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Thirty-five years ago ...

Thursday Feb. 9, 1989

Centennial 500 Mushers headed this way

Bruce Graham, Seeley Lake, will be one of several mushers competing in the Governor's Cup 500 sled dog race starting Saturday in Helena to Holland Lake Lodge and back.

Renamed the Montana Centennial Sled Dog Race in recognition of the State's Centennial, mushers will be urging their dogs in the longest race in the lower 48 states.

An endurance race, mushers will follow trails that exceed 7,000 feet in elevation at several points.

In this area checkpoints are at Lincoln, White Tail Ranch, Seeley Lake and Holland Lake Lodge, the half-way, turn-around point.

Read this and more at:

https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/1989-02-09.pdf

Twenty years ago ...

Thursday Feb. 12, 2004

Race to the Sky starts Feb. 13 in Helena

The 2004 Race to the Sky starts Feb. 13th from 11:00 to 2:00 with the vet check at the fairgrounds in Helena. The popular event is attended by the public, many school groups and travelers from all over the country.

Mushers from all over the country will be racing the longest race in the lower 48 states, the Race to the Sky. They will experience what Montana has to offer for beautiful mountains, steep terrain, good snow conditions and the challenges of racing 350 miles cross country.

Organizers predict the first musher will cross the finish line at Hi-Country Beef Jerky in Lincoln just after midnight on Wednesday morning.

Competitors are traveling from: Soda Springs, Idaho, Christmas Valley, Oregon, Indianola, Washington, Logan, Utah, Black Duck, Minnesota, Etna, California, Didsbury, Alberta, Canada, Yoder, Colorado, Aspen, Colorado, Bend, Oregon, DeForest, Wisconsin, Riverside, Washington, and from Montana alone: Deer Lodge, Marion, Helena, Lincoln, and Helmville.

The current number of entries is 23 with a possibility of another few before the deadline on Feb. 11th. Expect to see musher trucks pulling into Helena on Wednesday and Thursday prior to the race.

Read this and more at:

https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/2004-02-12.pdf

Feb. 16, 1989

Man's best friend needs a helping hand ... and gets just that from Seeley Lake's musher Ron Ogden whose effort in this year's Governor's Cup 500 ended right here in a quiet area near the Seeley Lake Checkpoint. Ogden's dog became sick on the trail with a "virus" and Ogden sadly scratched his team Tuesday afternoon after covering over 200 miles from the starting point in Helena since Saturday.