<P> Dorothy G. Page (January 23, 1921--November 16, 1989) was best known as "Mother of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race", the 1,049 - mile (about 1,600 km) dog sled race across the U.S. state of Alaska . </P> <P> Page moved from New Mexico to Alaska in 1960 . She then became the president of the Wasilla - Knik Centennial Committee in 1966, and was in charge of coming up with an event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the purchase of Alaska from Russia . In her own words, the self - described "history buff" wanted "a spectacular dog race to wake Alaskans up to what mushers and their dogs had done for Alaska ." </P>

Who was known as the mother of the iditarod