with Nansen and four other expedition members of the SS Viking.

In 1898, Balto later emigrated to the United States, and eventually became a gold miner at the Klondike Gold Rush.

In 1900 he led with a large group of Samis hired as reindeer herdsmen during the Manitoba Expedition in Alaska of 1904.

The legendary sled dog Balto, who became famous during the 1925 serum run to Nome (which transported diphtheria medication across the U.S. territory of Alaska to combat an epidemic) was named after Samuel Balto.

External links

* [http://english.karasjok.kommune.no/document.aspx?uid=65&title=Samuel+J.+Balto Short article on the official Karasjok site]
* [http://home.earthlink.net/~arran2/archive/reindeer_alaska_sami.htm Image of Samuel Balto]
* [http://nansen-tolkien.co.uk/images/scan0001.jpgImage of Samuel Balto]
* [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/132689569 Image of Samuel Balto]