Dick Wilmarth is a miner

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 and trapper

Trapping (Animal)

Animal trapping, or simply trapping, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, wildlife management, hunting, and pest control...

 from Red Devil, Alaska

Red Devil, Alaska

Red Devil is a census-designated place in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 48 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Red Devil is located at ....

 who won the inaugural Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1973 with lead dog

Dog

The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

 Hotfoot.

In a 2001 interview with the Anchorage Daily News

Anchorage Daily News

The Anchorage Daily News is a daily newspaper based in Anchorage, Alaska, in the United States. It is often referred to colloquially as either "the Daily News" or "the ADN"...

, Wilmarth said he saw the 1973 Iditarod as not really a sled dog race

Dogsled racing

Sled dog racing is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, and some European countries. It involves the timed competition of teams of sleddogs that pull a sled with the dog driver or musher standing on the runners...

 but more of a time to enjoy the Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 wilderness

Wilderness

Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...

 with friends. He assembled a 12-dog team just a few months before the race, obtaining dogs from Native

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 villages on the Kuskokwim River

Kuskokwim River

The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth largest river in the United States by average discharge volume at its mouth and seventeenth largest by basin drainage area.The river provides the principal drainage for an area of the...

.

Thirty-five dog teams started the 1973 race and twenty-two finished. Competing in what would be his only Iditarod, Wilmarth won in a time of in 20 days, 49 minutes, 41 seconds, claiming the first-place prize money of $12,000. Almost two weeks behind him was John Schultz who became the recipient of the first ever "Red Lantern" award given to the last musher

Mushing

Mushing is a general term for a sport or transport method powered by dogs, and includes carting, pulka, scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled on snow or a rig on dry land...

to cross the finish line.