American Dog Derby

The American Dog Derby is a dogsled race held in Ashton, Idaho, on the third weekend of February. It is the second oldest dogsled race in the United States, the first known sled dog race in the lower 48 was in Truckee, California during the winter of 1914-1915. The first American Dog Derby was held in 1917. It was tremendously popular in the 1920s through the 1950s. Interest waned in the 1960s and the race was discontinued for several years. It was revived in 1993 and continues to grow in popularity.

The dog sledding tradition in Ashton owes its existence to Union Pacific Railroad. Ashton was founded and constructed with the coming of railroad in 1906. The construction of the Yellowstone Branch continued from Ashton into the high country of Island Park and completed at West Yellowstone in 1908. A few years later, the Teton Valley Branch, was constructed from Ashton into the Lamont and Teton Valley areas and completed to Victor in 1912. Due to the deep snows, however, these two railroads were closed down in winter and not plowed until spring. This made Ashton the wintertime rail terminus for the entire region. In winter, mail, people, and supplies could only be transported to developments in these high country areas via dog sled. By 1917, mushing, in Ashton, was a serious business with dozens carving out a living training and maintaining dog sled teams that transported mail, people, and supplies to the high country in winter.

The idea for the first dog sled race has a traditional history that a popular barber in Ashton, named Jay Ball, dreamed it up after reading about the All-Alaska Sweepstakes in Nome, Alaska and the new Hudson Bay Dog Derby in Las Pas, Manitoba, Canada that began the year before in 1916. This is a nice story and it may well be true but it should be pointed out that two of the four founders of the American Dog Derby were direct employees of Union Pacific Railroad and that Union Pacific spent tens of thousands of dollars promoting the American Dog Derby over the following decades and made it a wildly popular international event and made several mushers international celebrities. A popular female musher named Lydia Hutchinson even starred in a movie.

The rules for the American Dog Derby would be based on those of the Hudson Bay Dog Derby, the course would be the unplowed Yellowstone Branch railroad from West Yellowstone to Ashton, and the date would be Sunday, March 4, 1917. Promoters must have been pleased when 16 teams registered in Ashton between February 25 and March 1 for the first big race. All were local. There were two teams from Harriman’s Railroad Ranch, one team from the Utida Gun Club, one from the Trude Ranch, several from West Yellowstone, one team from Henry’s Lake, one team from Kilgore, one team from Spencer, two from Marysville, one team from the Mesa Hunting Lodge, and several teams from Ashton. It looked to be a grand affair.

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