Spirit of the Wind: The Story of Alaska's George Attla, Legendary Sled Dog Sprint Champ Paperback - 2001

First line

The stranger walked with a stiff leg.

From the rear cover

Meet George Attla and his dogs. Their uncommon strength, agility, speed, and endurance were the stuff of champions. This is the stirring biography of George Attla, the little-known Athabascan Indian from the tiny Koyukuk River village of Huslia, who limped to the starting line in the 1958 Fur Rendezvous World Championship sled dog race in Anchorage. Attla's record setting victory shocked the mushing establishment and ushered in a new era of sled dog racing. Over the next four decades, Attla and his village dogs captured more sprint championships than any other musher as he defended his titles repeatedly against better-financed mushers from Alaska and the Lower 48. Becoming a mushing legend wasn't easy. Years of Attla's boyhood were spent in hospital beds far from home. Finally returning to Huslia, his knee permanently fused as a result of crippling bone tuberculosis, Attla turned to dog mushing to escape alienation and anger. SPIRIT OF THE WIND tells of Attla's rivalry with mushing greats such as Alaskan Gareth Wright and "Doc" Lombard from New England; of his canny race strategy; of his remarkable success raising the world's fastest dogs; and of his many personal triumphs and tribulations. it is an inspirational story you will not soon forget.