-Shlyer Umphenour, KUAC
As Iditarod mushers charge for Nome, today’s Alaska Women’s History note reflects on late, great Iditarod champion, Susan Butcher
Susan Butcher was born December 26th 1954 and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She began mushing during college at Colorado State University, racing huskies at a local kennel.
In 1975, Butcher moved north to Alaska! Within three years, Butcher emerged as a contender in “the last great race…” the Iditarod! Embodying grit, determination and the skills needed to drive dogs.
Over the course of her career, Susan Butcher ran seventeen Iditarods, winning four, including three back to back victories, in 1986, 1987, 1988. She placed in the top five 12 times overall.
She paid her dues. That first win came on Butcher’s 9th try in 1986, becoming the second woman to do so. The year before, she’d been leading the race when several dogs were killed in a
moose attack.
Butcher last competed in the 1994 Iditarod, then devoted herself to raising her family with husband David Monson.
In December 2005, the living legend was diagnosed with acute leukemia. Despite chemotherapy and other treatments, less than a year later, Susan Butcher lost her final race, dying at the age of 51.
Butcher’s legacy continues at Trailbreaker Kennel in Fairbanks, one of the region's most successful tourism ventures, managed by her daughter Tekla Monson.