[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 17511-17512]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     IN HONOR OF JOE REDINGTON, SR.

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, in the winter of 1973, when I 
was a commercial banker in Fairbanks, AK, pioneer Joe Redington, Sr., 
came into our offices with an interesting proposition. He was seeking a 
bank loan to start a sled dog race to commemorate the infamous 
diphtheria serum run that left Nenana in 1925 to deliver 20 pounds of 
serum to Nome to stop a deadly outbreak of the disease.
  Joe worked as a commercial fishermen and miner and had no collateral 
to speak of--and no real chance of getting the $50,000 loan. He 
couldn't accurately predict the costs of the race or forecast the 
sponsor interest, and he couldn't even guarantee that any mushers would 
reach the finish line in Nome.
  But Joe Redington had a dream. More importantly, Redington was a man 
you knew would accomplish anything he set his mind to. His infectious 
enthusiasm and ``can-do'' attitude prompted me to take a chance and 
make a loan to help fund the world's longest sled dog race--the 
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
  Joe Redington got the loan and paid it back. I do regret. however, 
having to come to the Senate floor today to note the passing of Joe 
Redington, Sr., a true giant of Alaska, who died June 24 at age 82 at 
his home in Knik, Alaska.
  Redington's life is really a microcosm of Alaska's modern history. 
Born February 1, 1917, in rural Oklahoma, his family wandered the 
country looking for farm work until they settled in Bucks County, 
Pennsylvania in the late 1920s. In 1948 after a stint in World War II, 
Redington and wife, Vi, drove two Jeeps to Alaska and never looked 
back.
  During territorial days and the early years of statehood, Joe 
Redington helped turn dog mushing--then a transportation necessity in 
central and rural Alaska--into the state's official sport. Redington 
and his wife, Vi, were dedicated breeders for nearly four decades. 
Offspring of their dogs have filled many kennels in Alaska and the 
Lower 48 with racing pups.
  In 1967 he and the late Dorothy Page teamed to promote a Centennial 
Iditarod Sled Dog Race in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Alaska's 
purchase from Russia. The 56-mile race around the Big Lake-Wasilla area 
was a great success. The Centennial's success spurred the idea for the 
Iditarod.
  But Redington's Iditarod dream was realized when 34 mushers left 
Anchorage on March 3, 1973 for the inaugural Iditarod Trail Sled Dog 
Race. The 1,100-mile race took the adventurous mushers across some of 
the roughest terrain in Alaska. Twenty-two mushers

[[Page 17512]]

crossed the finish line in Nome on April 3 with the top finishers 
sharing the $50,000 purse. In 1976, Redington's determination and 
dedication to the Iditarod race led Congress to designate the Iditarod 
Trail as a National Historic Trail. The race has been run every March 
since 1973.
  Joe Redington, Sr., at age 57, ran his first Iditarod in 1974 and ran 
in every race until 1992. At age 80, Redington ran in his 19th and 
final Iditarod in 1997 where he finish a very respectable 36th. His 
finish time was 13 days, 4 hours and 18 minutes--nearly 17 days faster 
than the winners time of the first Iditarod in 1973. While Redington 
never won the Iditarod, he did finished in fifth palace, four times--in 
1975, 1977, 1978 and 1988. And he was among the top 10 finishers, seven 
times.
  Joe was remarkable off the race course, as well. At age 62 he scaled 
Alaska's Mount McKinley, keeping up with then 20-year-old musher, and 
four-time Iditarod champion, Susan Butcher. Redington made it to the 
peak of the 20,230 foot peak, a monumental task for a person of any 
age.
  After hearing of Redington passing, fellow musher DeeDee Jonrowe was 
quoted in the Fairbanks News Miner as saying, ``Joe never thought 
(anything) wasn't possible. If you had a dream, he was about making it 
happen for you. He wasn't about telling you the pitfalls.''
  Joe Redington, Sr. was a good, kind and gentle soul. He was soft of 
voice, but had a big heart--he was a fitting recipient of the Alaskan 
of the Year Award in 1995. Joe came down with esophagus cancer in 1997, 
but until a month ago he was still planning to complete in the year 
2000 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
  While Joe Redington, Sr, won't be racing in the 2000 Iditarod, his 
spirit surely will light the way to Nome for mushers each March. More 
importantly, his legacy of hard work and never giving up will be with 
all Alsakans as we continue our efforts to improve the land that we 
love . . . the land of The Last Fontier.

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