Esther Birdsall Darling

Esther Birdsall Darling was an American author and poet; she also opened and ran a sled dog kennel in Alaska.

After her marriage in 1907 she moved to Nome, Alaska, where her husband ran a hardware and expedition outfitting business.

[1] Darling and Scotty Allan established a sled dog kennel in Nome and organized the first long distance dogsled race.

Descendants of Baldy, and other dogs from the Darling-Allen Kennel, were purchased by the French military in World War I and transported to Europe where they worked pulling vehicles and carrying messages and cargo.

[2][1] Her books include Baldy of Nome, about a champion sled dog, and a series of followups.