Admiral Byrd's dog "Igloo"...

When one commences to envision  the canine companion accompanying Admiral Byrd on his polar adventures (if one envisions at all...), one conjures a sled dog...right? At least, I do...in my Robert Service, Conradian mind-play. Byrd & an enormous Malamute trek side-by-side atop violent slabs of jutting ice floes. Assuredly, Byrd enjoyed the crowds of such dogs: Malamutes, Huskies, Chinooks & such (see my entry on Chinooks  tomorrow)...but, his true sidekick was a JRT-type of beastie. This makes sense, as he was an earth-man...& a determined earth dog would be the only dog likely successful in entering the inner sanctum of Byrd's id. Hence came "Igloo".

A stray on the frigid streets of Washington, DC, the darling terrier was discovered in 1926 by Maris Boggs, a woman of some note as co-founder of a nonprofit (Bureau of Commercial Economics) which created & distributed industrial films at a time when the United States was burgeoning with opportunity. Having attended both Bryn Mawr & Wharton, she certainly was apt to note a good dawg when she encountered one...so, she scooped him up.

Boggs could not keep him & seeing a newspaper article announcing Byrd's forthcoming trek to the North Pole, she thought : "Aha". Somehow, Maris convinced Byrd to take the terrier... & the yet-to-be-named JRT won a place in Byrd's heart, despite Byrd stating that he had no room for a terrier...(well.. duh...)......

Named "Igloo" by the ship's crew...the lucky dawg had his own custom attire to ward off the stunning sub-zero temps while he ventured to the Arctic, Antarctic & as Byrd's companion for meeting presidents, celebrities & common-folk alike...he thus became a much-loved dog celebrity. Tragically, in April of 1931, while Byrd was on a speaking engagement in IL without his sidekick. Igloo, back home in Boston, ingested what was thought to be rat poison. Byrd was rushing back to MA from IL but it was too late...Igloo passed.
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