The Winter Issue
45
Alaskan Dog Team Wows Tulare County Words and Photos Provided by Terry Ommen
R
arely has Tulare County seen a real live Alaskan dog sled team,
workers were isolated for months and unable to communicate with
complete with musher. But a century ago, a fully professional,
the outside world, including their loved ones. Some necessary
working seven-dogsled team led by their famous musher Jeremiah
provisions would also be cut off, and no newspapers, mail, or any
“Jerry” Dwyer traveled through town. So how did this well-known
other comforts would get to the workers.
celebrity dog master and his special canines get to Tulare County? Let’s start at the beginning.
Edison knew their employees needed contact and supplies, but the difficult terrain, packed deep with snow, made normal
In the late 1880s, a group of entrepreneurs, water experts, and
transportation options impossible. So the company looked north
dreamers gazed up into the peaks of the Sierra above Fresno and
to Alaska for their answer: the dogsled.
began imagining how San Joaquin River water could be harnessed to generate electricity. That vision became reality and is known as the Big Creek Project. Today, the water that drops over 6,000 feet in elevation and rushes through a series of tunnels and dams and is called the “hardest working water in the world.”
They sent a hiring team north, where they found an old Klondike (Canadian frontiersman) named Jeremiah “Jerry” Dwyer and his dogsled team. He was a quiet man who came with high recommendations. Soon Edison employees learned why he was known as “silent Jerry Dwyer.” Even though he had little to say
This world-class hydroelectric project, owned and operated by
about himself, he always had plenty to say about the members
Southern California Edison, is an impressive engineering marvel as
of his dog team. His animals meant the world to him, especially
it cuts through solid granite and traverses steep mountain terrain.
his lead dog, Babe, a three-quarter wolf mix. And he was proud
In 1920, Edison experienced construction delays, so they added winter camps between Florence and Huntington lakes in order to keep crews working year-round. But these high-altitude, deep snow locations posed a big problem. No road access in the winter meant
of his other dogs, too, which included Patsy, a cross between a malamute and Gordon setter; Dooley, a cross between a malamute and a shepherd; Riley, half-wolf and half-St. Bernard; and Barney, Whiskey and Trim, all crossed between staghound, wolf and Airedale.
The building on the far right, located on the southwest corner of Church and Center streets, belonged to the S. Sweet Co. at the time of the dogsled exhibition. The building was believed to be demolished in the 1960s to make way for a parking lot. Circa 1965.
