Race cachet carried by a dogsled team in the Seguin Mail Run from Humphrey to Rosseau, Ontario, Canada. Jona Van Zyle, the donor of this cachet participated with her dog team in this race for 14 years before moving to Alaska. This cachet pays homage to the early history of the original purpose of the sled dog which was to provide mail and supplies for early settlers and is carried by each musher during the race. The Seguin Mail Run began in 1985 and according to their website, “’sledvelopes’ with letters prepared especially for this event, are gathered, loaded onto sleds and hauled by several dog teams to Rosseau, Ontario, 17 km through the bush on groomed trails.”
Jon and Jona Van Zyle are both artists who live outside of Anchorage and have raised sled dogs for many years. Jon has been a supporter of the Iditarod since it beginnings and ran the race in 1976. Jon produced the first official poster for the Iditarod in 1977 which was such a huge success he was voted official artist of the Iditarod in 1979, a position he holds to this day. Jona also contributes her artistic talents to the race by designing logos for the Junior Iditarod and race cachets for the Iditarod and personal cachets for various mushers.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.