He defied death. He raced against time. He conquered any challenge in his path. Nothing was going to stop him from completing his missions. Meet Percy DeWolfe—the Yukon’s most famous mail carrier. Originally from Nova Scotia, this young man came to the Yukon in 1898 in search of gold. However, DeWolfe was a bit late making it to the “gold rush.” When he arrived there was very little land left to claim. DeWolfe ended up finding work in the fishing industry in the summer and worked in the mines during the winter. In 1910, DeWolfe was awarded a contract to deliver mail from Dawson City all the way up to Eagle Ridge, Alaska.
Overcoming all sorts of nature and harsh obstacles (and even escaping death once when his horses fell through the ice and drowned) DeWolfe was determined to get Yukoners and Alaskans their mail. He even had a reputation for making the mail delivery a priority before his own safety. His achievements became so well-known that in 1935 he received a silver medal from King George in recognition for his public service. DeWolfe continued to deliver mail until 1949.
What better way to honour the “Iron Man of the North” than to host a memorial dog sled race every year with his name on it. The Percy Memorial Race is an annual event. It first took place in 1977 and has been growing strong ever since. The race starts in Dawson City and goes all the way up the Yukon River and across to Eagle Ridge in Alaska, then makes its way back down the river to Dawson City. This is the same mail route that DeWolfe himself took. The race always starts at 10 a.m. and, as a tribute to DeWolfe, the first race spot is reserved in his memory. Each musher starts two minutes apart, with the first musher beginning at 10:02 a.m.
This year’s race will have a slight change to the route for reasons related to COVID-19. Brent McDonald is one of the race board members and also participated in the race in 1997. “We chatted with the officials in Alaska and decided that with the increase in the Omicron variant, it would be safer and less complicated to shorten the race and not cross over into the U.S.”
Just because the distance has been shortened does not not mean this race will be any less challenging. Nature is unpredictable, even more so up north. However, safety is a priority and steps are taken to make sure no one suffers any accidents. “We usually send a team out 10 days before to go over the race trail. And then a week before the start we send out a team on skidoos to start setting up markers. The day before the race we send the skidoo team back to double-check the weather conditions,” says McDonald.
Applications for the race closed Feb. 16, 2022. Two smaller races will also take place this year including the 100 mile Percy Jr. and the 100 mile Percy Skijor. The Percy Memorial Race goes Thursday, March 3, 2022. For more information visit, www.thepercy.com.
