Recently, I had the opportunity to watch the based-on-a-true-story film, “Togo: The Untold True Story,” on Disney+, which tells the true story of what happened during the 1925 diphtheria epidemic, called the Great Race of Mercy, that struck Nome, Alaska. If the story sounds familiar to you, it’s possible that it is because of another dog by the name of Balto. For years, Balto took all the credit for the sled dogs’ heroic actions as he and his team were the ones to deliver the serum during the last stretch, but the truth was that he was actually the third dog in line who should’ve received praise. First, came Togo, who led his team over 261 miles — most of the relay— followed by Fox and Balto, who ran 55 miles on the same team. While Fox had been the lead dog beside Balto, the newspapers of the time only included Balto’s name as they felt Fox would be too confusing a name for headlines.
Besides being a sap for dog movies, especially those based on true stories, this story actually left me questioning a lot of historical events. It wasn’t until a few years ago that we realized that Christopher Columbus did not, in fact, discover America so what else have we been taught differently and wrongly about? As the younger generations, it is our job to ask the right questions and change the wrong answers. Oftentimes, winners have been the ones to write our history books, but what about all the minorities? What about their stories and voices? There are many sides to one story. Given how much we’ve advanced in our understanding of perspectives, we should take it upon ourselves to try and uncover the real stories that shaped us. To create a better world, we must be willing to look into the past and fix the mistakes that are indeed fixable. It all starts with the truth.
