<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> <P> Page saw her first dog sled race in 1960 . At the time, nearly every household in the rural Alaska Bush and Interior had a team of sled dogs for transportation . During the 1960s snowmachines started to replace the dogs, which all but vanished . The historic Iditarod Trail that passed through both Wasilla and Knik was an ideal stage . Dog mushing had been the primary means of communication and transportation in the Bush and Interior by Alaska Natives for centuries; remained so for the Russian, American, and French Canadian fur trappers in the 19th century; and reached its peak during the gold rushes of the late 19th to early 20th centuries . </P>

Who is known as the mother of the iditarod and why