Dating to the late 1930s or early 1940s and released by Sero-Crest and Pictoreels, this short, silent film “Chinook’s Children” was produced by Milton J. Salzburg and Harold Baumstone. The film shows off special Chinook sled dogs which were bred by Arthur Treadwell Walden. Walden was an explorer and author of some note, who also owned an inn in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Walden’s Chinook breed were descendants of Polaris, Admiral Peary’s Greenland husky lead dog, and a mastiff-type farm dog which produced a litter in 1917. The breed was named for a sled dog which Walden had employed in the Yukon, while working in the Klondike gold fields.

Walden founded the New England Sled Dog Club in 1924, and in 1927 headed the “dog department” for Admiral Richard Byrd’s Antarctic Expedition. Thirteen of Walden’s dogs, including the lead dog named “Chinook” made the journey south. During the expedition, Walden and his dogs moved thousands of pounds of supplies from the ship, over the 16 mile trail to base camp. Walden was eventually awarded the Congressional Medal for his work, as the dogs proved vitally important to Byrd’s success. Chinook the dog however did not survive the journey, and reports of the celebrity dog’s death were received with dismay worldwide. At Walden’s request, Route 113A from Tamworth to Wonalancet, New Hampshire, now bears the name “Chinook Trail”.

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com