had a wonderful time and would be back the following year. Next morning, the four stranded teams at the fish hatchery raced down the Warm River grade, into the valley, and ran the final few miles into Ashton. Tud Kent, one of the four original organizers, racing for Harriman’s Railroad Ranch, was the first winner of the American Dog Derby, winning by over 20 minutes. He did this while breaking trail and would go on to win five more Dog Derbies for a total of six. This was more wins than any other musher. The race was promoted and held again the following year but in a figure-eight course in the valley around Ashton where 40 inch snowfalls are less common. By the early 1920s, the American Dog Derby attracted crowds estimated at 10 to 15 thousand and had officially displaced the All-Alaska Sweepstakes as the American Championship race. In fact, the All-Alaska Sweepstakes held its last race in 1919 making the American Dog Derby the oldest surviving American dog sled race. The American Dog Derby became so internationally popular, it would be considered the World Championship in dog sled racing. The prize money growing to $1000 in the 1920s would be equivalent to $130,000 today. With the wild success, the glamour, and the international press coverage of the American Dog Derby, dog sledding was popularized and dozens of other dog sled races soon sprang up across America, Canada, and in Europe making dog sled racing what it is today. See also Carting Dogsled racing Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Klondike 500 List of sled dog races Mushing Pro Sprint Tour Sled dog Yukon Quest References External links Dog sledding races Recurring sporting events established in 1917 Tourist attractions in Fremont County, Idaho 1917 establishments in the United States